Welcome to Las Colonias
Welcome to Las Colonias magazine. 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, the stories, and the principles that they teach become lost to time.
In This Month's Issue
- Anthony W.Ivins
- The Outlaw Narcross of Texas
Unlike his contemporaries, Anthony Woodward Ivins didn't go to the Colonies to escape anti-polygamy laws because he wasn't a polygamist. Anthony had served as a missionary in Mexico before and he didn't relish leaving his elderly parents, a successful ranching ad business enterprises, and an up-and-coming political career. But he humbled himself and accepted the call.
Tony, as his friends knew him, was called by the First Presidency to be the first Stake President of the newly created Colonia Juarez Stake of Zion. He had the responsibility of overseeing both the temporal and spiritual needs of the Mormons fleeing persecution from Federal Marshals.
Anthony W. Ivins served the Mormon Colonies in Mexico for the next 11 years. He sacrificed not only his life back in St. George, but he also gave much of his own money in paying off debts of colonists, saving their lands from foreclosure.
Due to the colonists' love and admiration, if there were a patron saint of the Colonies, it would be Anthony W. Ivins.
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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Anthony W. Ivins
(1852 - 1934)
Born September 16, 1832 in Toms River New Jersey, Anthony Woodward Ivins was the only son of Israel and Anna Lowrie Ivins. He and his parents were among the early pioneers to go to the Salt Lake Valley, arriving in 1853 when Anthony was but a year old.
When he was seven, his parents were called to help settle Dixie, as St. George and surrounding towns were then called. He had a half-brother, Will, and two half-sisters Edith and Maggie.
In St. George Tony had what schooling could be gained, went rabbit hunting with a boyhood friend, followed his father about as he surveyed lands in and around St. George, and had a happy well-adjusted youth. It was there that he grew to manhood.
During these growing-up days he was at home on the range. His father acquired a large tract of forest land extending into the White Mountains in Arizona and soon had it stocked with a good breed of cattle.
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Anthony W. Ivins cont.
Tony did a lot of traveling to keep the hard within bounds. He spent as long as nine months away from home, never sleeping during this time in a bed other than what he carried on a pack animal.
He had no food except what was cooked over a campfire. He took as good care of his gun as of his horse, and with his gun always handy could drop a deer in split-second timing at a maximum distance. He kept fishing tackle hand too and could easily angle enough trout for supper. The venison he broiled and trout he fried and the camp biscuits he made earned him an enviable reputation as a cook.
His cattle-care travels took him into Apache land when they were on the warpath and constant vigilance was necessary to save both himself and his cattle. He was glad when they sold that eastern area and he could continue his cowboying closer to home.
Anthony W. Ivins continued
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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.
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