Colonia Díaz was the first permanent Mormon colony in Mexico, located along the Casas Grandes River in the northwest of the state of Chihuahua, Mexico. It is now a ghost town bordered on the east by the Sierra Madre Occidental. It was the nearest colony to the Mexico–United States border. By 1900, Díaz had grown to 623 inhabitants. In 1912, during the Mexican revolution, Colonia Díaz was intentionally burned and destroyed. Other neighboring colonies were established after Colonia Díaz in the late 19th century, of which only Colonia Dublán, sixty miles south of Colonia Díaz, and Colonia Juárez, 18 miles southeast of Colonia Dublán, are still inhabited.
Humans have lived in the Casas Grandes area for at least 1,900 years. The Mormon settlement was established in 1885 mostly to provide refuge for plural families escaping the Morrill Anti-Bigamy Act, especially after the 1878 Reynolds v. United States ruling against polygamy. Therefore, Colonia Díaz is an early example of a planned community. Farming and stock raising became an important economic factor in the valley during the colonists' presence. By the time Colonia Díaz was ransacked during the Mexican Revolution, the colony had approximately 300 families. By the 1st of August 1912, all American families had left Colonia Díaz, none of which returned.
History
Prior to the arrival of settlers in late-19th century, the Apache people lived in the Casas Grandes valley along the river of the same name. Mexican hunters and trappers avoided the area because of fear for the Apaches. The first Mormon pioneers to settle in Mexico established temporary camps adjacent to the Casas Grandes River. Within weeks Colonia Díaz was established as the first permanent Mormon colony in Mexico. The name came from then Mexican President Porfirio Díaz, whose general policy encouraged foreign colonization. No report has been found of clashes between the Apache Indians and the Mormon colonizers. In 1888 settlers then founded Colonia Dublán, south of Colonia Díaz. By mid-1890 the settlers in Díaz had planted some 2000 shade trees, 15,000 fruit trees and 5,000 grape vines in the fertile soil of the Casas Grandes valley, where Colonia Díaz was established. All orchards and pastures surrounded the community, which consisted of a compact grid of about 140 blocks. None of the Mormon colonies had local political leadership. All civil decisions were made locally by LDS bishops and the Stake President. A request was submitted in 1911 to then Chihuahua governor Abraham González for town leadership for Colonia Juarez, Colonia Dublán and Colonia Díaz. The decision for self-government was postponed and never reached due to the civil unrest of the Mexican Revolution centered in Chihuahua.
Mormon settlers in Mexico maintained friendly relationships with President Díaz. In 1901 colony leaders made two visit to the Mexican President reporting on the settlers industry, education and economic development. Although considered a dictator by the LDS communities, Díaz was praised for his religious tolerance. It probably was that favorable relationship with the President that caused Colonia Díaz to be the only Mormon colony to be completely burned to the ground during the Mexican Revolution.
Pre-Columbian culture
The largest identified settlement in Northern Chihuahua is known today as Paquimé or Casas Grandes. Casas Grandes was probably a backwater until about 1200 CE when pochteca (traders) from the Aztec empire or other Mesoamerican states to the south turned it into a major trading center. A diametrically opposed theory is that Casas Grandes was established by the elites of the Anasazi from the north who were fleeing their homeland during its decline. A third theory speculates that Casas Grandes is a community that grew over time to dominate its region and adopted some religious and social customs from the civilizations of Mesoamerica. The language the inhabitants of Casas Grandes spoke is unknown. Given the Mesoamerican influence on Casas Grandes Nahuatl was probably widely spoken but it was not the primary language of the people.