The River Has Never Divided Us
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Jefferson Morgenthaler
About this book
Winner, William P. Clements Prize, Best Non-Fiction Book on Southwestern America, 2004
Not quite the United States and not quite Mexico, La Junta de los Rios straddles the border between Texas and Chihuahua, occupying the basin formed by the conjunction of the Rio Grande and the Rio Conchos. It is one of the oldest continuously inhabited settlements in the Chihuahuan Desert, ranking in age and dignity with the Anasazi pueblos of New Mexico.
In the first comprehensive history of the region, Jefferson Morgenthaler traces the history of La Junta de los Rios from the formation of the Mexico-Texas border in the mid-19th century to the 1997 ambush shooting of teenage goatherd Esquiel Hernandez by U.S. Marines performing drug interdiction in El Polvo, Texas. "Though it is scores of miles from a major highway, I found natives, soldiers, rebels, bandidos, heroes, scoundrels, drug lords, scalp hunters, medal winners, and mystics," writes Morgenthaler. "I found love, tragedy, struggle, and stories that have never been told." In telling the turbulent history of this remote valley oasis, he examines the consequences of a national border running through a community older than the invisible line that divides it.
Author / Editor information
Reviews
No other history of the area has approached the broad interpretation of this book as it weaves this intensive study of La Junta so closely into the international trends and events taking place in Texas, Mexico, and the United States. . . . The writing is witty, bold and enticing.
Topics
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Frontmatter
i -
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Contents
vii -
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Acknowledgments
ix -
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Forgotten
1 -
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Junie
3 -
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The Land
11 -
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La Junta
14 -
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Before 1830
21 -
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The Promised Land
25 -
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Anglos Arrive
33 -
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In Doniphan’s Wake
39 -
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Jack Hays Gets Lost
49 -
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Whiting Draws the Line
56 -
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Forty-Niners
63 -
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Scalp Hunting Redux
70 -
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A Sudden Death
76 -
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The End of Isolation
83 -
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Railroads and Ranches
93 -
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The Armies
99 -
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Skillman’s Raiders
108 -
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The Rise and Fall of John Burgess
115 -
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The End of the Mescaleros
121 -
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Victor Ochoa
131 -
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Toribio Ortega’s Rebellion
138 -
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Orozco and Huerta
158 -
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Pancho Villa
168 -
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Punitive Expeditions
185 -
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The Spencers
201 -
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Pablo Acosta
207 -
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Rick Thompson
225 -
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River and Border
229 -
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Gilbert Spencer
234 -
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An Afternoon with Enrique
239 -
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Notes
247 -
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Bibliography
289 -
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Index
299
