Brownsville herald. [volume] (Brownsville, Tex.) 1910-current, 1925-10-14
IN OUR
VALLEY

MS thlHg OF more appropriate
= name for the Lower Rio Grande
Valley simply will not down. George F.
Walker of Brownsville has just return
ed from a summer spent in Canada. On
his way south he encountered lack of
knowledge concerning the Valley
among men otherwise we'll informed.
Writing to The Herald, Mr.. Walker
says:
while on my way home from Can
ada on the first of this month l had
an opportunity to get some unbiased
opinions on the terms we use when de-
scribing this portion of the country.
1t happened in the smoker of an IL
linois Central train between Chicago
and New Orleans while four business
men and myself were discussing the
great gamble in Florida and its inevi-
table disastrous results.
Il happened to mention that our ir-
rigated land was vastly superior to any
thing they had in Florida and / was
asked where ! lived. Remembering the
discussions in The Herald l thought it
possible to get some opinions from
northern people and replied. the Ric
Grande sValley.'
You mean Ell Paso,' said one.
No, the Lower Valley" | replied,
and the next guess was around Laredo
"Then explained that the Rio Gran
de had a genuine delta similar to the
Nile and with land just as rich as that
of the Nile delta, but that we generally
identified it under the terms used
above.
"Then ! mentioned the discussion on
the subject and asked their opinions.
They agreed that Valley and Lower
Valley covered altogether too much ter
ritory and one pointed out that the
Mississippi Valley which is often seen
in print, covers that great stretch of
territory from the Gulf TO near the Ca
madam border and asked me if / could
say where Lower Mississippi Valley
began. ! admitted that ! could not.
Another pointed out that the Lower
st. Lawrence was generally accepted as
meaning the thousand to fifteen hun
dred miles from below Quebec City to
the Atlantic Ocean.
"The same man remarked that il
, Florida had rich delta SUCH as ] de-
scrfbed, xit ~w0ufd alf have been cut up
into delta town lots long ago.
"This and lot more entirely chang
ed my opinion on some points and can
see clearly that while we down here
think the terms we use can only refer
to this small district, the other 13O,-
100000 or so people in the United
States and Canada interpret Rio Gran
de Valley or Lower Rio Grande VAL
ley according to their geographical
meaning. And, furthermore there
are a lot of river valleys in the United
States, but rich useable deltas similar
to that of the Nile are scarce and GER
tainly delta land gives an idea OF
richness and perpetual fertility that is
hard TO equal with any other descrip-
tion."
Land hungry folks who have been
going to Florida are slowly acquiring
some knowledge regarding the Lower
Rio Grande Valley of Texas. Predic-
tions are being made, constantly, that
the tide will soon turn and that some
portion Of it, at least, will find its way
to Texas.
Here is letter received by the
Brownsville Chamber of Commerce:
Possibly this letter will seem lit
tie odd from a man in the Florida boom
wanting to know land conditions in an
other state, but nevertheless | do. Ia
my short stay in Florida / have had az
lesst fifty people tell me of the rich
ness and the opportunities of Texas.
In fact some have gone so far as TO
state that the next boom (land) would
be in Texas and that it would surpass
this one in Florida. am not boomer
or a drifter but though | have been in
Texas, believe that the whole south is
starting on wave of prosperity and
stability and of course Texas will go
with it.
"Will you send me all the literature
available on your town, tell me of the
opportunities for work there, the aver
age price of good farming land near
your city. ETC.? Thanking you for this
information in advance and assuring