Brownsville herald. [volume] (Brownsville, Tex.) 1910-current, 1924-12-21

reaches antedates the European discov-
cry of America, and perhaps the Fall Of
the Roman Empire. Indeed, it may be,
that at a time when the Thebes and the
Persians were perpiexed over problems
of intensive agriculture, the original
Americans, alert and enlightened. were
thriving II a land Of plenty. The Puc-
bios. most enterprisiny and astful Oh
A~borigines, floutished along the head
waters of tlte 30 Grande, their broad,
well-nouristed fielts, inundated by
Spring fres@est from snow-eapped noun
tains, yieldcd bountiful haryests, ard
produced Z Prosperity that bred intel
lect and mental respurcetulne<s.
1t is, in truth, a far cry from The
glistcning peaks of he San juan noun
tains Of Colorado. from whence the Rio
Grande springs, to tie sua-kissed sands
of the Mexican Gulf. Some two thous-
and, two hand ed, tortuous niles, j, IS
and the Rivers wanderines are comf'eN
and devious. The Mezicans call /, .he
Rio del Nofte. in It's upper course; thc
Rio Bravo, in tic Big Bead",--from the
the mouth ofxthe Colchas to he mouth.
of the Devils River and TIE r.;
Grande. only in its coursc through, IN
Coast Plain.
From it's headwaters. $4,000 feet
above the sea, il rushes psdly dow 4
mountain, canyon to San Luls Valley, IA
Colorado. 1t flows. giJh mo,ier1ta speed
through this broad valley, enters a long
canyon Of dark and mysterious depth,
to emerge into smiling mountai wales
through its placid course across New
Mexico. 1t passes through a series Of
picturesque canyons, whose lofty walls
seem TO caress azure skies that guard
the iinpenctrable secrets Of the Big
Bend.s Then, as it passes the mesquite
thiekets Of the Piedras Negras country,
it broadens and becomes a silt-lade1
stream with Il shifting channel, through
your own sich and promising Coastal
Plain.a
Rebir,h Marvellous
You, who depend upon its muaific
ence, as we'll as suffer because of its
vagaries, know better thar | that, eX-
cept in the flood season the quantity OF
water, which for irrigation and through
evaporation, is taken from the Rio
Grande, is greater thar that it receives
from its les. That is why the
Rio Grande is an intermittent stream
in this region. The flow Of the Conchas
is constant. and in the Big Bend" the
volume Of TIE Rio Grande is enhanced
! BIZ gushing springs that break out IN It's
bed. The total flow is ten times great
en- in some years than in others, aid
when its waters are highest YOU have
floods in the lower courses and so much
shifting of sands as TO cause lnterna-
tional complications
Nv purpose, however, is not so much
to discuss with you the aspects and
habits Of this stream, that makes and
maintains youy Magic VALLEY, as to
marvel at and to commend the renals-
! sance. or rebirth, your vision, your tai
! eats, and your industry have so miracu-
| lousy brought about.
II is indeed a renaissance. The space
Of time between the separate develop
| ments of the Rio Grande is indefinite.
But the things YOU are doing today
we're at least attempted in a most lite!-
| ligent. practical manner, by lost races
Of by-gone years. irrigation, the utlliza-
ton of silt and soil, transported and de-
! posted ~ the agencies of the Almighty,
! have been practiced from time lmme-
mortal. You employ the methods ana
and machinery of modern science. The
facilities Of the Pueblo's were crude
and cumbersome, but their mental pro
cess was the same as your own.
have designated this present period
as the Renaissance of the Rio Grande,
because. it seems to me, you have en-
tered upcn a fresh stage of vital energy,
implying a fuller consciousness and a
freer exercise of facilities than had be-
longed to periods of the past. The Pue-
bio civilization did not reach to the
halmv atmosphere of these Southern
shores. and it was, Of course, primitive
compared with your. But it flourished,
and was nourished, by the headwaters
Of the same Rio Grande del Norte.
There may not nave been fabulous
wealth in the mysterious Seven Cities
of the Upper Rio Grande, but we know
the arts and handcrafts Of the original
Americans who followed useful, peace
full lives in their own Magic Valleys,
was far in advance of their war-like, IN