Since its establishment, Sonora’s development was linked to the question of population. Initially colonized through the strength of religious missions supported by military garrisons, subsequent years saw only scant few consolidated civilian settlements. Even after Mexico's independence in the early 19th century, factors such as the Apache raiding and the California gold rush, triggering abandonment of the region's key economic activities, were significant limiters to the expansion of population in Mexico’s northern regions. The remote fertile valleys of the Yaqui and the Mayo in the territory’s southern region constituted barriers making access difficult for authorities and mestizo population alike. This geographic challenge spurred authorities to implement several projects during the 19th century to attract settlers to open the territory. Such attempts, deemed a core of the liberal project in Mexico, were aimed at establishing a population that would help curb raids by natives and defend the territory from foreign threats, while detonating development of farming, trade and mining. Colonization was postulated as the remedy to all the problems of the territory. These efforts, however, fell far short of their stated goals. This paper analyzes these colonization efforts, which were informed by the utopiandesire to achieve a better future. To this end, an analysis is performed of relevant documents to identify ideas motiving implementation of the colonization agenda, the media employed to promote them, the response generated, and obstacles faced.