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)