Down on the Border

Chapter 2

The Great Chihuahuan Desert

The border country where I live is without question one of the most remarkable areas in existence and has produced some of the most engaging tales and characters in history. My home is located smack dab in the middle of the Great Chihuahuan Desert which is rivaled by no other, not even the Great Sonoran Desert of saquaro cactus fame. I've spent the majority of my  life taking in the treasures of this desert as its student and admirer, and it's a most auspicious place to be.

Growing up just west of the badland in New Mexico, I was afforded an opportunity that seems to be scarce today. Not a day went by that I wasn't knocking around the brush with a .22 pistol, a good horse and an old dog. These days, my work as a federal lawman along the border prevents me from tarrying in my beloved bush country as much as I'd like, but I still find the time to do a good bit of shooting and consorting with fellow desert rats and to gather alluring tales involving a number of subjects that vary from characters old and new, antics and misdeed of those characters and the accoutrements they have used.

New Mexico's border with the Republic of Mexico commences just west of El Paso, Texas, and runs about 180 miles to Arizona. This stretch of beautiful desolation combines an assortment of desert environments fluctuating from scattered mesquite and greasewood country, through tall grass and pampa  to rugged mountain country covered in juniper and pinon pine.  All of this area is cattle country, with the exception of a large farming area just west of Columbus, the site of the famous raid by Pancho Villa's revolutionary forces. I can tell you from my personal experience that the New Mexico-Chihuahua border is not much more docile now than it was in the days of the Mexican  revolution. It is still a rough and wild country dominated by people tempered by the land, people who make it a habit not to leave the house without some sort of long gun or handgun, depending on the personal taste of the individual. The country necessitates it. I am included in this list and have packed a sidearm almost every day for the past 25 years.

If you look at a map of New Mexico, you notice that the extreme southwest corner of the state bears a resemblance to the heel of a boot, thus the handle "boot heel" area. This portion of the state is one of the most uninhabited, wide open frontiers in the United States. I have covered almost every mile of that border fence by one method or other, including helicopter, motor vehicle, horseback and on foot. The lawmen and cowboys who work this country on a daily basis truly have their work cut out for them. The land is ringed by tremendous escarpments that flow into rough, rocky mountain country with little cause for habitation. People, houses and amenities hardly exist. Mexico rambles off to the south and the same variety of terrain is offered there.

This expanse is a mecca for smugglers who thrive on the isolation of the tract. These individuals skulk across the border with their illicit bounty, utilizing every canny method imaginable. For many of these hapless people on the south side of the fence, smuggling is the only way they can scrape out an existence. The introduction of millions of dollars worth of illegal dope into the United States by these folks doesn't always involve sophistication. The boot heel area lends itself perfectly to smuggling by pack-train using horses, mules, burros and pedestrians bearing backpacks. Although they are adversaries of our country, I must say that many of the men who ramrod these expeditions are remarkable in their ability to navigate the treacherous terrain mile after mile in the dark of night, avoiding law enforcement patrols that seek them on the ground and in the air. These people are rough, wily and unfortunately, rarely apprehended.

No less hardened are the law enforcement personnel who are tasked with the pursuit of these tough criminal. Rookies sent to the border area to be broken in are done so quickly. If not reared in the area, most eventually come to love the border country for it's harshness and beauty and the strength of character that it had provided them. Equally leathery are the ranchers and cowboys who live off the land along the fence. The border country has fashioned the characters of all of these people.