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- Author, Paul Ivan Harris
- Reel, BBC Reel
3 hours ago
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According to the 2020 census, Río Rico currently has fewer than 170 residents
A border community in the state of Tamaulipas, the Mexican city of Río Rico has a rich history.
It was once a little Las Vegas of sorts, and at one point it was part of the United States.
But a lot of people there forgot. Why?
Boundaries between regions and countries change frequently, whether violently due to wars or peacefully when part of the country is traded between two parties.
But the case of Río Rico fits neither. It was an enterprise (and an illegal encroachment on a river course) that rewrote the history of the MexicoUnited States border.
The Rio Grande in the south or the Rio Bravo in the north have marked the geographical border between the two countries since 1848.
For a long time, its course was repeatedly changed, leading to territorial disputes between Mexicans and Americans, culminating in the treaty of 1884, which recognized only deviations due to natural events as valid for the purpose of redrawing borders.
In the early 1900s, a company called the American Rio Grande Land and Irrigation Company operated a pumping station on the American side that drew water from the river to irrigate local farmers.
In 1906, without permission, his administration decided to narrow one of the bends in the river. He then dug a canal that eventually isolated 419 hectares of land owned by the US that moved with the maneuver to the south side of the river, a total of 1.67 km² of territory baptized “Banco Horcón”.
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Before…
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…and then
“There are consequences of trying to control nature,” says Joe Vidales of the McAllen Heritage Center, a museum in Texas.
Although the country was still legally part of the United States, its location, now south of the river, placed it under the jurisdiction of the Mexican authorities.
America’s Rio Grande Land and Irrigation Company violated multiple contracts and was fined, but the territory’s status remained in legal limbo.
little las vegas
The population quickly adapted to the new reality, especially after Prohibition was introduced in the United States in 1920.
“If you were in South Texas and wanted to have a beer or a margarita, you couldn’t do it this side of the river, but you could paddle, swim, sometimes even walk and have a drink.”
Thrown onto the Mexican side after the river was artificially (and illegally) diverted, the city of Río Rico happily provided its northern neighbors with what was then forbidden in the country.
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The Tivoli Café had a large dance hall
“In 1928, construction began on a bridge to the Río Rico,” says Vidales.
Local newspapers reported not only on the opening but also on everything else the place had to offer.
“There were casinos, gambling, cockfights, brothels. The Tivoli nightclub had a dance floor the size of a basketball court. 250 of the fastest dogs took part in the inaugural event of the Rio Rico Kennel Club.”
“Prohibition made Río Rico’s economy prosper. And the name that was floating around at the time was Al Capone’s,” he adds.
“There is no official record that he was there. But it is believed that his henchmen were responsible for pumping money into the town to turn it into a tourist area.”
Alma Bernal, a native of the village, recalls that “there was a hotel and a theater where my grandparents could see Pedro Infante and Sara García, very important artists in Mexican history”.
“A lot of people have traveled to Río Rico just to see these artists.”
the oblivion
Fair winds turned after 1933, when liquor bans were lifted in the United States.
Río Rico is a sleepy frontier town again, recalls Mike England, who works for the England Cattle Company and grew up on the American side of the river.
The border was never something that separated him.
“Growing up by the river was heaven: I went fishing and hunting every day with the kids who lived across the river, who came to our house as if they were family.”
“They also swam in the river, went south and lived with their respective families.”
“It’s a bit strange. They talk about illegals on this site… I guess I was illegal on this site too, but nobody cared.”
Since then, and for several decades, the people of Río Rico eventually forgot that they were actually citizens of the United States.
That was until 1967 when a geography teacher named James Hill discovered what had happened.
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The case of the Lost Americans resonated in the American press
‘I was born in Rio Rico!’
Hill “has done extensive research in this area and has produced welldocumented maps showing the properties on these 419 acres (170 hectares) where the river has been cut,” says Vidales.
Among those interested in the research was attorney Laurier McDonald. One of his clients, a man named Homero Cantu, was in the midst of a deportation process from the United States at the time.
McDonald was able to show that his client was a US citizen because he was born in Río Rico.
“It’s the 14th amendment: anyone born in the United States is a citizen,” says Vidales.
“It created a lot of confusion. People came from all over Mexico, Europe and even China to say, ‘I was born in Río Rico’.”
Because so many people seeking US citizenship claim to have been born in the small town, attorneys have had to review claims on a casebycase basis.
“We had clients whose status depended on the room they were born in because the house itself was on the international border,” recalls Robert Crane, an immigration attorney.
“You have to keep in mind that no one who lived there knew about it, so the lots were divided up to build new houses.”
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Identification document that recognizes the U.S. citizenship of a person born in Río Rico
In the end, the United States officially ceded Banco Horcón to Mexico and accepted the citizenship applications of about 250 people.
Most of them emigrated to the United States, leaving Río Rico a shadow of himself.
“It’s hard to believe that this was once a very active city,” says Bernal.
Río Rico is a fairly peaceful place today. According to the 2020 census, it has about 170 inhabitants.
The few remaining families are farmers, and incoming visitors are headed for the border, one of the most heavily guarded in the world.
“This river doesn’t separate people,” says England. “Despite everything, we are brothers, we are still all human.”
*This article is based on the BBC Reel video “The Frontier Town That ‘Forgot’ It Was Part of the USA”. To view the original content in English, click here.