Bishop Ernest V. Romney and others had remained in Colonia Diaz to try to care for the town. After several visits of revolutionists, the stores had been raided and ransacked, and two of their number taken for ransom. They were able to escape their captors and left Colonia Diaz in the night. They abandoned the town to the Red Flaggers. On August 5, 1912, at 10:00 am, they joined their families in Hachita, New Mexico.

The experiences of these refugees in the United States were similar to those had by the other colonists evacuated by train to El Paso, Texas. The Colonia Dublan, Colonia Juarez, and mountain colonies camped in the lumberyards in East El Paso, Texas, where heat and mosquitos were almost unbearable. Those from Colonia Diaz put up in a tent city in Hachita, New Mexico, and hauled water from the railroad water tank.

The U.S. federal government distributed food and was very helpful to all in relieving what could have been more severe suffering for these poor, homeless saints. But many problems arose in the Diaz tent town, because of unsanitary conditions and no running water. This unhappy time surely remained in the memories of Diazites during the rest of their lives.

When the U.S. government offered railroad tickets to all parts of the West, most took advantage of the offer. Many were taken to various points in New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, and even as far away as Idaho. Some chose to remain close to the border, longing to return if and when the opportunity arose. A few took up homesteads in and around the southern New Mexico border.

Ena and her family initially stayed in a temporary camp named "Poverty Flats" established for the evacuees near Hachita, New Mexico.  Ena attended her first year of school in Hachita.  That year was rough for her; the other children teased the Mormon children and made them stay outside the school building in a ditch or pit until the signal was given for class to begin, causing them to be late. (For more information on Hachita, New Mexico, visit http://home.swbell.net/lwsumner/hachita.htm).