The citizen. (Frederick City, Md.) 1895-1923, 1908-01-17
THE MEXICAN BORDER
How Both Sides Of the Line Are
Watched and Guarded.
UNCLE SANS BRAVE RIDERS.

The Work That Is Performed by These
Well Mounted, Well Armed and cour-
ageous Patrols-The Mexican Rurales
and Their Methods.
If business or recreation should take
you down to that long line which forms
the boundary between the United States
and Mexico you may by chance meet
a well mounted rider, armed with rifle
and pistols, pacing observantly along
some bypath or canyon. He is one Of
the United States boundary riders APP
pointed by, the treasury department to
smugglers, cattle runners and other
persons whose presence on the Amer
lean side is generally undesirable.
For this position the man selected
must possess courage, Judgment and
no little physical endurance, for his
duties may call him forth at all hours
and seasons. ana he may be response
BILE for n stretch Of border land many
miles in length.
For example between san Diego, on
the Pacilc coast OF California, and
Yuma, in Arizona, there is but one
boundary rider to patrol "a line of over
$50 miles, and this is IN part over
a sparsely settled mountainous region
and partly through the, waste of the
Colorado desert
AS opposite him, on the other side of
the line. the Mexican government main
tains from fifteen to twenty rurales
for the same work, it is a good illus
tration of the trust refused In a single
American citizen byt lis government.
1t is probable there is no other man
in the United States whom it would
be harder to find at a given moment
than the boundary rider of the San
Diego Yuma district.
He may be down on the Colorado
desert. watching near some water
holes for a venturesome band of cattle
runners. or In some canyon of the noun
tains on the lookout for a wagon load
of prohibited immigrant Cinnamon;
but, wherever he is, one may be fairly
sure it is not where the transgressor of
the customs laws expect him to be.
That he must possess both judgment
and courage the following incident,
which took place during the career of
the former boundary rider in this dis
trict, will aptly illustrate:
For some time a band of cattle run
ners had been working successfully
back and forth over the line in spite of
the boundary riders vigilance. They
seemed to be able to divine his move
ments, so that while he was watching
a trail through the mountains they
were rushing a bunch of cattle over
the desert.
But at last he managed to surprise
the band and, rife in hand drove two
of them into Campo.
Then, however. arose the question as
TO the method CT taking them down to
the coast. He hired double seated
vehicle, the only one in the place.
But at once another question pre-
sented itself, How was he to seat his
prisoners, for either they must be
placed together on the front or the
back seat or separated, both seemingly
a hazardous choice?
He finally decided to separate them,
and so, with one on the front seat with
him and the other behind, he started
for the coast.
The two cattle runners managed to
communicate with each other by signs
and at rough part of the road made
the boundary rider. in turn, their
prisoner. Needless to say, they then
made the best of their opportunity to
Escape over the border, but as they fell
Y 20 the hands of the unsympathetic
'les they would have been better
rethey had submitted to the law of
nSn country.
Alepgs one of the somewhat diff
elods pursued by the Next
dnt in guarding their side
From cursory inspec-
ne might suppose that
20 not guarded at all.
line ten times at
off to
salts
IN,