Welcome to Las Colonias
Welcome to the inaugural edition of Las Colonias. Las Colonias believes that the same pioneer spirit that first settled the Mormon Colonies still lives in the descendants of the original colonists. Sadly, with each passing generation. the biographies, then stories, and the principles that they teach become lost to time.
In this first editon I've included histories for my neighbors John Kartchner and Gary Dudley. It certainly makes the world a much smaller place when you mention the Mormon Colonies and discover that the other person has ties to the Colonies too. This seems to happen much more than random chance would allow (In my ward there are three families with Colonies' ties, maybe more that I'm not aware of).
The Hyrum Naegle bear story is a story that has been burned in my memory ever since I first read it many years ago.
Most of the histories are taken from Stalwarts South of the Border compiled by Nelle Spilsbury Hatch and Carmon Hardy. As far as possible, in order to preserve the author's voice, all spelling and syntax have been kept as the original text. Most numbers have been changed to numerals rather than the original text.
Las Colonias tells the amazing stories of the Mormon colonists, and introduces generations new and old to the incredible history and landscapes that act as a backdrop on which the colonists lived their lives.
Learn more about Las Colonias
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John Kartchner
1851 – 1946
John Kartchner was born the first night following the day the Mormons arrived in San Bernardino, California, and he was the first white child born in that city. He was the fourth of his mother’s 11 children. He was born in a tent and the wind was blowing so hard that it was necessary for one man to attend each of the four corners of the tent so mother a baby would have protection from the bitter weather of the night.
John Kartchner cont.
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Edmund Franklin Durfee
1861 - 1942
Edmund Franklin Durfee was born October 5, 1861 in Springville, Utah County, Utah. He moved to Aurora,with his family in 1875 when his father, Jabez Durfee, was called to be the first Bishop of all Aurora, Sevier County, Utah, which office he held until his death. From May 1883 through 1884, Edmund served a mission in what was then called the Northern States mission. The sum contributed to him by his friends amounted to $11.50. He labored in Michigan, Indiana, and Illinois.
Edmond Durfee cont.
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Heaton Lunt of Colonia Pacheco
book review
Marian L Lunt’s book, Heaton Lunt of Colonia Pacheco, was a lot of fun to read. The biography was written from audiotapes recorded by her father-in-law, Heaton Lunt.
I don’t think that Louis L’Amour or Zane Grey could have written better stories than the life Heaton lived. It's like a Hollywood screenwriter had John Wayne or Clint Eastwood in mind as he created a script filled with banditos, hermits, army scouts, wild animals, and gunplay.
Heaton Lunt cont.
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