Introduction

The story of the Blalock Mexico Colony is a story about people- about Americans who formed a stock corporation in 1902, purchased a large tract of land called Hacienda El Chamal in Tamaulipas, Mexico, and left Greer County, Oklahoma Territory, with most of their worldly goods to live as colonists in Mexico. It is an important story because it documents how American citizens tried to recreate the American pioneer dream on foreign soil with the support of a foreign government, the Porfirio Diaz regime.

In the late 1800's and early 1900's, Mexico had become the new frontier for American pioneers looking to fulfill the American dream. Mexico courted foreign investors to pay for the country's infrastructure improvements. It also heartily welcomed American immigrant families as a means of improving their standard of living and that of Mexican nationals.

Mexico's inducements included abundant natural resources, vast amounts of undeveloped land, and inexpensive laborers- the indigenous populations and uneducated workers in agricultural servitude referred to as peons. The peons were often treated as commodities and transferred with land purchases. Investors, both influential and of modest means saw the opportunity for profit and improved livelihood. This is what drew Americans to consider Mexico as a place to invest and live.

Mr. George E. Blalock, a respected businessman and resident of Mangum in Greer County, Oklahoma Territory, began exploring the potential of buying land in Mexico in partnership with other like-minded American investors. His plan was to jointly purchase a large tract of land, equitably subdivide it and permanently settle on it to create an American agricultural colony in Mexico.

With his plan formulated, Mr. Blalock and his friend, Mr. Wesley Ricks, began a journey through Mexico in search of good, cheap agricultural land. Mr. Blalock eventually located large tracts of land for purchase and reported on them in letters mailed to friends in Mangum and through Greer County newspapers. The information served to inform those already participating in the plan and recruit additional investors.

The Blalock investment plan then set in motion a series of events that led to the formation, emigration, and settlement of an American pioneer colony in Mexico in the first decade of the twentieth century. The investors created and formalized a stock corporation named the Blalock Mexico Colony. The function of the corporation was to sell $100,000 in stock to amass enough capital for the purchase of a large tract of land. The members elected corporation officers and filed all documents necessary: a charter, by-laws and articles of incorporation in Oklahoma Territory, to legalize their venture.