In this Book
- The River and the Wall
- Book
- 2019
- Published by: Texas A&M University Press
summary
When a team of five explorers embarked on a 1,200-mile journey down the Rio Grande, the river that marks the southern boundary of Texas and the US-Mexico border, their goal was to experience and capture on film the rugged landscapes of this vast frontier before the controversial construction of a border wall changed this part of the river forever.
The crew—Texas filmmaker Ben Masters, Brazilian immigrant Filipe DeAndrade, Texas conservationist Jay Kleberg, wildlife biologist Heather Mackey, and Guatemalan-American river guide Austin Alvarado—began the trip in El Paso, pedaling mountain bikes through the city’s dry river bed. Their path took them on horseback through the Big Bend, down the Wild and Scenic stretch of the river in canoes, and back to bikes from Laredo to Brownsville. They paddled the last ten miles through a forest of river cane to the Gulf of Mexico.
As they made their way to the Gulf, they met and talked with the people who know and live on the river—border patrol, wildlife biologists, ranchers, politicians, farmers, social workers, locals, and travelers. They climbed the wall (in twenty seconds). They encountered rare black bears, bighorn sheep, and birds of all kinds. And they sought to understand the complexities of immigration, the efficacy of a wall, and the impact of its construction on water access, wildlife, and the culture of the borderlands.
The River and the Wall is both a wild adventure on a spectacular river and a sobering commentary on the realities of walling it off.
The crew—Texas filmmaker Ben Masters, Brazilian immigrant Filipe DeAndrade, Texas conservationist Jay Kleberg, wildlife biologist Heather Mackey, and Guatemalan-American river guide Austin Alvarado—began the trip in El Paso, pedaling mountain bikes through the city’s dry river bed. Their path took them on horseback through the Big Bend, down the Wild and Scenic stretch of the river in canoes, and back to bikes from Laredo to Brownsville. They paddled the last ten miles through a forest of river cane to the Gulf of Mexico.
As they made their way to the Gulf, they met and talked with the people who know and live on the river—border patrol, wildlife biologists, ranchers, politicians, farmers, social workers, locals, and travelers. They climbed the wall (in twenty seconds). They encountered rare black bears, bighorn sheep, and birds of all kinds. And they sought to understand the complexities of immigration, the efficacy of a wall, and the impact of its construction on water access, wildlife, and the culture of the borderlands.
The River and the Wall is both a wild adventure on a spectacular river and a sobering commentary on the realities of walling it off.
Table of Contents
Download Full Book
- Inspiration
- pp. 1-13
- Starting Line to Sonic Ranch
- pp. 35-40
- The Congressmen
- pp. 41-49
- The Forgotten Reach
- pp. 50-62
- The Mustangs
- pp. 63-68
- Learning to Ride
- pp. 69-71
- Me and C-Star
- pp. 72-75
- Desert Bighorn Sheep
- pp. 76-80
- The Draw of the Big Bend
- pp. 81-85
- Black Bears
- pp. 86-88
- The Yellow-Billed Cuckoo
- pp. 90-94
- Boquillas, by Heather Mackey
- pp. 103-105
- Wild and Scenic River, by Austin Alvarado
- pp. 106-111
- Waterlogged on the Rio, by Korey Kaczmarek
- pp. 112-115
- Langtry, by Hillary Pierce
- pp. 116-118
- Lake Amistad, by Heather Mackey
- pp. 119-123
- Crossers, by Ben Masters
- pp. 124-136
- A Landowner's Viewpoint, by Becky Jones
- pp. 137-141
- The Santa Ana Rally, by Hillary Pierce
- pp. 142-147
- Ocelots, by Katy Baldock
- pp. 151-155
- The Maquiladora, by Ben Masters
- pp. 160-163
- The Respite Center, by Hillary Pierce
- pp. 164-167
- My Immigration Story, by Geny Alvarado
- pp. 168-174
- The Final Paddle, by Ben Masters
- pp. 180-186
- Acknowledgments
- pp. 187-191
Additional Information
ISBN
9781623497811
Related ISBN(s)
9781623497804
MARC Record
OCLC
1073035061
Pages
200
Launched on MUSE
2019-08-04
Language
English
Open Access
No