Rachel Hennefer was born in the western Utah frontier town of Henefer in 1861. She married Orson O. Richins when she was twenty years old. Six months after her wedding she became a plural wife when Orson married Caroline Fawcett. In the fall of 1882 Orson was indicted for polygamy and began a cat-and-mouse game with the federal marshals to avoid arrest.

Rachel moved first to Mesa, Arizona and then to northern Mexico to avoid confrontation with the federal officers. While in Colonia Diaz, Chihuahua, Mexico (one of the LDS Colonies in Mexico), Orson’s second wife, Caroline Fawcett passed away, leaving three motherless children. Rachel took them into her home and mothered them as her own children. Consequently, all twelve children in that household grew to be very close to each other. Orson thereafter married again—a widow named Sarah Amanda Harper with two daughters.

Years later, during the Mexican Revolution, Orson and Rachel were forced to move again—this time to southwestern New Mexico, where they lived out their lives. Rachel is buried in Virden, New Mexico.

Caroline Fawcett was born on August 24, 1862 in Wellington, New Zealand to Joseph Fawcett and Mary Ann Stratford. Her parents joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1871. They sailed for Utah by way of Honolulu, Hawaii and San Francisco, California in 1872. The Fawcetts moved first to Centerville and then to Huntsville, Utah. While the family was living in Huntsville, Mary Ann died, leaving five girls and one boy for Joseph to care for. Caroline assumed the role of managing the household, with the help of her sisters. Joseph moved his family to Henefer, Utah, where he met and married Mary Ann Richins.

Carrie’s sisters described her as "a pretty girl with light brown hair with a natural curl.  She loved music and learned to play the piano quite well."

She became the plural wife of Orson Oriel Richins on October 20, 1881, when they were married in the Salt Lake Endowment House. Orson Oriel was thereafter indicted for polygamy and had to hide from the federal marshals. He moved his wives to Mesa, Arizona and then to Deming, New Mexico before settling in Colonia Diaz, Mexico. Carrie passed away ten years and eleven months after she married Orson Oriel—May 28, 1891. Orson’s first wife, Rachel, raised Carrie’s three children as her own.

Sarah Amanda Shurtliff was born January 22, 1865 in Harrisvile, Utah. Her father, Luman Andrew Shurtliff accepted the Gospel after hearing Joseph Smith speak; he was confirmed a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints by David Witmer on August 21, 1836. He had four wives and 33 children and was called on often to serve missions and colonize new areas. Sarah’s mother passed away when she was eight years old, and she had to live with other families.

She married Silas Benjamin Harper on April 2, 1885 and bore him two daughters while they lived in Payson, Utah: Mary Blanche and Elsa Vinetta. Silas was killed in an accident while riding a load of hay, leaving Sarah alone to care for her two small girls. Her sister, Lovina Wilson, was living in the LDS Colonies in Mexico and invited her to join her there. She accepted the invitation, joining other families enroute to the Colonies. She helped "Aunt Fanny" Harper with her boarding house.

While she was in Mexico, she met and married Orson Oriel Richins, becoming his third wife. Life in Mexico was good, even if somewhat difficult, but that changed in 1912 when they had to flee to the United States for refuge from the Mexican Revolution. Sarah took her family to El Paso, Texas where she labored as a midwife. She was very good at this and was in high demand to attend to the sick. Her children also worked to support the family.

The members of the Church were advised to buy farms and colonize Red Rock, New Mexico, and Orson Oriel complied. Sarah, with her two youngest children moved there and lived in the house Orson built her. Two of Sarah’s children joined her in Red Rock with their families. The venture proved unsuccessful and the Saints were released from their colonizing efforts. Many of them, including Sarah and her children, moved to Virden, New Mexico. She passed away on October 25, 1947 in Virden, New Mexico, where she is buried.

Back row (L-R): George, Ireta, Orson James, Rebecca, May, Ether.
Front row (L-R): Ena, Rachel (mother), Orson Oriel (father), Judith.

On June 28, 1912, the Mormon colonists of Colonia Diaz fled their homes for the comparative safety of the United States. The traveled to the Corner Ranch in New Mexico before being directed to Dog Springs, New Mexico by a federal line rider. On August 3, 1912, they were escorted to Hachita, New Mexico where the U.S. government had sent up a "tent city" to assist the refuges. Many of the families accepted the U.S. government’s assistance to relocate elsewhere, mainly Arizona, Utah and Idaho. Others remained in Hachita to farm and ranch.

Orson Oriel Richins homesteaded land twenty miles south of Hachita, New Mexico (Section 23, Township 30, Range 30 south and 13 west). Two wells were dug to furnish water for culinary and livestock water, one at 108 feet deep and the other at 114 feet. He paid the well-diggers $2.00 per foot to dig these wells.

Pictured above: The Richins homestead in 1913 before improvements were made, with (from L-R) daughter Ena, dog Lobo, son Ether, Orson Oriel, wife Rachel, two Mexican well-diggers, and son Orson James with his horse, Nick.

(See Heartbeats of Colonia Diaz, by Annie R. Johnson, pages 324-368)

Pictured above: The Orson Oriel Richins homestead/ranch located twenty miles south of Hachita, New Mexico and north of the Corner Ranch—1913.

Orson had two water wells dug and he cleared 160 acres for dry farming. He raised wheat, milo-maize, beans and potatos, all of which found a ready market in Hachita.

While living in Mexico, Orson had freighted between Colonia Diaz, Mexico, Deming, New Mexico and Corner Ranch/Dog Springs, also in New Mexico, in addition to ranching.

From 1914 to 1922, Orson served as Presiding Elder of the Hachita Branch of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. After this time, life along the border grew too dangerous for his family and he sold his ranch to M.T. Everhart, owner of the Hachet Co. Ranch. Orson and Rachel then moved to Red Rock, New Mexico to try farming there.

(See Heartbeats of Colonia Diaz, by Annie R. Johnson, pages 368-369)

Pictured above: The first home of Orson James and Edna R. Richins, located on the Orson Oriel Richins ranch. (L-R): Edna, her sister Madge Richardson and Orson’s sister Ena Richins (both on the porch).

Shortly after the Colonia Diaz refugees arrived in Hachita, Orson Oriel’s oldest son, Orson James, took the train to Logan, Utah to find work and much needed cash for his family. He remained there from July 1912 to April 1913, when his father asked him to return to Hachita to help him on the farm. A year later, Edmund Richardson’s family stayed overnight with Orson Oriel on their way to their new home in Thatcher, Arizona.

When the Richardsons left the next day, Orson asked Edmund’s daughter Edna to write him when she got to Thatcher. He didn’t hear from her until she again visited the Richins with some friends—about a year later. Orson gathered his courage and proposed to her that night! She accepted his proposal and they began to make their wedding plans. The couple estimated they would need $500 to make the trip to Salt Lake City to be married, as they wanted to take both their mothers along.

It took Orson eleven months to save up enough money—he worked as a cowhand at $35 per month and then his father asked him to come home to help him on the farm. He promised Orson that if he stayed on until April, he would see that Orson had enough money to make the trip to Salt Lake. Meanwhile, Edna found work with a family in Globe, Arizona. Their only contact with each other before the trip to Utah was by letter. Edna wrote him regularly, but Orson was 20 miles from the post office and was only able to get the mail once each week.

Before he left to meet Edna and take her to Salt Lake City, Orson planted a heavy crop of grain, anticipating a good harvest when he and Edna returned from Utah and started their life together. Drought, rabbits and an early frost ruined the crop. They had nothing, but this was just the beginnings of their trials. They built a two-room house on the Orson Oriel homestead and eked out a living.

(Source: "Life Story of Orson James Richins," compiled by Beverly R. Porter)