Chamizal National Memorial - 3/19

Today we drove to El Paso, Texas, on the border with Mexico. We spent time today learning about land called the Chamizal that was part of a border dispute for almost 100 years. Apparently, after the Rio Grande flooded in 1864, the water receded and the river was actually in a different spot. Since the Rio Grande is the border between Mexico and the USA, Texas ended up with more land than originally agreed upon in the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo (which ended the Mexican-American War in 1848).

For the next hundred years, the locals fought over the land and eventually President Kennedy and Mexican President Mateos agreed on a solution. The solution involved moving 5000 U.S. citizens off land that would be ceded to Mexico. Very interesting story.