Category Archives: Mormon history

MORMON COLONIES IN THE LAND OF THE TACO BELL DOG

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High on the hill above Colonia Juarez, the LDS temple sits.
High on the hill above Colonia Juárez – one of the original Mormon colonies, the LDS temple sits.

Mormon colonizers were sent out throughout the desert West in the later parts of the 19th century seeking to expand the world of Deseret.  First, they developed arable lands in Utah, Idaho, Wyoming, and Arizona, but also a group ventured further south into northern Chihuahua State.  Here, some of the valleys and places where enough water existed, they founded a total of ten Mormon colonies over time.  Two survive today, though one of those is becoming engulfed by the growth of nearby Nuevas Casas Grandes.

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AÍ CHIHUAHUA! – VISION RESTORATION IN THE LAND OF THE TACO BELL DOG

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LIS team and local Lions Club members celebrate the end of the vision clinic in Casas Grandes, Chihuahua, Mexico.
LIS team and local Lions Club members celebrate the end of the vision clinic in Casas Grandes, Chihuahua, Mexico.

Mexico is a large and very diverse country.  Many travelers from the United States know the country for its beaches – Cancun, Playa del Carmen, Cabo San Lucas, Puerto Vallarta, Zihuantanejo, maybe Huatulco.  Some visitors may have only penetrated as far as border towns like Tijuana, Mexicali, Agua Prieto, Ciudad Juárez, Neuvo Laredo, Matamoros and others.  There is a lot more magic awaiting beyond, however, as well as welcoming peoples of a mélange of cultures and even languages.

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SITE OF THE NEW MILLENNIUM – INDEPENDENCE, MISSOURI?

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“Dream of the Temple that Might Be” Earnest Webbe based on a dream of Joseph Smith III.

The last posts spun off of study and visits I made following German American religious communes in the American 19th century in anticipation of the New Millennium. My own family history encompasses the solidly American religious phenomenon of Joseph Smith’s Mormon movement. The German American efforts petered out for various reasons – communism and celibacy being major factors. Both groups were convinced that the Second Coming of Jesus Christ was at hand. Both groups were convinced that, as the Elect, they would help usher in the New Age. The main difference is that the followers of Joseph Smith knew Jesus would return to the World in Independence, Missouri. They had it straight from the source.

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