On the Mexican Border (1917)

British Pathe just downloaded their collection of historical videos onto YouTube and we've been featuring a few from Texas' past.  Today a video, attributed to "possibly Arizona, New Mexico or Texas," and we thing the terrain and vegetation looks like our own part of the Chihuahuan Desert.

There are many sites in our region with Mexican Revolution history...the revolution was a factor in our region at the time this film clip was produced.  One notable place, still easy to visit and envision the history is Big Bend National Park's Castolon Historic District.  Click here and here to read about this place...and make plans to visit!

 

Alvino House at Castolon in Big Bend National Park

Click on the image to get a closer view!  Notice Santa Elena
Canyon in the upper left, and the Alvino House on the right!

Explore the little paths in the park, and you'll be richly rewarded.  Down this path in the Castolon Historic District in the southwest part of Big Bend National Park, is the Alvino House, the oldest intact adobe structure in the park.  Built in 1901 by Cipriano Hernandez, a Hispanic farmer, it represents the everyday life of many of the families who lived and farmed along the Rio Grande.

From the park's website:

"Other Big Bend residents of Mexican descent chose not to work for local ranchers. They established homesteads and survived by subsistence farming and raising sheep and goats. These settlers developed ingenious methods for farming in the desert. Armed with an intimate knowledge of which plants could succeed in the desert climate, those who homesteaded near the Rio Grande or desert springs would use these water sources to irrigate their crops. Others, located far from water, farmed seasonally by locating their farms near washes and diverting water from flash floods during the rainy season. Many supplemented their incomes by harvesting candelilla, a desert plant from which they would render a fine wax, by baling hay and selling it to the local military and mining camps, by cutting and hauling wood to nearby settlements, or by trapping and trading furs at local trading posts."

And....

"The east end of the rambling adobe building now known as the “Alvino House” was the original Castolon store, where Hernandez vended his melons, pumpkins, squash, and beans"

In 1918, Alvino Ybarra moved into the house.  He earned his living by operating the engines that powered the cotton gin and water pump that brought water from the Rio Grande to irrigate the fields.  He was also a tenant farmer for the La Harmonia Company.  Alvino Ybarra continued living in the house until 1957, when he moved to Alpine.

Visiting La Harmonia

Many visitors heading to Santa Elena Canyon in Big Bend National Park miss the Castolon Historic District just off Ross Maxwell Scenic Drive, right by the Rio Grande.  One of the most visited places in the district is the La Harmonia Store, where you can still go in and buy provisions, cold water and snacks, t-shirts, sunglasses and other sundries.  The building was built in 1919-20 to serve as a barracks for the U.S. Cavalry during the Mexican Revolution.  Shortly after the building was erected, the troops were withdrawn, and were purchased by Wayne Cartledge and Howard Perry, partners in the La Harmonia Company.

It doesn't take too much imagination to put yourself back in the 1920s, when the shelves were stocked with a wide variety of merchandise to cater to both American and Mexican citizens.  Right next door to the store, there's a little museum and bookshop designed to help visitors understand the Castolon area of the park.   The La Harmonia Company was vital to the survival of the remote villages in the area.  It remained in business until 1961, when it was sold to National Park Concessions and incorporated into the national park.  

Remnants of Early Life in Big Bend National Park

Before Big Bend was a national park, it was home to many hardy souls who worked to carve out a life in this isolated and beautiful part of Texas.  If you keep your eyes open, you'll see remants of buildings, homes, businesses, and graves belonging to those pioneers.  Want to read more? 

Links to more information on the park's website:

Original Settlers of Big Bend
Castolon
Hot Springs Historic District
Other History and Culture pages

Big Bend National Park: Castolon

Near Santa Elena Canyon in Big Bend National Park, the Castolon area's history is of farming, military activity during the Mexican Revolution, and frontier trading post.  The park's website has a brief interesting history online, here.

Today the park's Cottonwood Campground sits in land that used to be a farmer's field, the La Harmonia Compnay Store is still open (though it caters to visitors, not ranchers or farmers), and there are exhibits and frequently interpretive activities in the area that help tell the area's story.

Most visitors to the park visit Santa Elena Canyon for the short, spectacular hike.  While you're there, plan extra time to poke around and explore the history of this important trading post, too!