Like all other wars that bring about destruction and chaos in their wake, these momentous ruptures in the historical structure are also moments of creativity and introspection surrounding the meaning of the nation, and its legacy. The end of the war simultaneously brought about the creation of the Department of Colonization because many amongst the intelligentsia believed that a failure to colonize and populate those areas lost to the US was the primary reason for this recent partition. To this end, the northern frontier was divided into three regions, and a Repatriate Commission was assigned to each: New Mexico, Texas and California. The primary function of these Repatriate Commissions, just like the Department of Colonization, was to identify, administer, and then to accommodate those Mexican citizens that opted to migrate southward across the new international boundary following the signing of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo (1848). Because the New Mexico Territory was the most heavily populated, the creation of the First Repatriation Commission for this region was considered the most important of the three eventual assignments. Post-war instabilities, strapped financial resources, shifting geo-political boundaries, resistance by U.S. authorities, and internal accusations of financial mismanagement and corruption all contributed to the dissolution of these initial Repatriation Commissions. Legislation implemented to encourage Mexican citizens to return via the Department of Colonization and the Repatriation Commissions provided both the power of the Law and the agents of the government to the foundation of dozens of settlements along the newly established frontiers. In the end, colonies nevertheless emerged along the northern frontiers between the New Mexico Territory and through Baja California, due in large part to the will and survival skills of the repatriates themselves. Decree of 19 August 1848: The First Repatriation Commissions and Postwar Settlements Along the US Mexico Borderlands
