Brownsville herald. [volume] (Brownsville, Tex.) 1910-current, 1924-08-06
lis 1t delta" {"
---Of..-
Is 1t "Valley?"
ROM Rio Grande City to the coast
Il they call it the Lower Rio Grande

they call it the Lower Rio Grande
Valley"
There's nothing wrong about it. It's
perfectly proper. il Webster's un-
abridged dictionary is to be depended
upon. to call it that.
Some people have thought that
Lower Rio Grande Valley" is pretty
long name. Also. outside Of THE Val.
ley" many people are pretty well con
WINGED that Rio Grande Valley" is
anywhere from the mouth Of the Rio
Crande to Ell Paso. They don't under
stand the difference between Lower
Rio Grande Valley" and "Rio Grands
Valley" Laredo is in the Rio Grande
Valley, so are Del Rio and Eagle Pass
and III Paso. But "Rio Granie Delt5
distinguishes this section Of the river
from all others. definitely.
Recently The Herald has been using
"Rio Grande Delta not TO be arbNra
~, but in m cffar. to determine wheth-
er the people o: this section can see any
advantage in it over the longer term.
"Lower Rio Grande Valley"
Webster's dictionary defines
delta" as follows:
"The alluvial tract of land at the
mouth Of the Nile, inclosed by its
spreading branches. In general, an all
luvial deposit at the mouth Of a
river. frequently forming a tract of
land Of conside rabIe area. Its ter
minus often has the shape Of the
letter delta. owing 10 the division OF
the river into separate branches. The
shape Of the delta as n whole is de-
termined largely by the configura-
tion Of the coast line where ii il
formed. In order To form a delta u
river must not only carry sediment.
but must discharge il where IL will
not be- swept away a fast a. u ac-
cumuIates. Deltas are formed on open
coasts, more commonly in bays and
lakes and occasionally where one riv-
er joins another. The delta of tho
Mississippi has an estimated area OF
more than $4,000 square miles. and is
advancing into the Gulf at the an
nual rate Of about 260 feet"
Now let's turn to the "v's" and see
how Webster defines n valley"
"An elongated depression. usually
with an outlet. between bluffs or be.
tween ranges OF hills or mountains.
A river valley Is the depression made
by the stream and by the various pro-
cesses which precede and accompany
the development of the stream. A
structural valley Is a relatively long
and narrow depression, produced By
movements of the surface. Thus n
down fold or down warp produces
synclinal valley, while rift valley IL
due tn down faulting. The valley flat
IL tho low flat land bordering
streams channel"
There is a little more enlightenment
in this definition by Webster. Quoting
from n verse, "The Shadow Of Death.
in Bunyan's Pilgrims Progress. Web
ster says "the valley through which
Christian was obliged to pass on his
way to the Celestial City" and "Ncw
this valley is n very solitary place: the
prophet Jeremiah thus described IL:
wilderness. land of deserts and OF
pits a land Of drought and Of the
Shadow of Death. a land that no man
passeth through and waere no maE
dweit
Certainly no resident az the Rio
Grande Delta will admit that ours was
che valley that Jeremiah described.
All the foregoing IS merely prelimin-
nry to reproducing letter The Herald
has received from J. T. Crawford.
prominent resident of San Benito, for
mer postmaster there. and Herald
render. who writes as follows:
II notice that in your recent articles
where Il becomes necessary TO speak Of
the Valley as a whole. instead Of calling
this section Of Texas the valley or
The Lower Rio Grande Valley you call
II The Delta
Please advise where you get that
',eIta' stuff. Webster says a delta Il
the space betwesn the mouths of a river.
like the Nile. Since the Rio Grandc
river has but one mouth, and relying
on the definition Webster gives OF
delta as correct. am unable 70 figure
why this marvellous Valley should be
dubbed Delta.
"Just as a reminder 20 The Herald,
there has been more than Sl0.000.00s
spent in various ways in getting the
name Lower Rio Granie Valley Of
Texas fixed IN the minds cf the people
throlgn, ut the entire United States
and Canada and the word Valley is