Introduction

After the revolution some of the Blalock Mexico Colonists returned to El Chamal to resettle their farms and ranches. They found devastation. The upheaval of the Mexican Revolution reversed the successful gains of the Blalock Mexico Colony. All the progress they had made in the first decade of the settlement was gone. In some cases, Mexicans had claimed ownership of the colonists' property. In other cases, the Mexican government had taken the land because it had been declared abandoned. The affects of the revolution on the Blalock Mexico Colony are well documented by individual Blalock Mexico Colonists who endeavored to recover financial compensation through the United States government for losses they incurred during the revolution. This struggle lasted years.

Some of the colonists who sought to resettle in Mexico found all of their hard work and sacrifice had been in vain, and beaten they permanently returned to the United States penniless. Others began the settlement process again, building homes and out buildings, clearing land that had once been planted but which had become overgrown, then replanting crops and raising cattle. They also began rebuilding businesses and repairing community structures.

In the 1930's poor and landless Mexican Nationals attempted to gain ownership of colony land by squatting on it. This agrarian assault aimed to take land from the American owners and give it to poor or landless Mexicans. Through lengthy and costly legal processes, these attempts have been squelched only to resurface again. This scheme has been repeated numerous times over the past eighty years and is occurring again in 2010.

Today some of the descendents of the original colonists still live on the El Chamal properties of their ancestors, and they continue the struggle to maintain ownership of their property. Many of these people are not immigrants to Mexico. They were born or raised on the land they love. They continue to live the dream of their ancestors, to improve their lives by working the land in the rich country of Mexico.