The Raymer enterprise., 1921-10-13
prImItIv. water Cart. on Mexican %, Dr..

on Mexican Boz der.
eastern. states. Windmills are every.
where-"big electric fans to keep the
cattle cool" waggish cowboy once ex-
planned to London tenderfoot.
VI paso (''The Pass"), great border
mart Of west Texas. n set on the
edge OF q rich stretch Of The Rio
Grande valley. II stands at tie point
OF intersection between two old high.
ways, the 6rst channels OF traffic estab.
lislied by white men In America. II Is
the only large city from "san Antoine"
to Los Angeles. q ride Of 1900 dry,
dusty miles. It is well served by both
American and Mexican railways. and
Its merchants buy and sell goods for
hundreds Of miles below tho Rio
Grnnde. Despite the arid country
about II and its occasional binding
dusf,st0rms. Its climate Ia exception,
ally good, owing to high elevation,
The largest irrigation reservoir any.
where Is the great Elephant Butte
dam, which stores more water than the
wnrld-famous Assuan dam on the Nile.
This big dam, built In the Rio Grande
above III Paso, at point In New Mex.
leo, holds water enough, we are told,
ITO cover Massachusetts, to depth OF
SIX inches"
Juares. ri Pasos sister city across
the Rio Grande, like most Mexican bor,
der towns, is known chiefly because
Of IFS pitched battles and Its bizarre
methods of entertaining sporty Amer.
can visitors. A wooden bridge spans
the river here. and FL Paso street cars
loop oyer into Mexico when the loop.
Ing Ia safe.
Across an Arid Wilderness.
From the point at Monument No. l
where the boundary line crawls out OF
the Rio Grande lat the southeastern
corner Of New Mexico), It strikes west
Into q wilderness Of singularly dry
and empty aspect, For 40 miles along
thu march the traveller must carry
his own water, Near Columbus
few small trees appear.
To the west lie the rough, hostile
foothills Of the Dog mountains; near
here, in the San Luis range, the line
reaches q point 5000 feet above the
sea, marking the continental divide.
Through San Luis pass runs the old
emigrant trail,
Slightly west of the one hundred and
eighth meridian the line turns at right
angles and runs south for few miles,
thence west again,
In the San Bernardlno valley the
line strikes the first running water
after quitting the Rio Grande-lD.
miles to the east, In the whole 700
mile stretch from the Rio Grande to
tie Pacific this line crosses only Ave
permanent running streams, and the
average rainfall throughout Its length
Is only eight inches, Save the ham
lets Of Columbus md Hachlta, the
New Mexico section Of the border Is
almost uninhablied.
.Hurdling this line In pursuit of &c.
ronimo and his Apaches was for years
a fayorite outdoor army sport In these
parts; but nowadays most ambitious
residents are mining copper, roping
and branding cattle or fusslng with ir.
rigation bitches,
Not long ago coyotes were chasing
horned toads over an empty desert
where DOuglas, Arlz., now stands, with
libraries. country clubs. theaters. pub
lie baths, street cars and hotel chat
might lave been lifted bodily out Of
Cleveland or Kansas City. Just over
The line from Douglas lies drab, dusty
Aqua Prieta. with It's sleepy poems and
sad-eyed burros.
6istee In a Canyon,
West of Douglas, eight miles north
of Nac0, on the line, and quite hidden
In the barren Mule mountains, lies the
quaint npslde-down, busy, hustling Bis
bee. Its main street runs up deep
canyon. many Of Its houses clinging
like pigeon c0tes TO steep hllls.des.
OF our whole border. the California
section Is perhaps best known to
Americans because Of denser popula.
tion, excellent motor trails and prox-
unity to cities like San Diego, Los An
geles. Fl Centre and the below-the.sea
border town Of Calexlco, opposite Mex.
icalI The Incredibly fertile Imperial
valley Of California sweeps north from
Calexico to the Salton sea, more than
200 feet below the yea level.
From Calexico the line runs west
past Signal mountain, up the Jacumba
pass over the Lagunas, past the his
tofc border town Of Campo, through
the towns Of Tecate and Tia Juana
famous for races and gambling ca
sinos), and thence to ths Pacific, Z few
miles below sa4 NisGA ,sa
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