The history of American Mormonism in Mexico

This week, a drug cartel blew up a three car convoy carrying women and children to a wedding in Mexico. Nine women and children died. They were dual citizens of Mexico and the U.S. and members of a fundamentalist Mormon community in Sonora, Mexico.

The history of Mormon communities decamping to Mexico dates back nearly 130 years. The Mormon Church banned polygamy in the late 1800s, so lots of Mormons crossed the border to start communities where they could practice, including Senator Mitt Romney’s great-grandfather.