Laredo: A look back

This morning we met with Odilón Arámbula former editor of the Laredo Times. He regaled us with stories of Laredo's rich history. Thanks to him we walked away with a copy of Laredo A Pictorial History by Jerry Thompson. We also want to thank Alfredo De Los Santos, Jr for introducing us to Odie and for his moral support of this project. Alfredo has also made available part of his collection of books on border history.


The Spanish efforts in New Mexico were largely oriented towards finding gold and converting the Native Americans to Catholicism. Both endeavors were frustrating and yielded mixed results. In the mid-1700's the Spanish vice royalty in Mexico began moving in a different direction. Because they feared the intrusion of the French into what is now Texas the Spanish crown decided to establish towns and colonies along the lower half of the Rio Grande. This time their colonizing focused on stabilizing their control of the eastern portion of their empire.

Plaza San Agustín, the birthplace of Villa San Agustín de Laredo
still beautiful after 250 years

Villa San Agustín de Laredo was founded in 1755 by Don Tomás Sánchez a captain in the Spanish colonial army. It was one of the cities founded as part of the plan to defend against the French and establish trade opportunities from Mexico into this region. No town or city established at the time took the idea of trade and commerce more seriously than Laredo. From a modest beginning on the banks of the Rio Grande Laredo has grown to become the largest land port in the United States. It is a maze of express ways and rail lines that connect the two countries in the strong embrace of commerce.

Several times a day Laredoans face the aggravation of waiting
for international trains to cross the river

Interstate Highway 35 that runs through Laredo is the Pan American Highway. It connects the Dallas-Fort Worth area to every country in Central and South America. Hundreds of 18 wheelers thunder in and out of the US in a never ending stream. Some of these trucks carry imported goods from south of the border while others are merely bringing back the products of the hundreds of maquiladoras that line the Rio Grande on the Mexican side.


The contemporary emphasis on trade and commerce obscures other interesting aspects of Laredo's history. In the1840's for example, Laredo became the capitol of the Republic of the Rio Grande an abortive attempt to create a long and slender country that would straddle the Rio Grande and serve as a buffer between the US and Mexico. The Mexican military squashed the attempt. The Republic of the Rio Grande lasted less than one year. The head of its cavalry was beheaded and his head impaled and exhibited in his home town as a lesson to the citizenry. Most Texans have heard of the six flags that have flown over Texas. The flag of The Republic of the Rio Grande was actually the seventh flag.


During all of this period the Rio Grande was not a border between countries as it is today. As we drove along the river beneath the several bridges that link Laredo, Texas to its sister Nuevo Laredo in Mexico we were reminded of the counter-acting forces that create disunity today. In a stretch of river we found several Border Patrol officers parked along the causeway with engines running the temperature was about 30 degrees so it was unlikely that anyone would try to swim across, but the migra remained on the alert.


An interesting aspect of Laredo life today is the high degree to which its residents maintain a strong bilingual tradition and a facility to engage with each other on cultural affairs. Regrettably, recent episodes of criminal violence on the Mexican side of this community have cast a pall over these interactions.

Large flags wave at each other across the Rio Grande

General Ignacio Zaragoza, victor of the Battle of Puebla,
Cinco de Mayo. Stone sober...

In the past Larodoans thought nothing of walking or driving into their neighboring city for dinner or shopping. Those experiences have become fewer and fewer as North Americans withdraw from areas in which violence has been known to occur in the past. The economic impact of this estrangement is that Mexican businesses are suffering from the loss of clients and customers from the U.S. side.

Cinco de Mayo?

At the plaza de San Agustín the center of early Laredo life we ran into a monument to the Mexican General Ignacio Zaragosa. He also has a street named after him. General Zaragosa was the commander of the Mexican army who defeated the French army at the Battle of Puebla. Thus ending the reign of the Austrian Prince Maximillian who had been sent to Mexico by Napoleon. It seems he was the only young prince in Europe at the time who did not have his own country. That famous battle is celebrated today on the 5th of May. Many Americans believe this calls for celebrating with huge amounts of liquor and liquor merchants and distributors do not argue with this trend. There is no evidence that 

General Zaragosa celebrated in like manner; indeed 

he looks quite sober.

There are few flowers in a very cold February;
we could not miss this one!