Mexican Colonization versus American Interests in Lower California

Abstract

THE FERMENT and fury of the Mexican Social Revolution touched the surface of Lower California lightly, but underneath the placid peninsular cover was the same discontent which erupted so violently on the mainland. In the peninsula it was held in check by the scantiness of the Mexican population and the cautious policies of Esteban Cantui, governor of the Northern District for almost six crucial years. With the ending of Carranza's regime, Cantui was forced out of his northwestern stronghold by the victors in the Agua Prieta revolt and Lower California was drawn slowly into closer relations with the rest of the Mexican nation. In the three decades which followed Cantui's abdication the old Lower California largely disappeared and a pair of nationalistic territories emerged, almost entirely freed from foreign control. The activities which brought about this transition are interesting in themselves, but they are even more striking when it is clear that they were not entirely the result of accident; planned development, which sought to minimize foreign influences, was the core of these activities for over a third of a century. The key to this planning was the deliberate colonizing of the northern section of the peninsula by Mexicans to eliminate American interests and to minimize American influences.