Living on the Border--1980's vs Present Day

Living on the Border

            Whenever new employees and families from the North Country of the United States, and later from France, arrived to Laredo, I would put them through cultural awareness training.  Living in Laredo, and working at the plant in Nuevo Laredo, was a much pleasanter experience if you could lessen the “cultural shock” these folks always felt.  I would start by telling them that they would think their first year on the border was terrible, the second year would seem much better, and if they stayed past a third year they would be unfit to go anyplace else!  Of course, they did not believe me until my prophecy was vindicated.

            During the 1980’s and 1990’s, the quality of life on the Laredo border was quite good.  Independently owned, unique, and very good restaurants on the Laredo side included Goldings, Favaratos, and the Tesoro Club at the La Posada Hotel.  In Nuevo Laredo, excellent eating establishments, at very reasonable prices, included La Fittes,  The Winery, and the Cadillac Bar.  If you had out-of-town visitors, you could walk across the downtown bridge and shop at the Nuevo Laredo Market, or buy up-scale jewelry and clothing at Marti’s.  Laredo’s first professional City Manager, Marvin Townsend, and his wife, started a “Newcomers and Friends Club”, which welcomed the new residents to Laredo.  There were two large shopping malls, two English language newspapers, and English speaking AM Radio stations with local news broadcasts.  Unfortunately, by the 2000’s, all of the above, except for one newspaper, disappeared.  In their place came three Wal-marts, national chain restaurants, and the demise of the Nuevo Laredo tourist scene due to an explosion of drug cartel violence along Mexico’s northern border. 

            I had several job opportunities while working at Delredo to leave the border, but chose to turn them down.  My wife, family, and I had come to truly appreciate the warm friendships we had made on both sides of the border.  We had also taken advantage of participating in the many opportunities for community service in Laredo, and had quickly discovered that “newcomers” were very much welcomed in organizations like Rotary Clubs, the Laredo Chamber of Commerce, the Washington Birthday Celebration, Habitat for Humanity, and others.  Laredo has grown to a medium-sized city but has retained its small town feel. 

There are still Maquiladoras in Nuevo Laredo, but the drug cartel violence in Mexico has kept many Americans from crossing the border, and most new plants have opened in Mexico’s interior.  I know from experience that the Maquiladoras contributed to both the Mexican and U.S. economies, but also trained and developed their employees to enable them to enjoy better lives for themselves and their families.  In the new “global economy” the decisions to establish maquiladora plants in Mexico, rather than in Asia, have strengthened the NAFTA partnership.

Fort McIntosh--a Laredo Jewel!

The following is from a book written by Kathleen Da Camara:

"OLD FORT MclNTOSH was originally a star-shaped

earthwork occupying an area of about one acre on a

bluff some fifty feet above the waters of the Rio

Grande. It was partly constructed by the Engineers De-

partment and was finished by troop labor. Within was

a fine magazine of stone with an arched roof overlaid

with earth. There were descending steps, iron doors,

and secure locks, and there was a tunnel under the riv-

er. This old fort stood near the most important place

of entry along the Texas-Mexican border, the Indian

Crossing. This for a century or more had been used

by all the prairie schooners. The old fort adjoins the

present Fort Mclntosh on the northwest end of the

military reservation, with its earthen walls still intact

According to the United States Army records of the

Reservation of Fort Mclntosh, the United States troops

entered Laredo immediately after the Mexican War,

and a post was established on March 3, 1848, and

named Camp Crawford. This name was changed to

Fort Mclntosh in 1850 in honor of Lieutenant Colonel

James Mclntosh, who died in Mexico City in 1847.

This post was abandoned in 1858, and its stores re-

moved to Fort Brown near Brownsville, and the build-

ings, some thirty in number, then reverted to the city

of Laredo, from which a tract of land, twenty-five

hundred acres, had been leased. Upon abandonment of

the post, the authorities of Laredo leased to the United

States for a nominal consideration, for ten years, the

old fort and five acres of land. In 1859 two companies

of the First Infantry were sent to Fort Mclntosh to

take post. On September 7, 1860, the city of Laredo

entered into another lease with First Lieutenant John

Slaughter, covering the land on which the fort is lo-

cated. The land was leased for a period of twenty years,

and during the period of lease the United States could

buy the land if it was wanted.

On March 2, 1861, at the outbreak of the Civil

War, the post was abandoned by the United States

garrison, and Colonel Benavides became commander of

it during the war. In 1865 the Federal forces reoccu-

pied the post, and it again came into the hands of the

United States Government, The post has been gradual-

ly improved, and it is now headquarters for the posts

along the river from Del Rio to Brownsville

In 1870 many new buildings were erected. A hospi-

tal, post office, bakery, six quartermaster storehouses,

and three barracks were built.

From 1900 till the First World War, the Ninth In-

fantry was stationed at Fort Mclntosh, and when the

war broke out they were moved and the Thirty-Sev-

enth Infantry and the Sixth Field Artillery were sta-

tioned here. From 1916 to 1918 the First Infantry,

New Hampshire National Guard, was stationed in La-

redo. From 1920 to 1939 this post was the home of

the Eighth Engineers, and these men were transferred

to the Philippines in September, 1941. In 1942 Fort

Mclntosh was a cavalry post and about two thousand

enlisted men and officers were stationed there. New

barracks were constructed, old ones enlarged, and tem-

porary buildings were set up. At the end of the war

Fort Mclntosh was closed. The northern half was

turned over to the Boundary Commission and the

southern half was given to the city. It is here that the

Laredo Junior College is located."

LAREDO

on the

RIO GRANDE

by

Kathleen Da Camara

Press of

THE NAYLOR COMPANY

SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS