The Raymer enterprise., 1921-10-13

lPtsparsd BY the National Geographic So
cisty. wsshington. d. c)
No region In all North America ID
more frequently mentioned or more
widely misunderstood, perhaps, as re.
CARDS places, routes. distances, and
the customs Of the people, than the
Mexican border. The name Itself
bi.lgs TO mind banding OF modern
Americanlsm and the romance Of the
old frontiers. 1t hints at turmoil and
intrigue. at wild night rides BY cavalry
patrols, At gun-runners and smugglers,
It suggests. too, brown-facsd, snappy.
eyed sen0ritAs In red SKIRTS and man.
tillas, peddling tongue-biisteting ta'
males and mild dulces: Of Mexican
women washing clothes. babies and
dishes In irregular bitches: Of burr0s,
hens and pigs foraglng about the door.
ways Of aat-topped. squatty adobe
huts.
In many ways the social cleavage Of
this border Is sharp and startling. II
cuts us Oh abruptly from another peo-
pie, showing an odd, interesting cross
section Of diverse civilizations.
Nor are all the people along this
lllR either Yankees or Mexicans Thou
sands Of Chinese are settled there on
the Mexican side; and beside them
are Turks andsJapansse, and 20 Indian
tribes speaking 20 Of the babel Of
tongues heard In Mexico.
Thousands Of settlers migrate to this
torderland each year. losing them,
selves in the vast, hazy-biue stretches
Of It's open country: but they are
Americans all, mostly from the Middle
West and the South. The hordes Of
Firms. Slavs and NeapoIItans that pour
Into our Atlantic ports never get thil
far; they stop in the manufacturing
centers Of the East. In Texas and
California. Of course. natiye-born gen.
eratIors are found: IN the newer states
d. Arizona and New Mexico most Of
tiIc residents (barring children) have
come from other states.
Rough and Difficult Trip.
Adventurous colorfal and full Of
contrasts as It IL, the l.800-mile trip
nicng this crooked historic line IL
rotgh ard difficult and has been made
by lew people.
Some Of the widest and least known
regions Of our country are piled up
against this border. Ask any dough,
boy, Of the many, many thousands who
have done o "hitch" on the Mexican
lorler. what he thinks, for instance,
Of Ajo Or the Yuma sector.
From the gulf up 10 I'll Paso, along
TIE Texas frontier. the Rio Grandu
forms tie boundary between tho
United States and Mexico; thence to
the Pacific the line Is marked by stone
or ron monuments (snve q short break
at the coiorado). so set that one is
supposed to be visible from ths other.
The Rio Grande part Of this border
has caused both Uncle Sam and Mex.
leo much work and mental anguish.
Daring bad foods the line as formed
by the river squirms around In SO as.
,onisl.ng and lively Q manner that
what Is, Mexican soil one day may be
In Texas the next. and vice versa.
Then. too. there Is the ever-recurring
problem Of dividing the waters Of the
river for !rrigeting purposes Around
smell places MS Laredo. Tex. this stu.
alton affords many IN acrimonious In.
ternational argument.
No spot IN the whole border affords
more Of impressive grandeur than the
region ABOUT the mouth Of the Pecos.
This yellow, turbulent stream roars
Into the Rio Grande near the town Of
Del Rio. foaming alnng the bottom Of
stcep-wnlied canyon worn hundreds
of feet deep In the solid rock,
Relic Of Camel Experiment
At the old fort at Camp Verde, north
Of Uvalde. In 4 relic Of one Of the old.
est experiments ever made by our gov
ernment II 10 an Arab khan, In ruins
now, but in its time an exact repllca
Of the rectangular adobe carayansar.es
built along such caravan trails as that
from Bagdad to Teheran. This khan
wns built back In 1855. when jefferson
Davis was secretary OF war and the
famous experiment was made with
camels for army transport use between
Texas and California.
AS you follow the border west, oaks,
pines and underbrush decrease, aridity
increases. ind cact! mt their tholiy
heads. Cattle, g0ats and sheep are
pastured In large numbers but, except
for irrigated areas along the river. the
country Is thinly settled and nndeYel.
Oped. Border counties like Brewster.
Presidi0 and Fl Paso are of amazing
area--larger than some af our small
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