Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1920-08-20
VV|D[YP|CTURES
MEXICAN BORDER
Ex-ConsuI Writes of Worlds
Biggest Dam and Other
Wonders Along Line.

mo region in all North America is
more frequently mentioned or more
widely misunderstood, perhaps, than
the Mexican border" writes Frederick
Simpich, formerly American consul at
Nogales, Mexico, to the National Geo
graphic Society.
Prom the Gulf of Mexico up to Ell
Paso, along the Texas frontier, the
Rio GFande forms the boundary be-
tween the United States and Mexico
thence to the Pacific coast the line is
marked by stone or iron monuments
(save a short break at the Colorado)
so set that one is supposed to be
visible from another. BY this plan
a soldier. miner, or cowman Eyes, and
smuggler, tool, can always tell
which side of the line he is on; or. if
wholly lost and he comes suddenly
on a monument, he can soon get ORR
ented.
Border Line 500 Miles Long.
Adventurous, celorful and full of
contrasts as it is, the 1,600-miie trip
along this crooked, historic line is
rough and difficult and has been
made by few people.
1.-The Rio Grande part of this border
udS CduSe0 UotA OHCIS odut t1uu 4heA
leo much work and mental anguish
During bad floods the line as formed
by the river squirms around in sc
astonishing and lively a manner that
what is Mexican soil one day may
be in Texas the next, and vice versa.
Railroads cut this long border line
at Brownsville, Laredo, Eagle Pass
and Nogales, in Arizona, and at Calex-
leo and Tia Juana, in California. Only
four of these railroads, however, are
main lines of through traffic that
penetrate the interior of Mexico
these start at Laredo, Eagle Pass, Ell
Paso and Nogales.
S0me Texas Contrasts.
you visualize the bigness of Texas
when you look at the length of it's
side that borders on Mexico. You
realize it's emptiness, too, when you
travel through some of it's border re-
gions, where the population is less
than two per square mile.
mo section of the border has seen
so much of adventure, tragedy and
turbulent activity as Texas. The flags
of France, Spain and Mexico have
own Lone Star and also the Confed-
crate flag.
"In Brownsville you hear more
Spanish than English, because most
of the 5000 people who live there are
Mexicans.
CUP the river from Brownsville lies
Laredo, most important border town
in south Texas, even If an old map
does call this vicinity a wilderness
filled with wild horses
Eagle Pass, on up the Rio Grande,
was a favorite camping spot for the
California gold hunters in '4S.
tAs you follow the border west,
niroo and npdnrhr,rSh decrease
aridity increases, and cacti lift their
thorny heads. Border counties like
Brewster, Preside and Ell Paso are
Of amazing afea-larger than some of
our small eastern states. Wlndmllls
are everywhere-'big electric fans
cowboy once explained to a London
tenderfoot.
Eel Paso is the only large city from
San Antoine to Los Angeles, ride
of 1900 dry, dusty miles.
Largest Dam in World.
.sThe largest irrigation reservoir
anywhere is the great Elephant Butte
dam, which stores more water than
the world-famous Assuan dam on the
Nile. This big dam, built in the Rio
Grande above Ell Paso, at point IN
New Mexico, holds water enough. we
are told, to fill standpipe eleven
feet in diameter reaching from Ell
Paso to the moon. or to cover Massa :
chusetts to a depth of six inches:
..From the point at Monument mol.
where the boundary line crawls out
Of the Rio Grande Cat the southeast
corner of New Mexico), it strikes west
into a wilderness of singulariy dry
and empty aspect For forty miles
along this march the traveller must
carry his own water.
High Above Sea Level.
"ro the west lie the rough. hostile
foothills of the Dog mountains; near
here. in the San Luis range. the line
teaches a point of $500 feet above the
sea marking the continental divide.
"Tn the San Bernardino valley the
live strikes the first running water
after quitting the Rio Grande-192
Giles to the east. Here rises the ia
nous Yaqui river. that long, crooked
stream that meanders through the
s,ast Mexican state of Sonora ana
through the turbulent Yaqui Indian
znne finally emptying into the Gulf OIL
C.i;fornia below Guaymas.
IN the whole 700-mile stretch from
the Rio Grande to the Pacific this
i've crosses only five permanent run.
-, Streams, and the average rainfall
throughout it's length is only eight
..Save the hamlets of Columbus and
u.ch;ta. the New Mexican section OF
nc horder is almost uninhabited."