History And Significance Of The Chamizal

In 1966, Congress established Chamizal National Memorial to commemorate the Chamizal Convention (treaty) of 1963. The Chamizal treaty finally ended a long-standing border dispute between the U.S. and Mexico.

The 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo established the Rio Grande/Ro Bravo as the international boundary between the U.S. and Mexico.

However, rivers naturally move over time. In this case, the river gradually, and at times abruptly, moved south, which left Mexico with less land than the 1848 treaty established. The land disputes that arose because of the river movement caused tension between the U.S. and Mexico for more than 100-years.

Finally, in 1963 U.S. President John F. Kennedy and Mexican President Adolfo Lopez Mateos met to discuss the “Chamizal Issue? and through diplomatic negotiations, they solved the Chamizal Issue with the signing of the Chamizal Treaty.

Lyndon B. Johnson was a key player in peacefully solving the Chamizal dispute between Mexico and the U.S. As a senator in the 1950s, LBJ had sent a personal note to President Eisenhower requesting that the time was ripe for peacefully ending the Chamizal dispute; Eisenhower did not act on the matter. However, under Kennedy, the peaceful ending of the dispute had been initiated

In fact, at the time of Kennedy?s assassination, the Chamizal Convention (treaty) of 1963 was being written. Due to Kennedy?s tragic death, it was LBJ who signed the Convention in Washington D.C., and it was LBJ that met with President Adolfo Lpez Mateos of Mexico in El Paso to officially ratify the Convention in September of 1964. The Chamizal Convention of 1963 gave the Chamizal tract back to Mexico and also did many other things that ultimately established a relationship of friendship, diplomacy, peace, and goodwill between the two countries.

Source: Chamizal National Memorial Park