Hole in the Border

September 21, 2014 10:21 PM

Moving the Mexican Border

The whole point of setting the border between Mexico and the United States at the deepest channel of the Rio Grande was that the river was not supposed to move. That was the thinking in 1848 [...]

The EL Paso Times has a photo and anecdotes about the original Hole in the Wall

Stories about the Chamizal presented by the US National Parks Service:

• Mexican-American War and the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo
• The Mexican Revolution
• Floods and the Chamizal Issue
• Arbitration of 1911
• Chamizal Dispute from 1911-1960
• The Cold War and the Chamizal Dispute Chamizal Convention of 1963
• The Chamizal Residents
• A little black box
• The Addis Collection of art at Chamizal National Memorial

One of the inducements offered by the USA was to settle the Pious Fund Controversy, revolving around a fund established in 1697 to promote missions in the Viceroyalty of New Spain. The final settlement, in 1966, closed an account that had survived the fall of the Hapsburg dynasty in Spain, the expulsion of the Jesuits from Mexico, the end of Spanish colonial rule in the Americas, and the USA's acquisition of (Alta) California in 1848.

posted by Joe in Australia (8 comments total)

Talk about a bad joke come to life.

An American, a Mexican, and a Canadian are involved in a land dispute. The American proclaims that the land has always been theirs since no one tried to fight them for it. The Mexican points out that they had been arguing their claim, they just weren't being listened to. The Canadian, who has no stake in the dispute and is only there to be polite, quietly sides with the Mexican. The American then decides they have no say in the matter and takes the land anyway.
posted by mannequito at 11:28 PM on September 21, 2014 [12 favorites]

The United States has a track record of entering into supposedly binding litigation and then kicking over the table and walking away when it doesn't like the outcome.
posted by 1adam12 at 1:52 AM on September 22, 2014 [5 favorites]

There were Texas politicians convinced that the federal government lacked the authority to give back part of the state without their permission.

Because of course there were.

Also, thanks for the link, Joe in Australia. I grew up on the Mexican-US border, knowing it as both contested and militarized, so this was an interesting glimpse of earlier times when it was still contested but far, far less militarized.
posted by librarylis at 9:14 AM on September 22, 2014

...He also contended that, in pragmatic terms, the land would be more valuable to El Paso than to Juarez....

I believe that's also what they told the Hawaiians.
posted by mule98J at 10:58 AM on September 22, 2014

Manifest destiny brings out the best in we,
White and American? That's the recipe
The British have been skittish so let us take the reigns and teach a lesson, G
posted by aydeejones at 3:08 PM on September 22, 2014

Seriously that international court stuff reminds me of when a company hires a compliance officer only to ignore, marginalize, and leave them defeated. We were talking about other companies complying with us, silly. The international court is for trying puppets and kangaroos, see?
posted by aydeejones at 3:09 PM on September 22, 2014

I will also take the unintentional irony of being US-centric in my use of "us" and "we." After 9/11 the world said "we are all Americans." I'm here to remind you that you are only wholly owned subsidiaries of America. The world is like ebay for the US, we don't have to buy and keep everything in the garage because we know how to find it
posted by aydeejones at 3:12 PM on September 22, 2014

This does not make me proud even if it sounds flippant. Gluttonous comment storm over
posted by aydeejones at 3:12 PM on September 22, 2014