Prilutskiy V. V.

THE BORDER WAR (1910-1919) AND AMERICAN MORMON COLONIES IN NORTHERN MEXICO

The article considers the influence of the Border War of 1910-1919 between Mexico and the United States on the life of border territories. One of the victims of the conflict was several thousand American colonists who settled in the north of Mexico at the end of the XIX-th century with the permission of its government. The settlers belonged to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons), which settled in the mid-XIX-th century in the Western United States. One of the features of this religious organization was the belief in the necessity of polygamy as an important condition for obtaining the fullness of faith and salvation. The United States Congress passed laws in 1862, 1874, 1882 and 1887 against the practice of Mormon polygamy. These laws forced convinced polygamists (fundamentalists) to flee to Northern Mexico with their families. They founded more than 10 prosperous colonies, the largest of which were Colonia Díaz, Colonia Juárez and Colonia Dublán. However, the turbulent events of the Mexican Revolution of 1910-1917 and the accompanying border conflict between Mexico and America led to the destruction of the «Mormon oasis». The rise of anti-American sentiment led to raids by Mexican rebels on U.S. territory, as well as attacks on Mormons to expel them from the country. Most of the settlers fled to the United States, and the colonies in Chihuahua and Sonora declined.

Keywords: U.S. foreign policy, the history of U.S.-Mexican relations, American interventions in Mexico, the Border War of 1910-1919, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons), Mormon colonies in Mexico.

Academician I.G. Petrovskii Bryansk State University (Russia)

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