Chamizal

The Chamizal National Memorial is right in the boarder between the US and Mexico. Sitting within sight of the Bridge of the Americas connecting El Paso with Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua. We decided against going over the boarder to add another country to our list. The traffic coming back in was terrible. There is another bridge named Bridge of the Americas in Panama.

The Chamizal National Memorial was really nice, but absolutely empty. There was a little island of Mexico surrounded by the US. There had been markers all over letting you know when you crossed into a different country. There were boarder disputes between the US and Mexico for years. Part of the problem was using the Rio Grande river as the boarder. Rivers change over time between erosion and flooding. The boarder was agreed on paper, but it is a whole other thing to then survey and actually mark it.

President Kennedy started the process of fixing the disputes. After his assassination, President Johnson finished it. The little island of Chamizal was now in America.

Inside, we met Saul the ranger. He was dying to talk to somebody. He told us a lot of the history. Every time we tried to leave, he popped up to tell us more information. It was really nice inside. It may be the nicest national memorial that no one goes to. They do have an outdoor stage and have free concerts during the summer. Sadly, the gift shop was closed because of mice.

The mural outside has three presidents: Kennedy, Johnson and Obama. They are the only three presidents to visit Chamizal.Read more