Preface

Although the story of the Blalock Mexico Colony has never been recorded in its entirety, it has been kept alive for the past 108 years. Some of the story has been told by the original colonists-in letters, recollections, and oral interviews and in the documents they labored to create in order to recover some of the cash value of the assets they lost during the Mexican Revolution from 1910-1920. It is for this reasons that we undertake this enormous and needed task.

The aim of this book is to reconstruct the epic saga of the Blalock Mexico Colony’s formation, emigration, colonization and resettlement. This work pulls together previously disconnected information found in archives, museums, historical societies, and private collections. The information includes research, legal documents, newspaper articles, letters, government documents, maps, photographs, colonist recollections and stories. Many of the documents are original; some are in English and others in Spanish. The research by George P. Taylor, William and Carol Ward and the authors of this book provide the bulk of the documentation for this history. Additional documentation and photographs have been provided by descendents of the original colonists.

Some information for this project was found in United States Claims Commission documents housed at the National Archives in College Park Maryland. These files were examined, photocopied and many are available at blalockmexicocolony.org. The files contain testimonies from members of the Blalock Mexico Colony taken after the Mexican Revolution and include claimant forms, lists with descriptions and values of land, homes, out buildings, improvements, household goods, livestock, farm equipment, and orchards. Many primary accounts are given about life in the colony before and during the Mexican Revolution. The National Archives files also contain letters, memoranda, telegrams and reports from colonists and government entities such as the United States Department of State and numerous American Consulates in Mexico.

Newspaper articles came from historical societies, university collections and private individuals. Photographs were provided by many families of the original colonists as were various maps and stock certificates.