INTRODUCTION

Approximately “25 percent of the total Mexican American population ofthe Southwest in the 1850s” was repatriated in the four decadesfollowing the end of hostilities, according to noted historian of theMexican American experience Professor Richard Griswold del Castillo.Although accurate i gures would be almost impossible to determine because ofthe imprecision of statistical data then and now, studies have surfaced overthe past few years that shed light on repatriation and return migrations.According to one author, for instance, the total number of Mexicans that“returned” to Mexico between 1848 and 1880 from the cededterritories amounted to 3,000. 3 Yet one Mexican commissioner sent torecruit Mexican families in New Mexico places the number much higher noting:“I have the satisfaction of being able to inform your Excellency that. . . at least eighty thousand persons are ready to emigrate to theterritory [Chihuahua] of the republic.” Hence, the number ofMexicanos that migrated south in the decades after the Mexican American Warcontinues to generate debate accompanied by a variety of conl ictingnumbers, but Griswold’s estimate of thirty-one thousand appears to bethe most thoughtful of the lot.