page_title: Rio Grande Valley
section_title: Early 1900s and the Mexican Revolution
hierarchical_section_title: Rio Grande Valley / History / Early 1900s and the Mexican Revolution
caption_attribution_description: English: Identifier: bookoftexa00bene (find matches) Title: Book of Texas Year: 1916 (1910s) Authors: Benedict, Harry Yandell, 1869-1937 Lomax, John A. (John Avery), 1867-1948 Subjects: Texas Texas -- Economic conditions Publisher: Garden City, N.Y.&#160;: Doubleday, Page Contributing Library: Houston Public Library Digitizing Sponsor: LYRASIS Members and Sloan Foundation View Book Page: Book Viewer About This Book: Catalog Entry View All Images: All Images From Book Click here to view book online to see this illustration in context in a browseable online version of this book. Text Appearing Before Image: Photograph by Wheelui Reinforced Concrete Flume on Main Canal Near Mercedes Text Appearing After Image: Photograph by Wheelus, San Benito Irrigating Onions at Harlingen One op the Shallow Artesian Wells at Lubbock Medina Irrigation Co. DamEight-million-dollar system built by Pearson of the Pearson Syndicate TURNING THE WATERS 201 sions. In 1730, to cite a conspicuous and still-existingexample, the San Pedro ditch, now surrounded by San An-tonio houses, was dug. Numerous other acequias weredug at the other missions, but, of course, judged by modernstandards, no very great acreage was watered. The early American settlers in Texas, coming by way ofthe well-watered East, did not practise irrigation, and itwas not till 1869 at Del Rio, after the population had spreadthrough the eastern half of the state, that what may becalled modern irrigation began in Texas. Since 1870 therehas been a gradual development, accelerated by two rapidexpansions, one in rice irrigation and the other in the lowerRio Grande Valley. The abundance, nearness, and cheap-ness of fertile and fairly well-watered land and Note About Images Please note that these images are extracted from scanned page images that may have been digitally enhanced for readability - coloration and appearance of these illustrations may not perfectly resemble the original work.
context_page_description: The Rio Grande Valley is a transborder socio-cultural region located in a floodplain draining into the Rio Grande river near its mouth. The region includes the southernmost tip of South Texas and a portion of northern Tamaulipas, Mexico. It consists of the Brownsville, Harlingen, Weslaco, Pharr, McAllen, Edinburg, Mission, San Juan, and Rio Grande City metropolitan areas in the United States and the Matamoros, Río Bravo, and Reynosa metropolitan areas in Mexico. These cities are surrounded by many small neighborhoods or colonias. The area is generally bilingual in English and Spanish with a fair amount of Spanglish due to the diverse history of the region. There is a large seasonal influx of "winter Texans" — Texans who come down from the north for the winter and then go back up north before summer arrives.
context_section_description: At the turn of the 20th century trade and immigration between Mexico and the United States was a normal part of society.  The development of the St. Louis, Brownsville, and Mexico Railway in 1903 and the irrigation of the Rio Grande allowed the Rio Grande Valley to develop into profitable farmland. Droughts in the 1890s and early 1900s caused smaller farmers and cattle ranchers to lose their lands. Rich white settlers brought by the railroad bought the land and displaced the Tejano ranchers.
  Meanwhile, across the river Mexico was dealing with the Mexican Revolution. The revolution spilled over the border through cross-border supply raids, and in response President Taft sent the United States Army into the region beginning in 1911 and continuing until 1916 when the majority of the United States armed forces were stationed in the region. Texas governor Oscar Colquitt also sent the Texas Rangers into the area to keep the peace between Mexicans and Americans.
  The region played host to several well known conflicts including the backlash from the Plan of San Diego, and the racially fueled violence of Texas Ranger Harry Ransom. In 1921 the United States Border Patrol came to the region with less than 10 officers. Initially the agency was focused on import and export business, especially alcohol during Prohibition in the United States, but later moved to detaining illegal aliens.
  The region had a significant increase of Border Patrol agents during World War I in conjunction with the Zimmermann Telegram. The Texas Rangers also increased their presence as law enforcement in the region with a new class of Ranger that focused on determining Tejano loyalty. They were often violent, carrying out retaliatory murders. They were never held accountable to the law even though charges were brought in the Texas senate.
  There were two major military training facilities in the valley in Brownsville and Harlingen during World War II.
caption: Irrigation outside of San Benito, Texas in 1916.
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