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80:’s “Partido Chamizal” or the “Chamizal District” north of the river/boundary—and seemingly into U.S. jurisdiction. As the river’s southward meanderings continued, and as more Anglo American settlers began arriving to this region in the late 1880s and settling Partido Chamizal as part of the American town of El Paso, these processes together created the swath of contested land known as "El Chamizal" or the "Chamizal Zone." While Americans exerted control and jurisdiction over the territory, the state of Mexico never relinquished its claim to the zone. Residents of Cd. Juárez who had owned and farmed land within Partido Chamizal also never gave up their claims.
125:) which covered the disputed land near the present-day park. It is a rather ordinary looking shrub that thrives in diverse soil and climatic conditions. The chamiza once grew prolifically in the Chamizal Zone because of the salty soil deposited by the river and the constant movement of this soil across the river’s alluvial plain. With roots reaching a depth of as much as 15 feet, the chamiza stabilized the soil and protected against eroding watersheds. With increased urbanization in both El Paso and Cd. Juárez through the 20th century, however, the once-prolific chamiza became increasingly scare in the area.
280:
244:, as presiding officer to investigate and deliberate over whether the change in the river's course had been gradual, whether the boundaries set by treaties were fixed, and whether the 1848 treaty applied. Mexico claimed that the boundary had never changed and therefore that the Chamizal was technically Mexican territory, while the United States claimed that the 1848 convention applied, that the boundary was the result of sudden erosion, and that the property therefore belonged to the United States.
141:) defined the international border as the line along the middle of the deepest channel in the Rio Grande, continuously in tandem with any fluctuation in its channels or its banks. In 1884, another treaty modified this by explicitly accepting the internationally established doctrine known as "the law of accretion" that specifies that the line of a river-defined border shall follow the changing path of the boundary river only in response to gradual
33:
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east of the adjacent
Cordova Island. Although no payments were made between the two governments, the United States received compensation from a private Mexican bank for 382 structures included in the transfer. The United States also received 193 acres (78 ha; 0.78 km) of Cordova Island from Mexico, and the two nations agreed to share equally in the cost of re-channeling the river. In 1964, Presidents
222:
321:. Although many residents organized to resist their displacement, they were unsuccessful in doing so. As part of the Chamizal Relocation Project, residents who owned their homes were given fair-market value. Tenants, however, were simply evicted. Years later, many of these displaced residents called their shared experience of displacement the "Chamizal diaspora."
76:) through El Paso and Cd. Juárez was significantly different from the river's present (1895) location. After much investigation, the IBC decided that the Chamizal Dispute began in 1864. That year the RĂo Grande made a dramatic, southward shift after a remarkable flood in the river. This shift subsequently placed Mexican territory known at that time as
157:, and eventually the land was settled and incorporated as part of El Paso. Both Mexico and the United States claimed the land. In 1895, Mexican citizens filed suit in the Juárez Primary Court of Claims to reclaim the land. The newly formed International Boundary Commission took up the case that same year, titling the case "Chamizal case no.4."
233:, a body that had been created in 1889 to maintain the boundary (and which was subsequently expanded pursuant to subsequent treaties, in order to allocate river waters between the two nations, and provide for flood control and water sanitation). A tribunal was established comprising a representative from each country and a Canadian jurist,
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The tribunal recommended that year that part of the disputed tract lying between the riverbed, as surveyed in 1852, and the middle of the river in 1864 would become United States territory and the remainder of the tract become part of Mexico. The United States rejected the proposal on grounds that it
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In 1899, both countries dug a channel across the heel of the horseshoe bend of the river at the dispute site for flood control purposes. This moved a 385-acre (156 ha; 1.56 km) tract of land to the U.S. side of the river, but as man-made alterations do not change the boundary, this tract of
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The dispute was formally settled on
January 14, 1964, when the United States and Mexico ratified a treaty that generally followed the 1911 arbitration recommendations. The agreement awarded to Mexico 366 acres (148 ha; 1.48 km) of the Chamizal area and 264 acres (107 ha; 1.07 km)
103:
broached the idea of perhaps finally setting this conflict. Negotiations coalesced, in 1963, with the
Chamizal Treaty, which was ratified in 1964. The settlement identified 630-acres in South El Paso as El Chamizal and promised to return this acreage to Cd. Juárez. The Chamizal Zone was officially
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One of the aims of the
Chamizal Convention was to build a man-made channel to prevent the Rio Grande from blurring the international boundary ever again. The channel was constructed of concrete, 167 feet (51 m) in width at the top and 15 feet (4.6 m) deep. The two governments shared the
201:
planned a summit in Ciudad Juárez and El Paso, a historic first meeting between a
Mexican and a U.S. president and also the first time an American president would cross the border into Mexico. But tensions rose on both sides of the border over the Chamizal, which any route from El Paso to Ciudad
316:
In order to complete the terms of the
Chamizal Treaty, more than 5,600 El Paso residents were also displaced from their homes within the 630-acres ceded to Mexico. Many of these residents were American citizens. The IBC and the U.S. federal government worked together to evict and relocate these
161:
land remained
Mexican territory. This tract of land came to be known as Cordova Island, in a sense it was an island belonging to Mexico inside U.S. territory. Thus, there was little or no control by the local authorities, which created a haven for crime and opportunities for illegal crossings.
152:
The river continually shifted south between 1848 and the early 1900s, with the most radical shifts in the river occurring after floods in 1862, 1864, and 1865. By 1873 the river had moved approximately 600 acres (240 ha; 2.4 km), cutting off land that was in effect made United States
214:, who in addition to owning large investments in Mexico was a close friend of Taft from Yale and a U.S. Vice-Presidential candidate in 1908. On October 16, the day of the summit, Burnham and Private C.R. Moore, a Texas Ranger, discovered a man holding a concealed
251:
Between 1911 and 1963 various presidents made several more attempts to resolve the issue. Amongst the suggested compromises were forgiving debt, exchange of other territory along the Rio Grande, direct purchase of the tract, and inclusion of the
Chamizal in the
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Estimates for El
Chamizal total anywhere between 590 and 1600 acres; but, in truth, its exact size and location remains highly contested and is perhaps impossible to define due to limited and cursory documentation for the river’s meanderings.
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met at the border to end the dispute. On
September 17, 1963, the U.S. Congress introduced the American–Mexican Chamizal Convention Act of 1964, which finally settled the matter. In October 1967, President Johnson met with President
83:
Over the many decades that followed, multiple efforts on the part of both Americans and Mexicans were made to resolve this conflict. Each time, these efforts failed. Tensions over the territory during the historic
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standing at the El Paso Chamber of Commerce building along the procession route. Burnham and Moore captured, disarmed, and arrested the assassin within only a few feet of DĂaz and Taft.
701:
Robert J. McCarthy, Executive Authority, Adaptive Treaty Interpretation, and the International Boundary and Water Commission, U.S.-Mexico, 14-2 U. Denv. Water L. Rev. 197 (Spring 2011)
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residents from the 630-acres, which included five residential areas of South El Paso known as: Rio Linda, Cotton Mill, Cordova Gardens, El Jardin, and the last two southern blocks of
104:
ceded to and became incorporated into the Republic of Mexico on October 28, 1967. The Chamizal Treaty remains the first and only time the United States has given land back to Mexico.
812:
Trillo, Maria Eugenia (2002). "The Code-switching Patterns of the Rio Linda Community of El Chamizal in El Paso, Texas: An Emic Perspective of Syntactic Constraints".
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did not conform to the agreements of the arbitration – instead it fuelled an ongoing dispute between the two governments and fostered ill-will.
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agreed to settle it on the basis of the 1911 arbitration award. It was hoped that settlement of the dispute would strengthen the
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Juárez would cross, even though it would be considered neutral territory with no flags present during the summit. The
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to increase visitor awareness of cooperation, diplomacy and cultural values as a basic means to conflict resolution.
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Mexicans celebrate in June 1962 as JFK visits Mexico City shortly before the end of the dispute.
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summit almost resulted in the attempted assassination of both presidents on October 16, 1909.
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460:"El RĂo Grande as Pedagogy: The Unruly, Unresolved Terrains of the Chamizal Land Dispute"
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421:""El Chamizal is ours forever:" Rumor, time, and the law in El Paso's settler society"
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395:"252 - A River Runs Through It: the Chamizal Dispute (1895-1963) | Strange Maps"
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and with worries over Mexico's potential allyship with Cuba mounting, U.S. President
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256:. The dispute continued to affect Mexico–United States relations adversely until
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In 1910 Mexico and the United States agreed to have the dispute settled by the
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over contested land (estimates range from 600 to 1,600 acres ) along the
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The Texas Rangers And The Mexican Revolution: The Bloodiest Decade. 1910–1920
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730:(December 21, 1963) Don Irwin, "Johnson Signs Treaty on Chamizal Turnover".
715:(March 13, 1963) Ruben Salazar, "Texas Due to Return 450 Acres to Mexico".
60:. The conflict was caused by multiple meandering, southward shifts in the
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1852–1963 U.S.–Mexico border conflict caused by a shift in the Rio Grande
518:"Beyond the River's Violence: Reconsidering the Chamizal Border Dispute"
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64:, which delineates the U.S.-Mexico boundary in this region. When the
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The Secret War in El Paso: Mexican Revolutionary Intrigue, 1906-1920
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Hampton, Benjamin B (April 1, 1910). "The Vast Riches of Alaska".
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cost of the channel, along with the cost of three new bridges.
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Gladys, Gregory; Liss, Sheldon B.; de Hinojosa, Alana (2022).
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In 1974, the United States established a museum known as the
965:
Reports of International Arbitral Awards – The Chamizal Case
905:. Albuquerque, New Mexico: University of New Mexico Press.
882:. Albuquerque, New Mexico: University of New Mexico Press.
829:(July 20, 1963) "Juarez Victors Cheer El Paso Deal Feebly".
941:"Mr. Taft's Peril; Reported Plot to Kill Two Presidents".
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International territorial disputes of the United States
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on the border and formally proclaimed the settlement.
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territory. The newly exposed land came to be known as
1017:
History of the foreign relations of the United States
181:(left) and the Mexican Secretary of Foreign Affairs,
562:. Texas State Historical Association. June 12, 2010
497:Gregory, Gladys; Liss, Sheldon B. (June 12, 2010).
898:
897:Harris, Charles H. III; Sadler, Louis R. (2004).
878:Harris, Charles H. III; Sadler, Louis R. (2009).
926:. Victoria, BC, Canada: Trafford Publishing.
425:Environment and Planning D: Society and Space
8:
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231:International Boundary and Water Commission
970:Handbook of Texas Online: Chamizal Dispute
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742:(July 21, 1963) "Curtain on El Chamizal".
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185:(right) sign the Chamizal Convention in
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107:The Spanish word "Chamizal" comes from
848:The Autobiography of John Hays Hammond
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36:Map of the Chamizal settlement of 1963
814:University of New Mexico Dissertation
505:. Texas State Historical Association.
343:Historic regions of the United States
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169:Disputes and controversy (1899–1963)
115:, the common name for the four-wing
850:. New York: Farrar & Rinehart.
752:Kramer, Paul (September 20, 2014).
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149:shall not affect the borderline.
66:International Boundary Commission
254:Rio Grande Rectification Project
788:"Elvira Villa Lacarra Escajeda"
393:Jacobs, Frank (March 6, 2008).
269:Organization of American States
1037:Territorial disputes of Mexico
44:was an international land and
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516:Sears, Sarah (May 10, 2023).
287:(left) and Mexican President
95:In 1961, in the midst of the
945:. London. October 16, 1909.
137:(which officially ended the
1032:Mexico–United States border
786:de Hinojosa, Alana (2022).
458:de Hinojosa, Alana (2021).
419:de Hinojosa, Alana (2024).
177:U.S. Ambassador to Mexico,
135:Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
50:Mexico–United States border
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348:Rio Grande border disputes
338:Chamizal National Memorial
326:Chamizal National Memorial
792:Handbook of Texas History
437:10.1177/02637758231216385
373:Handbook of Texas History
208:Frederick Russell Burnham
1057:History of Ciudad Juárez
560:Handbook of Texas Online
503:Handbook of Texas Online
58:Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua
923:Burnham: King of Scouts
920:van Wyk, Peter (2003).
993:31.75833°N 106.45833°W
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265:Alliance for Progress
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998:31.75833; -106.45833
476:10.1353/aq.2021.0052
139:Mexican–American War
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643:, pp. 440–446.
298:Adolfo LĂłpez Mateos
289:Adolfo LĂłpez Mateos
199:William Howard Taft
143:alluvial deposition
129:Origins (1848–1899)
74:RĂo Bravo del Norte
867:Hampton's Magazine
844:Hammond, John Hays
754:"A Border Crosses"
667:, pp. 565–66.
534:10.1093/dh/dhad020
522:Diplomatic History
499:"Chamizal Dispute"
464:American Quarterly
369:"Chamizal Dispute"
307:Gustavo DĂaz Ordaz
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189:on 29 August 1963.
145:, but that sudden
122:Atriplex canescens
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1042:Arbitration cases
889:978-0-8263-4652-0
827:Los Angeles Times
740:Los Angeles Times
728:Los Angeles Times
713:Los Angeles Times
302:Lyndon B. Johnson
285:Lyndon B. Johnson
267:and solidify the
212:John Hays Hammond
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397:. Big Think
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187:Mexico City
155:El Chamizal
1062:Rio Grande
1011:Categories
981:31°45′30″N
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354:References
275:Resolution
62:Rio Grande
951:0307-7578
766:0028-792X
542:0145-2096
484:1080-6490
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258:President
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846:(1935).
401:June 30,
332:See also
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