Bagdad , Tamaulipas Bagdad , Tamaulipas , Mexico was a town established in 1848 on the south bank of the mouth of the Río Grande . Moreover , this town is also known as the Port of Bagdad or the Port of Matamoros , since it is inside the municipality of Matamoros , Tamaulipas . Officially declared non - existent in 1880 , it is now invisible , covered by the shifting sands of time . A major player in the American Civil War , today few realize it even existed , nor its vital importance to the Confederacy in its struggle against the North . One of the first appearances of Bagdad was on a map entitled " Map of the Country Adjacent to the Left Bank of the Rio Grande Below Matamoros , 1847 . " Civil War . The Civil War began in 1861 when the Southern states seceded from the Union . With Abraham Lincoln ' s proclamation that he would hold Jefferson Davis ' privateer s " amenable to the laws of the United States for the prevention and punishment of piracy , " the War commenced . Mexico was the only foreign country to share a border with the Confederacy . Being neutral , Mexico could not be cut off by Lincoln ' s Federal blockade . The US Supreme Court , in the Prize cases , had declared Lincoln ' s blockade s legal . However , this legality did not extend to the Rio Grande , as this river was considered international water by the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo signed in 1848 between the United States and Mexico . Article VII of the Treaty read , " The river Gila , and the part of the Rio Bravo del Norte laying below the southern boundary of New Mexico , being , agreeably to the fifth article , divided in the middle between the two republics , the navigation of the Gila and of the Bravo below said boundary shall be free and common to the vessels and citizens of both countries ; and neither shall , without the consent of the other , construct any work that may impede or interrupt , in whole or in part , the exercise of this right ; not even for the purpose of favoring new methods of navigation . " Importance of cotton to the Southern cause . Cotton was the " white gold " that would sustain the Confederacy during the Civil War , and cotton was literally " King " in south Texas . Richard King , owner of the famed King Ranch , along with several partners , was a major player in the cotton trade during this time period . The arid brush country was soon a bustle of activity as cotton carts from all parts of Texas , as well as neighboring states , labored on the rutted , dusty roads to transport the cotton first to Brownsville , Texas , and then to Matamoros , Tamaulipas . From there it was transported by cart to Bagdad , where it was placed on ships bound for various ports around the world . Frontier boomtown . So great was the trade that Bagdad ' s population soon reached 15 , 000 inhabitants . From a miserable shanty town , Bagdad exploded into a frontier boom town , complete with saloons , gambling houses , and brothels . The Brownsville " Ranchero " described Bagdad as a town in which " … fandangos were held every night and women as beautiful as houris exhibit their charms , without the least reserve . " The " New York Herald " described Bagdad as " an excrescence of the war . Here congregated . . . blockade runners , desperadoes , the vile of both sexes ; adventurers . . . numberless groggeries and houses of worse fame . [ Where the ] decencies of civilized life were forgotten , and vice in its worst form held high carnival . . . while in the low , dirty looking buildings . . . were amassed millions [ in ] gold and silver . " A blockade runner once described Bagdad as a place where everyone was trying to grab what he could by using whatever scheme possible to make money out of crisis . There was immense pressure to keep the cotton moving . Ship masts stretched across the water as far as the eye could see . All of these were waiting for cotton . The cotton was slowed down on its journey when it reached Bagdad , as it could take up to three months to load one schooner . This process was hindered by the shortage of small steamboats , lighters [ wide barges ] and carts to move the bales downriver . Camels . To speed up this process , the Confederacy decided to utilize camels , first brought to Texas at the recommendation of secretary of war , Jefferson Davis , in 1857 . Each carried two bales of cotton to Matamoros where it was then unloaded and shipped on to Bagdad . The camel caravans would return to Camp Verde carrying six hundred pounds of salt from El Sal del Rey and Sal Vieja . The camels could carry twice the load of that of a mule . However , Brownsville citizens soon complained when some camels created havoc . The Brownsville Commission immediately enacted an ordinance prohibiting anyone from walking camels in the streets . Mexican power struggles over the area . Prior to the American Civil War , Bagdad was but a recreational destination for the residents of Matamoros . When the Mexican - American War broke out , Matamoros was split into two cities . Those residents with loyalties to the United States moved north of the Rio Bravo - known in the United States as the Rio Grande - and created Brownsville . However , Bagdad continued on as a destination for recreation for the people of both cities . Ships occasionally dropped anchor off the coast of Bagdad , and there was stagecoach service from Bagdad to Matamoros . However , Bagdad was a very poor port . The coastal shelf to this day is some hundred meters distant of the beach , and ships dared not come close . The transfer of passengers and cargo required the use of small flat - bottom boats that could manage the shallows . Had it not been for the American Civil War , Bagdad would not have developed into a significant port . But once it became the chief means of transporting cotton from the Confederate States - and this became even more critical after the fall of Vicksburg - governing authorities in Mexico took great interest in the trade . Mexico at this time was also in political turmoil . Benito Juárez , the leader of the popular rebellion against the French intervention in Mexico , wanted control of Bagdad in order to obtain much needed revenue , and possibly weapons . The revenue was to come from duties imposed on the cotton trade , as well as any other goods coming through the port . Emperor Maximilian I of Mexico also came to understand the strategic usefulness of Bagdad . Austrian troops were sent to Bagdad . In the northern state of Tamaulipas , where Bagdad was located , there were also regional chieftains with ambitions of their own . There were several battles involving these factions for control of Bagdad , and possession of the city shifted from one to the other . On at least one occasion , the fighting came so near the city that there was a panic and most of the residents evacuated for a short period . Union sympathizers and the refugee problem . When Texas aligned itself with the Confederacy , Union loyalists were persecuted . Many German - American residents of the Hill Country , in particular , and other Union loyalists found it necessary to flee for their lives . Many of these Union loyalists made harrowing journeys through territory strange to them in the South Texas country . Matamoros was their destination , but their hope was to eventually make their way by sea , through Bagdad , back to the Northern States . Texan Confederate residents of Brownsville were aware that Union loyalists were hiding in Matamoros . These refugees were chased and were not safe in Matamoros . Texan Confederates were free to roam Matamoros , a city where they enjoyed long - established and friendly relations with many of the locals , and they actively hunted Union loyalists . This situation greatly concerned the U . S . Consulate in Matamoros , and he sent dispatches on behalf of the refugees , via ship , to Washington . There were numerous pleas imploring Washington to send a military naval vessel to Bagdad to provide safe passage . The consulate gave assurances that were this to occur these men would make loyal soldiers in the service of the Union . The Naval Blockade of Southern ports took priority , however , and response was slow . A U . S . naval ship did eventually make its way to just north of Bagdad and a party of long - suffering German - American refugees were at last rescued . The Consulate also complained bitterly in his dispatches about the cotton trade and implored Washington to find some way to stop it . But as Mexico was a neutral party , there was little Washington could do . Decline . This frontier boom town was important to the Confederacy which depended upon this town and its trade in order to survive . As the Confederacy cause died , so died Bagdad . The town itself was officially declared non - existent in 1880 . The surrounding area sustained several hurricanes during the late 1860s through the 1880s . The 1889 hurricane closed the port of Bagdad forever to merchant ships . Due to the danger of the sandbar , only very small boats ventured to put in there . Today all that remains is a beautiful , isolated beach where many go " to get away from it all " . Few of those visitors realize what a bustling port once lay under their feet .