Introduction

Ultimately, they purchased the Hacienda El Chamal in Tamaulipas, Mexico. The colonists negotiated for colonization concessions with the Mexican government and fulfilled all of the legal requirements of the Republic of Mexico's colonization and commerce laws. Finally they emigrated in waves with all their possessions to El Chamal, Mexico.

In February of 1903, the first wave of colonists traveled twelve days from the familiar, cold and rainy land of Oklahoma to the foreign, hot and dry climate of Tamaulipas, Mexico. Once on El Chamal, the colonists had to scurry to find temporary shelter and forage for their food. They then started building their own homes, planting crops, digging wells and surveying the property of El Chamal. They established a town site and subdivided the land into tracts by class for the eventual stockholder drawing to determine property ownership.

They worked hard over the next seven years, and by 1910, the Blalock Mexico Colony had developed mango, orange, and sugar cane plantations, homesteaded farms and ranches, built homes and were raising American livestock and breeding it with Mexican varieties. The members had established productive agricultural and cattle enterprises. The colony had its own mill, schools, churches, stores and cemetery. The colony also had its own blacksmith and doctor.

However, while enjoying the fruits of their labor on El Chamal, the Mexican Revolution of 1910-1920 interrupted their progress. In the first years of the Revolution, life continued as usual in Chamal, but in 1913, the situation began to change with Mexican soldiers and civilians stealing colonists' cattle, crops and goods and generally causing trouble for the colonists. Some of the colonists were jailed and then forced to pay for their release. The Americans of the Blalock Mexico Colony found themselves caught in an escalating and uncontrollable situation that forced many of them to flee. During August of 1913, the colonists were warned by the American Council at Tampico, Mexico to leave Chamal and to get to places of safety. Some traveled to other places in Mexico where they felt safe. Some men sent their wives and children back to the United States and then moved to Tampico to work in the oil fields in order to make a living and stay close to Chamal. Some of those fleeing traveled over land by rail and others fled by ships bound for Galveston, Texas or other American ports.

A number of the colonists stayed on El Chamal to try and protect their possessions and property. By 1916, it was too dangerous for any Americans to stay on their land, so they hid in the high mountains above El Chamal in a refuge called Lonesome Cove. In order to survive, men would venture into the valley to "steal" some of their own cattle and crops amid revolutionary forces. Their very livelihood and security slowly dissolved over the decade of the revolution. The result was ruination for the colony and the colonists.