Vagabond Ventures by Vee: Del Rio, of the River

Del Rio was a Mexican settlement back in the late 17th century, so it has been around a while. It's a city that lies partly on the American side of the border and partly on the Mexican. Although the Mexican side has its own name, Ciudad Alcuna, there is really no geographical distinction between the two, other than the river. The larger part is on the Mexican side.

Chorro and I settled in here for a brief period and went on a short expedition today. We like some of the old buildings in this town that show the Spanish influence.

Here's a church very near the center of town,

and here is a store downtown with beautiful blue trim.

There are several little gazebos similar to this one around town and I like to imagine little fiestas taking place in them.

Downtown is a blend of Spanish and English throughout, a generous consideration for the 20% of the population here that is English speaking. Most of the downtown shops are run by people of Mexican descent. I must say that I love the bright colors and costumes I see in these places. They are quite different than what we WASPs think of as tasteful, but to me they project a light-hearted, celebratory, and festive view of life. The stores pipe music outdoors, music with lots of guitars, horns, Spanish lyrics,-- very upbeat. I think I might have been very happy to have been Mexican.

Here's an example of some "art" in a gift shop that just makes me smile.

That particular shopkeeper apparently has a soft spot for pigs.

We had lunch at a small city park, later in the day we found a much larger one. As you can see, it is very dry here in Del Rio. This county is called "Val Verde," the green valley, but not this time of year, or not this year perhaps.

This little river was actually called a creek, a designation I haven't seen on flowing water since Oklahoma. Perhaps its proximity to the Rio Grande makes it absurd to call it a river?

In the downtown area, we also unexpectedly found a museum. It's hard to pass up a small town museum because sometimes they are absolute gems of history (Kaycee, Wyoming, for example). The Whitehead Museum here in Del Rio was actually once a trading post. Well it still is, part is a gift shop.

But there are about ten or so small buildings on the grounds that hold a huge variety of local history, much of it significant to the country as a whole.

This area was home to Judge Roy Bean, a well-known if questionably ethical frontier judge. Roy Bean was a successful saloon operator who named his saloon "Jersey Lilly," for a famous singer from New Jersey, Lilly Langtry.

That building is a replica of the real Judge Bean saloon in Langtry, but Judge Bean is buried here in the grounds of this museum.

One building was dedicated to Dr. S. Rodriguez, a Mexico-educated man who worked in both Acuna, on the Mexican side, and Del Rio. He was unique in that he had free access to either side of the border and travelled back and forth on horseback as he pleased. He was a respected and loved doctor in these cities for many years. The museum has many of his instruments and furnishings.

Another building was dedicated to Del Rio's early twentieth century controversial radio station, which was once considered to be the most powerful broadcasting station in the country. Mexican authorities closed it down and dismantled it several times. It was the first broadcasting job for "Wolfman Jack," and among the souvenirs of those times were many autographed pictures of famous singers. Recognize the fellow in the middle? The one dressed in black?

It was in this area that the Italian adventurer de Vaca, who travelled with his African companion, was captured by Seminole Indians. He saved his own life by saving the life of one of the Indians who had an arrow lodged near his heart. De Vaca was not a medical doctor but was and intuitively talented healer. I liked this diorama of de Vaca, his black companion, and the Seminole Indians, although I questioned whether de Vaca, and Italian, would have been blonde.

The light in the middle is of course the reflection from my flash. Unfortunately it was too dark for my camera to get the picture without the flash.

Del Rio had a very early (late 1800's) irrigation project which resulted in the government granting the town land. This is one of the original irrigation canals, still used.

Then some bits of nostalgia -- I remember my father sawing lumber with a saw powered by a tractor.

And I have no idea what this car is, but when I was a child this is what gas pumps looked like. To fill a car, you first pumped the gas up into the top part of pump, then it gravity-filled into the car's gas tank.