Chamizal National Memorial ⓘ

“As I would not be a slave, so I would not be a master. This expresses my idea of democracy.”

Abraham Lincoln and Benito Juárez never met or corresponded directly. However, the contributions of these two monumental men helped shape the future of North America. By memorializing these men across borders, we celebrate our shared heritage.

Abraham Lincoln was born to American parents in a single room log cabin in Kentucky, USA. He became a politician, lawyer and the 16th President of the United States.

Throughout the French Intervention and rule of Emperor Maximilian I in Mexico, the United States continued to recognize the republican government of Benito Juárez.

Benito Juárez was born to Zapotec (Ben 'Zaa) parents in San Pablo Guelatao, Mexico. Orphaned as a boy, he moved to Oaxaca where he would become a state legislator and a lawyer.

As President of Mexico from 1861-1872, he preserved the Mexican Republic during the French Intervention of 1862-1867.

In January, 1861, Matías Romero, representative of President Benito Juárez, met with President-elect Abraham Lincoln in Springfield, Illinois. Lincoln wrote to Romero, “While, as yet I can do no official act on behalf of the United States, as one of its citizens, I tender the expression of my sincere wishes for the happiness, prosperity, and liberty of yourself, your government, and its people.”

During Lincoln’s presidency and beyond, Romero represented Mexico in Washington, DC. Romero developed a close relationship with the Lincoln family.

In the late 1960s, the presidents of the United States and Mexico exchanged statues of their predecessors.

“All nations rightly praise their own famous men. But only a truly great people pause to pay tribute to the great of other lands. And that is what Mexico is doing today. What Abraham Lincoln stood for is what binds our two nations—and, indeed, this entire hemisphere—together.”

—President Lyndon Baines Johnson at the dedication of the Abraham Lincoln Statue in Mexico City, April 15, 1966

“Permit me, Mr. President, in return for the gift received by Mexico City, the statue of Abraham Lincoln, to give to the city of Washington a statue of a great Mexican President, Benito Juárez. These two men, who were born relatively close together, have become brothers in the sense that they both share an indomitable spirit. They are both saviors of their countries and they are both similar in their ideals.”

At the 1964 dedication of the Abraham Lincoln statue in Ciudad Juárez, US Senator Ralph Yarborough of Texas stated, “Abraham Lincoln and Benito Juárez never met, but their thoughts and aims and hopes for freedom and justice for mankind were of one mold. Lincoln never saw this city but his spirit and ideals are here today, and we are all caught up in it.” Mexico’s National Border Program placed this 18-foot statue.

“The Chamizal treaty is an act of justice. It was done in the spirit of Abraham Lincoln, of John F. Kennedy, in the spirit of Benito Juárez’ declaration that peace is the respect of others' rights.”

A 1980s plan for Chamizal National Memorial stated, “A statue of Benito Juárez will be emplaced in a visually prominent location just east of the plaza near the visitor center. This statue (to be constructed by donation) will complement and be of a size comparable to the Abraham Lincoln statue in Ciudad Juárez.”

The nonprofit XII Travelers Memorial of the Southwest and Chamizal National Memorial began working together in 2016 to install a monument of Benito Juárez on the grounds of Chamizal National Memorial. See our XII Travelers partner page for additional information about the project.

While Benito Juárez was in Villa Paso Del Norte (present-day Ciudad Juárez) in 1865-1866, he initiated a formal complaint to the US Government requesting a resolution to the boundary dispute that would become known as “The Chamizal Problem.” Nearly 100 years after his request, President Lyndon Baines Johnson and President Adolfo López Mateos celebrated the successful and peaceful settlement of this dispute.

Though Lincoln and Juárez never met, their ideals and their lives are connected in our collective memory of the monumental events that rocked the North American Continent in the 1860s. The memory of them both is truly for the ages.

The Rio Grande has sustained human life in this desert valley for thousands of years. The settlements that became El Paso and Ciudad Juárez grew together along its banks. Long before the river divided people, it connected them.

For generations this area has been part of the traditional homelands of ancestral and contemporary American Indian peoples. These people include the Suma, Piro, Jano, Jacome, Manso, Jumano, Jornada, Comanche, Kiowa, and the Lipan, Chiricahua and Mescalero Apache. For the people of Ysleta del Sur Pueblo, their living culture remains tied to the land and river. Experience the history and heritage of Ysleta del Sur Pueblo by visiting their Cultural Center .

Pottery made by the people of Ysleta del Sur Pueblo (Tigua Indians) embodies their relationship to the Rio Grande: the clay from which it’s made, the water it carries, and the people who make and use it.

In this area the river cut through a mountain pass which had long facilitated travel and trade. Nearby, Spanish colonials developed a settlement which they called Paso del Norte (today’s Ciudad Juárez), along El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro .

For approximately 300 years, traders and settlers drove hand-hewn wooden oxcarts ( carretas ) along what we now call El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro.

The name Chamizal (chah mee SAHL) comes from the chamizo plant, or four-wing saltbush. This shrub grew abundantly on El Chamizal, land in the floodplain contested between the United States and Mexico.

The shifting river forced Mexican and US officials to confront difficult questions. When the Rio Grande changed course, did the boundary move with it? Who controlled the land on either side? As they had in the 1840s, the two countries again made conflicting claims to disputed territory. Over the next century, tensions ebbed and flowed as leaders struggled to resolve the conflict.

In the 1850s, gradual erosion and severe flooding shifted the course of the Rio Grande. This created uncertainty about who owned territory along its banks. Eventually, the river flowed south of a piece of Mexican land known as El Chamizal. It became the heart of a boundary dispute for the next hundred years.

In 1864, flooding pushed the Rio Grande further south into Paso del Norte (renamed Ciudad Juárez in 1888), beginning a century of formal dispute. Across the river, US residents of El Paso, Texas moved into the land known as El Chamizal. Jurisdiction of this land remained in question. Mexico’s President Benito Juárez lived in exile in Paso del Norte between 1865 and 1866 because of the French occupation of Mexico City. During this time he became aware of the effects of the flood. In 1866 his representative addressed the US Secretary of State about sovereignty of El Chamizal.

In the Convention of 1884 , Mexico and the United States reaffirmed the river’s deepest channel as the international boundary. For the first time, the new treaty also acknowledged the river’s changing course. If the river channel moved gradually over time, the boundary moved with it. If the river shifted suddenly, the boundary remained along the previous course.

The United States and Mexico established the International Boundary Commission (IBC). It addressed issues caused by changes in river channels used to mark the boundary. The IBC became the International Boundary and Water Commission (IBWC) in 1944.

The IBC heard the claim of Mexican landowner Pedro Ignacio García. It became known as Case No. 4. The IBC could not reach agreement about which country had jurisdiction over his land in El Chamizal. The conflict continued. Case No. 4 became the focus of the 1911 arbitration.

By the 1890s, the Rio Grande made a dramatic bend east of downtown El Paso, Texas. In 1899, engineers from both countries dug a channel across the bottom of the meander to reduce the impact of flooding. The international boundary remained along the former riverbed. This left an “island” of Mexican land jutting north into US territory. During American Prohibition in the 1920s-30s, the area attracted drinkers and cross-border smugglers. Mexico erected a fence along the perimeter in 1940. Look for the remaining concrete fence posts along the memorial’s northwest corner.

The Banco Convention settled ownership of bancos, lands left between old river channels and new ones created by flooding. This treaty enabled the two countries to exchange some land. It did not address the dispute over El Chamizal.

The United States and Mexico argued the Chamizal case before the IBC. Commissioner Eugene Lafleur from Canada joined Anson Mills from the United States and Fernando Beltrán y Puga from Mexico. By majority vote, the Mexican and Canadian commissioners awarded Mexico the land that was south of the river before the 1864 flood. The United States objected on legal grounds despite previously agreeing to accept the final decision. The conflict persisted for another fifty years. From 1911 to 1963 every US President tried to reach a settlement.

In the Rectification Convention , Mexico and the United States agreed to straighten and shorten a section of the Rio Grande in the El Paso-Juárez Valley by 67 miles. The Chamizal question remained a separate and unresolved issue. Again, numerous parcels of land were exchanged, and the precedent for a solution was set.

Against the backdrop of the Cold War, US President John F. Kennedy met Mexican President Adolfo López Mateos in Mexico City in June 1962. Seeking a closer alliance, they committed to ending the persistent Chamizal dispute.

CECIL STOUGHTON, WHITE HOUSE PHOTOGRAPHS / JOHN F. KENNEDY PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM, BOSTON

Presidents Kennedy and López Mateos directed their governments to solve the Chamizal problem. After negotiating the details for over a year, US Ambassador Thomas C. Mann and Mexico’s Foreign Secretary Manuel Tello, signed the Chamizal Convention on August 29, 1963. The treaty built on a century of diplomatic efforts to resolve the dispute.

“To keep the negotiations confidential and unofficial I used ESSO gas station maps of El Paso on which lines were drawn by both sides showing various possible solutions.”

“We worked quietly . . . without any publicity—otherwise I don’t think it would have been possible to reach any settlement. . . . I went to the El Paso Chamber of Commerce. I went to the county officials, the city officials . . . . Of course we even talked with the people who resided in the Chamizal area.”

These men are identified as key negotiators of the Chamizal Convention in the U.S. Department of State publication Hands Across the Border: The Story of Chamizal , October, 1967.

What can we learn from the resolution of the Chamizal issue to help with current conflicts?

Translated from Spanish: “The problem isn't about money. The only solution that needs to happen before the end of this administration is to return those lands to Ciudad Juárez as the 1911 judgement stipulated.”

Translated from Spanish: "Mexico always maintained the strong conviction that its territorial rights—which it has always defended in every place and circumstance—should be respected. And in the clear case of Chamizal, the damage had to be repaired sooner or later and the 1911 award completely carried out."

Mexico, Diario de los Debates de la Camara de Senadores de los Estados Unidos Mexicanos , December 27, 1963. https://infosen.senado.gob.mx/documentos/DIARIOS/1963_08_21-1963_12_31/1963_12_27_O.pdf (July 14, 2020)

Translated from Spanish: "If our neighbors have discarded the mindset that the United States has business interests, not friends, and instead seek the goodwill of Latin Americans over dominating them politically and economically; if they are mindful of the fact that secure and long-lasting prosperity must be shared with those who participate in its increase; and if they show evidence of this—such as in the case of El Chamizal—then we can believe that the returning of Mexican land that was bound for a century to the other side of the river is a sure sign of better days. Kennedy, a martyr of his own beliefs, and Adolfo López Mateos, an exemplary and extraordinary Mexican, will be held more deeply and fervently in the hearts of all Mexicans."

“Legislatura XLV - Año III - Período Ordinario - Fecha 19631229 - Número De Diario 41.” Cámara de Diputados, Legislatura XLV. Accessed July 15, 2020. http://cronica.diputados.gob.mx/DDebates/45/3er/Ord/19631229.html .

Translated from Spanish: ". . . here in our country an event has given the world an example of a new tonic, rekindling faith in the understanding and mutual cooperation between nations and their governments when encouraged by good faith and their desire to resolve differences through devotion to justice and increasing goodwill."

My name is Bertha Isela Chavez and I am 11 years old. I am writing this letter for my mother and father we live in the Chamizal. My father is 54 years old and my mother is 61 years old. They are too old to start another debt. Their income is small and the house payment now is all we can pay after our living and my school expenses.

"The United States is guilty because it put up for sale Mexican land when it knew that it was Mexican territory, in the year of 1910. Now the U.S. tries to defraud the poor and honest people. But if we property owners of Chamizal Zone are forced to move, we want not only the value of the property; we have to get three times the value, because it costs so much to build."

"My opinion is that I don't want to move. I don't know why President Kennedy had to stick his nose into it. All my neighbors feel the same way about it, and are very unhappy about it. I believe they should get some undeveloped land instead of the present land."

"What's Your Opinion?," The Sun Shopper , February 28, 1963, Box 1, Blue Binder "1 Chamizal" Newspaper Clippings, James Connor Papers Relating to El Paso Chamizal Land Dispute, C. L. Sonnichsen Special Collections Department, University of Texas at El Paso, El Paso, TX. Newspaper clippings missing author.

"If this land rightfully belongs to Mexico, then I'm glad it is being returned. But I feel sad of having to move out and start all over again."

"The way I see it—if they change everything it's going to be messy for those involved in having to move and leave their homes. It's going to be very hard to make an evaluation on the property involved. Speaking as an American, I say this is ours and we should keep it."

"I think when our government, after 99 years, takes the land that was fought for and that blood was shed for, and gives it to any other country, it's time to fight (or give up)! 'El Chamizal' is U.S.A. The river was changed by an act of God."

Ray Denny, letter to the editor, El Paso Herald-Post , February 26, 1963, Box 1, Blue Binder "1 Chamizal" Newspaper Clippings, James Connor Papers Relating to El Paso Chamizal Land Dispute, C. L. Sonnichsen Special Collections Department, University of Texas at El Paso, El Paso, TX.

"There were some 1,100 homes we had to purchase. Residences. We talked to 5,000 people. And most of those we were able to negotiate fairly well. But there were some who were hurt--not so much from the property standpoint--but for the older people who had their little church, had their own friends around them, had their grocery store that they knew, this was hard. This was an uprooting."

Martinez, Oscar J, and Sarah E John. “Interview No. 552, Joseph F. Friedkin.” ScholarWorks@UTEP. University of Texas at El Paso. Accessed July 15, 2020. https://scholarworks.utep.edu/interviews/552/ .

"We didn't get everything we wanted, and they didn't get everything they wanted. We negotiated hard on that, and I think what came out of it is something which was good for Juárez, good for El Paso, and good for Chihuahua, and the State of Texas."

“Oral Histories -- Thomas C. Mann.” LBJ Presidential Library. Accessed July 15, 2020. http://www.lbjlibrary.net/collections/oral-histories/mann-c.-thomas.html .

In July 1963, after thirteen months, US and Mexican negotiators finally reached agreement. On August 29, Mexican Secretary for Foreign Relations Manuel Tello and US Ambassador Thomas C. Mann signed the Chamizal Convention of 1963 in Mexico City. The hard work wasn’t over yet. It took commitment and sacrifice to turn the paper agreement into practical reality.

In order to exchange land with Mexico to settle the Chamizal dispute, the US federal government purchased both private and commercial properties. Nearly 5600 residents of El Paso neighborhoods such as Rio Linda and Cordova Gardens were required to move. Property owners received at least fair market value and were compensated for moving and some other expenses.

The complete William Bass interview is available online through the University of Texas at El Paso Oral History Department.

The complete Ana Parra interview in Spanish is available online through the University of Texas at El Paso Oral History Department.

“First and foremost of most importance is our traditions. . . . they must continue. . . . as a tribe we must be respectful and continue our ceremonies and traditions.”

Chamizal National Memorial is uncommon among more than 400 other national parks, both as an urban park and because of its full performance theater, which seats almost 500 people. This indoor theater and an outdoor amphitheater are stages for sharing the park’s history and borderland culture during various major events and other programs throughout the year

One of the first things you will see when you come to the park is the Nuestra Herencia mural depicting elements of this area's history and culture and Chamizal history. More works of art representing the US-Mexico border are on display inside the Cultural Center, and the park store offers some traditional Mexican handicrafts for sale. A larger-than-life sculpture of Mexican President Benito Juárez sits in front of the Cultural Center facing the city that was named for him.

There are many things to do at Chamizal National Memorial, so plan your visit and check our calendar to find your next great cultural experience!

The Chihuahuan Desert is one of four major deserts located in North America (Mojave, Sonoran, Great Basin and Chihuahuan). It covers over 175,000 sq miles - more than twice the size of Florida. Most other deserts in this hemisphere have formed due to the "rain shadow" effect where precious, life-sustaining rain and snow empty only on one side of a mountain range leaving the other dry and parched. Our desert, however, lies in an inland corridor where moist, tropical air from the south cools and drops its moisture on mountain tops known as "sky islands". These pockets of moisture sustain a diverse community rich in plant and animal life. No other desert boasts such diversity.

Here, in the El Paso region, we find a large community of small leafed and mostly thorny plants such as creosote, tarbush, and acacias. Chamizal National Memorial is home to some of the Chihuahuan Desert's more common plant species.

"Remember the Alamo!" Texans cried. Did you know that alamo is the Spanish word for cottonwood? Chamizal National Memorial and the surrounding area actually have two species of native cottonwoods: the Rio Grande cottonwood (Populus deltoides) and the Fremont cottonwood (Populus fremontii). All cottonwoods grow where water is abundant, such as near natural springs, along the banks of the Rio Grande, in dried creek-beds where the water table lies just below the surface, and where humans water the tree, like at Chamizal National Memorial. But humans need water as well. The Rio Grande has been dammed in several spots and since the vast majority of the river's water is now used by people, the Rio Grande is meager. As the Rio Grande's riparian ecosystem has deteriorated, riverside cottonwoods have deteriorated as well.

The desert willow is a highly specialized desert plant that adds a splash of color to the El Paso landscape. The thin, waxy leaves protect the tree from losing too much moisture in this arid climate. The tree will drop leaves in times of drought and will remain dormant until the next rain. American Indians used the leaves of the desert willow for baskets and the bark for shirts and nets. The orchid-like flowers were used to treat coughs. The wood was used for fuel and building material.

If you like to barbeque, then the word mesquite may ring a bell. Mesquite is an ingredient found in many barbeque briquettes, and its smoke gives your steak or baby back ribs a distinct flavor. The honey mesquite is native to the U.S.–Mexico border region and is a relatively small tree. It releases nitrogen into the soil. Nitrogen maintains soil health and is a prerequisite for farmers in maintaining soil fertility. A member of the legume family, wild animals eat the bean pods that are produced by the honey mesquite.

A native tree of the Middle East, the Mondell pine, also known as the Afghan pine, is especially well suited for living in hot, dry places like El Paso. It can withstand long periods of drought, grows well in full sun, can endure constantly heavy winds, is generally resistant to pests, and it is not invasive like many other nonnative species of plants. The Mondell pine is commonly used as a wind breaker and city beautifier. This is the only coniferous (needle and cone bearing) tree within the memorial.

Most oak trees are deciduous, which means that they lose their leaves every fall. But the live oak keeps its leaves year-round—it's an evergreen. This type of oak is relatively small in size and can often be low-growing like a bush. The live oak does not require much water and can grow in poor soils. The acorns produced are a staple food source for the urban wildlife of Chamizal National Memorial—birds and squirrels. Past hunter and gatherer societies ground the acorns into flour. The leaves were used as bedding, or were burned to ashes and used as a cleaning agent similar to lye. The pulverized bark was dusted on open sores to aid healing and would often be used to treat newborns with bleeding navels. The bark was also boiled and used as a dye for buckskins. Even the branches were woven into work baskets as handles or used as a structural support.

Today, live oaks shade us from the summer sun and beautify our cities. Oak wood is used to make kitchen and dining room tables, as well as bedroom furniture.

In 2008, Chamizal was involved the Hummingbird Monitoring Network . Park rangers, our summer Teacher-Ranger-Teacher, and volunteers gathered in the Spanish Garden to gather data on local and migratory hummingbirds. The birds were caught in nets as they came in to sip from our hummingbird feeders. With gentle handling by staff, they were weighed, measured, and banded. Each band has a unique number that will forever be associated with that bird. The information gathered is loaded into an international database for scientists to study and extrapolate information.

The Hummingbird Monitoring Network is "a science-based, project-driven, nonprofit organization dedicated to the conservation of hummingbird diversity and abundance throughout the Americas." More information can be found on their website, www.hummonnet.org .

A native to southern California, Anna's are also occasionally seen in El Paso. It is one of only three species to permanently reside in the United States. Unlike most hummingbirds, Anna's can sing. The adult male has a dark tail and a rosy-red iridescent crown, chin and throat. The female has a green crown and a gray chin and throat with variable amounts of thin dark streaking or rosy red spots. They can be seen in El Paso in November to March.

The Black-chinned is the most common hummingbird of Texas. While both the male and female are green in color, the male can have either a black chin or a completely black head, purple band, and white throat. The female has a white chin and a somewhat washed-out throat with green streaks. The Black-chinned is mainly a nectar eater but will also eat insects. They tend to make their nests out of twigs and spider web silk. They migrate through El Paso from April to September.

Broad-tails are commonly seen in the western mountain ranges of the Rockies and Sierras. The male is metallic green with a rosy-red band on his throat, a green crown, and a broad tail. The larger female has green central tail feathers with outer tail feathers that are rust-colored at the base, black in the middle, and white on the outer tips. They are sometimes mistaken for the female Rufous and Allen's Hummingbirds. They migrate through El Paso in July and August.

The Rufous is the only hummingbird regularly found as far north as Alaska. It has a green head and back. The male has a copper-colored throat patch; a rusty-brown head, body, and tail; a white chest and belly; and dark wings. The trill the male makes with its wings identifies him from the female. Females are not colored as brightly as males. They have a few iridescent flecks in the throat, large white spots on the tail, and a green head and back. They can be seen in El Paso from April to September.

Resembling the common raven but smaller and with a rather longer tail, the great-tailed grackle originated in Central America. For the past several decades, it has been expanding its range northward into Mexico and now lives throughout a large portion of the western U.S. The great-tailed grackle has adapted to our wide-scale irrigation systems and landscaped yards. They thrive in the urban environment and live in El Paso and Ciudad Juárez year-round. Considered a noisy bird, the great-tailed grackle makes a variety of sounds.

Although some robins remain in the same habitat year-round, the robins you see in El Paso migrate. Our robins winter in southern Mexico, travel northward in the spring, spend summer in the United States and Canada, and finally, fly back to Mexico in the fall. In El Paso, the first robin arrives in February. The robin can be distinguished by its red underbelly. I eats mainly worms and fruit. Robins make a "cheery carol," and are often the first bird chirping at dawn.

One of the most common birds of North American cities, the mourning dove is even more abundant in open areas. Light grey and brown in color, this dove is commonly hunted for food and sport. Even so, there is still a large population of the bird due to the fact that pairs produce many offspring. The mourning dove lives in El Paso year-round. It is the closest relative of the passenger pigeon, which was hunted to extinction in the early 1900s. The mourning dove makes a soft coo-oo sound followed by two or three louder coos .

Unlike the mourning dove, the white-winged dove migrates, spending winters in Central America and southern Mexico. Mainly found in the wild, the white-winged dove can also be seen in El Paso. It is a chunky, brownish-grey bird that has a distinct white patch on its wings and a blue eye ring. The bird eats seeds, grains, and fruit, and makes a hoo-hoo-hoo-hoo (who-cooks-for-you) sound.

Compared to other squirrels, the spotted ground squirrel might look colorless and small, but this species of squirrel has adapted almost perfectly to the desert environment of West Texas and Chihuahua (the Mexican state): its light color acts as camouflage. The spotted ground squirrel eats seeds from common desert shurbs and grasses, and it also eats fruits and flowers produced by cacti. Like grizzly and black bears of the norther Rocky Mountains, the spotted ground squirrel hibernates during the coldest part of winter.

Along with the mountain lion, the coyote can be found in practically every part of North America. A member of the canine family, the coyote is smaller than the wolf but larger than the fox. Coyotes can grow up to 25 pounds, and they have thick, bushy tails and pointed ears. Coyotes mainly feed on rabbits and rodents, but they will eat just about anything. A fast runner, the coyote has been clocked at over 40 miles per hour.

If you see a rabbit speeding through a park or school campus, it's probably a desert cottontail. Named for its puffy white tail, the desert cottontail is most active at night. However, it can also be seen in the early morning and late afternoon, when the sun is not quite as fierce. The cottontail is copra, which means that it eats its own feces to get extra nutrients. The rabbit eats mainly grasses and is, itself, eaten by rattlesnakes, coyotes, bobcats, and birds of prey. Sometimes the desert cottontail can save itself by running in a zigzag pattern, which confuses its predator. Although it does have many predators, the population remains stable because females of the species produce several young each year.

The Western Diamondback (Crotalus atrox) is the most common rattlesnake in West Texas, but the black-tailed rattlesnake (Crotalus molossus) can also be seen in the Chihuahuan Desert. Rattlesnakes are grayish brown in color and can be distinguished from other snakes by a rattle at the end of their body. Rattlesnakes hibernate in winter but come out if there is a long, warm spell. They are most active in the morning and evening the rest of the year. Their diet consists mainly of rodents and rabbits. Rattlesnakes are preyed on by coyotes and birds of prey. If you see a rattlesnake, leave it alone and give it plenty of room. If bit by a rattlesnake, seek medical attention immediately.