St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1886-09-02
THE BORDER POPULATION.
Who Represent Neither Mexico nor the
United States.
Described by man hauirg large business interests in
the Southeast.

DeScftOeQ Oy man hQpIg large OuStHeSS teTeSt6 w
the Southwest
The great difficulty in the Cutting
matter is that the secretary of state and
the people of the United States gener-
ally have not the remOtest conception
of the true state of affairs along the
border. Even the people of eastern
Texas have very incorrect idea of the
condition of things in western Texas.
All the western part of Texas, New
Mexico and Arizona, and all the north
ern part of Mexico are a dry country.
1t is what is called the "arid region"
The rainfall is not more than one
fourth what it is in Washington. In
all that region it is impossible to raise
any of the ordinary agricultural pro-
ducts of the country without irrigation,
and the possibilities of that are limited.
But nature abhOrs both vacuum and a
desert. SO she has planted in the arid
region a variety of highly nutritious
grasses. There, too, are found shrubs
and small trees bearing nutritious
leaves, and hence IL vast and exceed
ingly valuable pastoral region, upon
which are fed millions of bOrses, cattle
and sheep. So you see that this Dor
der country between Mexico and the
United States is what we sometimes
call "COw-bO country" The whole
range cattle business had its origin in
Mexico. The current phrases and the
manners and methods of the business
have been copied all over the United
States where live stock is raised on the
range. But the fact is the man with
the spurs and the lariat gives charac-
ter to this entire area, for, as L said,
the herding business is the basis of all
trade and the original source of all the
comforts of life. Everything in bust
ness depends upon it. Everybody is
more or less a cowboy, the lawyer,
the doctor, the shoe maker, the tailor,
the merchant and even the editor. Cut
ting is a sort of cowboy newspaper
man. Many of the real cattle men are
as fine. generous and kind-hearted
men as you very often see, but there is
also on both sides of the river a large
number of rough men-regular desper
ADDE'S.
Cattle stealing, Indian fights and
fights among themselves appear to
constitute the principal charm of life
with them. So, take the entire border
country, and you have a population
which is not at all characteristic of the
people of the United States nor of Mex
leo. A chihuahua cowboy is as pc
culiar citizen of Mexico as q Texas
cowboy is of the United States.
When we in the United States re-
gard all Mexicans on a level with the
people along the border, we are as
much mistaken as the cultivated peO-
pie of the city of Mexico would be in
assuming, as l presume some of them
do, that the people of Boston and New
York and Washington are on the same
level, morally and socially, with the
cowboys of Texas. Now, wouldn't it
be outrageous for two adjoining cOun
tries to become embroiled in war on
account of the antics of this wild Dor
der population Of course, we must
maintain the dignity of our govern
ment and protect American citizens
abroad, but l think the best way to
regulate the border is for Mexico to
punish our rascals when she catches
them in her territory, and for us to
punish her rascals when we catch them
in the United States. | think that
would be good sort of reciprocity,
and I'd be in favor of putting it in a
treaty.