Photograph of the signature and seal page of the Chamizal Convention of 1963, courtesy of National Archives and Records Administration.
NPS
In July 1963, after thirteen months, US and Mexican negotiators finally reached agreement. On August 29, Mexican Secretary for Foreign Relations Manuel Tello and US Ambassador Thomas C. Mann signed the Chamizal Convention of 1963 in Mexico City. The hard work wasn’t over yet. It took commitment and sacrifice to turn the paper agreement into practical reality.
Aerial view of Chamizal zone showing the planned relocation of the Rio Grande in blue and the lands to be transferred (630 total acres to Mexico and 193 acres to the United States) to implement the Chamizal Convention of 1963
UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT EL PASO LIBRARY
In order to exchange land with Mexico to settle the Chamizal dispute, the US federal government purchased both private and commercial properties. Nearly 5600 residents of El Paso neighborhoods such as Rio Linda and Cordova Gardens were required to move. Property owners received at least fair market value and were compensated for moving and some other expenses.
Personal Perspectives
Photo of backyard of the home of William Bass taken by IBWC real estate appraiser William E. Wood, Jr.. Parcel D-38.
NPS / WILLIAM E. WOOD, JR.
William Bass
“I’m very satisfied."
William Bass
Displaced Chamizal resident, William Bass, was interviewed in 1994 as part of the Chamizal Oral History Project. This is an excerpt relating his perspective at the time the Chamizal Convention was implemented.
Credit / Author:
UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT EL PASO ORAL HISTORY DEPARTMENT
But over there, it was more friendly than anything else, see? Everybody got together. [If you] had a party, everybody [would] go out there. So, like I say, I'm not complaining because, like I say, I like it here. It's nice and quiet. It's [a] nice neighborhood. It's close to everything. So I'm very satisfied.
Everybody was, you know, like they said, "We're going to get more [for our house in the Chamizal] than what we paid for it." So like I was getting ready to buy another house anyway. So when they told us about the Chamizal I said, "Well," I said, like "I think it's okay."
Photo of Los Alamos Grocery Store (owned by Ana Parra and her husband) taken by IBWC real estate appraiser William E. Wood, Jr.. Parcel D-126.
NPS / WILLIAM E. WOOD, JR.
Ana Parra
"They told us that they would pay all our losses, but it was not that way."
Ana Parra
Displaced Chamizal business owner, Ana Parra, was interviewed in 1994 as part of the Chamizal Oral History Project. This is an excerpt relating her perspective at the time the Chamizal Convention was implemented. The original interview was recorded in Spanish. This excerpt has been translated and recorded using voice-over.
Credit / Author:
UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT EL PASO ORAL HISTORY DEPARTMENT
We had been living there for five years, on Twelfth Street; we had a store called Los Alamos. My husband was really affected, and I believed that if they took that place away he would not be able to make it anywhere else. I went to the meetings but I was never satisfied. They told us they were going to pay all our losses but they didn’t. They only sent a truck so we could move out. We didn't know anything about what was happening there. We would go out into the streets and everybody had left; many people left still owing us money. So, we didn’t have any goods when we moved, and my husband thought that they were going to pay him the losses but they only sent a truck.
The complete Ana Parra interview in Spanish is available online through the University of Texas at El Paso Oral History Department.
Javier Loera, War Captain, Ysleta del Sur Pueblo Tribal Council
NPS / BRIAN KANOF
Javier Loera
“First and foremost of most importance is our traditions. . . . they must continue. . . . as a tribe we must be respectful and continue our ceremonies and traditions.”
Javier Loera: Continuing Traditions
Chamizal National Memorial Cultural Resources Program Manager, Mark Calamia, Ph.D., interviewed Javier Loera, War Captain, Ysleta del Sur Pueblo Tribal Council. This is an excerpt from that interview about the Pueblo's perspective on various aspects of the Chamizal dispute and resolution.
Mark Calamia: What are your views on access today? Access to the river especially to do what you need to do as Tigua.
Javier Loera: It is a hindrance. It is very frustrating sometimes, in which we have to ask all these governmental agencies. . . . We have to ask prior permission or at least a month in advance for us to be there, to this area, where we have our traditional activities. And sometimes it's also very frustrating and because there's personnel looking down upon us watching over us in this very ceremonial activities that that we do, and that's like—disrespectful. That’s in essence sacrilegious in which they're observing us at a distance. These are very proud ceremonies and should be afforded the right to, as Native Americans, to practice our religious activities and ceremonies. . . .
Yes this area that we go for all our ceremonies and activities but we have to have their permission, their consent, in order for us to be there. . .
There’s—there’s a big wall being built right now, that fence. And that also contributes to the hindrance. The political situation at the moment also contributes to it—the building of those fences and walls and whatever. That is a contributing factor also. But we're talking about our ceremonies and our religious and traditional activities that we must observe and continue. . .
Mark Calamia: Next, I’d like to ask: How does the Ysleta del Sur Pueblo view the Chamizal Treaty given that the Pueblo did not participate in its development?
Javier Loera: We were not invited for this—I guess—what was it? A ceremony? Or dedication? Because at that time we were not federally recognized. So we kept to ourselves during those years prior to our recognition. We—we were just a pueblo here within the city limits of El Paso. But we pretty much kept to ourselves as a tribal pueblo, without all these political activities that were going on at that moment, in those years. But I guess if were invited, we could have gone. . . . ‘Cause we were invited for the dedication of other activities. The Elephant Butte Dam and all that. But it would have been a good idea if our chief during that time was invited. . .
It is of a great concern to me and our pueblo, and I speak so on behalf of our cacique, our chief, that we must open these dialogues, these communications. . . with different federal agencies to better be in communication with these government agencies. . . . First and foremost of most importance is our traditions. And, like I said they must continue. No matter how or what means. Because to us, as a tribe we must be respectful and continue our ceremonies and traditions. That is most important to me.
