Misplaced Pages

#213786

136-522: Native peoples lived in small tribes in the area before the Spanish conquest. The native tribes in South Texas were known to be hunter-gatherer peoples. The area was known for its smaller nomadic tribes collectively called Coahuiltecan . Native archaeological excavations near Brownsville have shown evidence of prehistoric shell trading. Initially, the Spanish had a hard time conquering the area due to

272-645: A blue-water navy was vital for global power projection; Tirpitz had his books translated into German, while Wilhelm made them required reading for his advisors and senior military personnel. However, it was also an emotional decision, driven by Wilhelm's simultaneous admiration for the Royal Navy and desire to surpass it. Bismarck thought that the British would not interfere in Europe, as long as its maritime supremacy remained secure, but his dismissal in 1890 led to

408-592: A grenade at the Archduke's car and injured two of his aides. The other assassins were also unsuccessful. An hour later, as Ferdinand was returning from visiting the injured officers in hospital, his car took a wrong turn into a street where Gavrilo Princip was standing. He fired two pistol shots, fatally wounding Ferdinand and his wife Sophie . According to historian Zbyněk Zeman , in Vienna "the event almost failed to make any impression whatsoever. On 28 and 29 June,

544-540: A guerrilla warfare campaign and only surrendered two weeks after the armistice took effect in Europe. Before the war, Germany had attempted to use Indian nationalism and pan-Islamism to its advantage, a policy continued post-1914 by instigating uprisings in India , while the Niedermayer–Hentig Expedition urged Afghanistan to join the war on the side of Central Powers. However, contrary to British fears of

680-1011: A bomb scare in San Benito, Texas . This followed the desecration of a Santa Muerte statue in the San Benito Municipal Cemetery in January of the same year. In addition to the Catholic Church, several other Christian denominations are present in the Rio Grande Valley, including several organized Protestant churches in the Lower Rio Grande Valley. There are also 26 congregations of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints with about 17,000 members. Sikh , Muslim , Hindu , Jewish , Buddhist and Baháʼí Faith communities thrive in

816-408: A change in policy and an Anglo-German naval arms race began. Despite the vast sums spent by Tirpitz, the launch of HMS  Dreadnought in 1906 gave the British a technological advantage. Ultimately, the race diverted huge resources into creating a German navy large enough to antagonise Britain, but not defeat it; in 1911, Chancellor Theobald von Bethmann Hollweg acknowledged defeat, leading to

952-595: A collection of related languages. It should not be confused with the Coahuilteco language . The Coahuiltecan languages are extinct, but there are efforts by scholars such as Jessica L. Sánchez Flores (Nahua descent) to revive them. Linguists have suggested that Coahuiltecan belongs to the Hokan language family of present-day California , Arizona , and Baja California . Most modern linguists, however, discount this theory for lack of evidence; instead, they believe that

1088-613: A direct threat. The 1908–1909 Bosnian Crisis began when Austria annexed the former Ottoman territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina , which it had occupied since 1878. Timed to coincide with the Bulgarian Declaration of Independence from the Ottoman Empire, this unilateral action was denounced by the European powers, but accepted as there was no consensus on how to resolve the situation. Some historians see this as

1224-584: A failed Spanish expedition to Florida, were the first Europeans known to have lived among and passed through Coahuiltecan lands. In 1554, three Spanish vessels were wrecked on Padre Island . The survivors, perhaps one hundred people, attempted to walk southward to Spanish settlements in Mexico. All but one were killed by the Indians. In the early 1570s the Spaniard Luis de Carvajal y Cueva campaigned near

1360-471: A gap between the German armies as they closed on Paris. The French army, reinforced by the British expeditionary corps, seized this opportunity to counter-attack and pushed the German army 40 to 80 km back. Both armies were then so exhausted that no decisive move could be implemented, so they settled in trenches, with the vain hope of breaking through as soon as they could build local superiority. In 1911,

1496-688: A people, integrated into the Spanish-speaking mestizo community. In 1827 only four property owners in San Antonio were listed in the census as "Indians." A man identified as a "Mission Indian," probably a Coahuiltecan, fought on the Texan side in the Texas Revolution in 1836. In the community of Berg's Mill, near the former San Juan Capistrano Mission , a few families retained memories and elements of their Coahuiltecan heritage. In

SECTION 10

#1732765618214

1632-548: A possibility. This was accentuated by British and Russian support for France against Germany during the 1911 Agadir Crisis . German economic and industrial strength continued to expand rapidly post-1871. Backed by Wilhelm II, Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz sought to use this growth to build an Imperial German Navy , that could compete with the British Royal Navy . This policy was based on the work of US naval author Alfred Thayer Mahan , who argued that possession of

1768-605: A range of environmental organizations across the Rio Grande Valley, including the South Texas Environmental Justice Network, the South Texas Human Rights Center, TRUCHA, Voces Unidas, and Texas Rising RGV. The letter highlights the identities of Rio Grande Valley community members that are most often overlooked, including Indigenous voices. Now, there are large concerns regarding Elon Musk’s intentions to relocate

1904-834: A revolt in India, the outbreak of the war saw a reduction in nationalist activity. Leaders from the Indian National Congress and other groups believed support for the British war effort would hasten Indian Home Rule , a promise allegedly made explicit in 1917 by Edwin Montagu , the Secretary of State for India . In 1914, the British Indian Army was larger than the British Army itself, and between 1914 and 1918 an estimated 1.3 million Indian soldiers and labourers served in Europe, Africa, and

2040-516: A significant escalation, ending any chance of Austria cooperating with Russia in the Balkans, while also damaging diplomatic relations between Serbia and Italy. Tensions increased after the 1911–1912 Italo-Turkish War demonstrated Ottoman weakness and led to the formation of the Balkan League , an alliance of Serbia, Bulgaria, Montenegro , and Greece . The League quickly overran most of

2176-579: A small group of Africans living in the delta, apparently refugees from slavery. Smallpox and slavery decimated the Coahuiltecan in the Monterrey area by the mid-17th century. Due to their remoteness from the major areas of Spanish expansion, the Coahuiltecan in Texas may have suffered less from introduced European diseases and slave raids than did the indigenous populations in northern Mexico. But,

2312-581: A surge of industrial development along the border, while international bridges have allowed Mexican nationals to shop, sell, and do business in the border cities along the Rio Grande. The geographic inclusion of South Padre Island also drives tourism, particularly during the Spring Break season, as its subtropical climate keeps temperatures warm year-round. During the winter months, many retirees (commonly referred to as "Winter Texans") arrive to enjoy

2448-478: A war on two fronts; the Schlieffen Plan envisaged using 80% of the army to defeat France, then switching to Russia. Since this required them to move quickly, mobilization orders were issued that afternoon. Once the German ultimatum to Russia expired on the morning of 1 August, the two countries were at war. At a meeting on 29 July, the British cabinet had narrowly decided its obligations to Belgium under

2584-542: A way of life that had successfully adapted to the climate and resources of south Texas.” The peoples shared the common traits of not farming, living in small autonomous bands, and having no political unity above the level of the band and extended family. They were nomadic hunter-gatherers, who carried few possessions on their backs as they adaptively moved to acquire seasonal food sources without depleting them. At campsites, they built small circular huts with frames of four bent poles, which they covered with woven mats. Adapted to

2720-402: A weak Ottoman government, rather than an ambitious Slav power like Bulgaria . Russia had ambitions in northeastern Anatolia while its clients had overlapping claims in the Balkans. These competing interests divided Russian policy-makers and added to regional instability. Austrian statesmen viewed the Balkans as essential for the continued existence of their Empire and saw Serbian expansion as

2856-455: A whole, the Somme offensive led to an estimated 420,000 British casualties, along with 200,000 French and 500,000 Germans. The diseases that emerged in the trenches were a major killer on both sides. The living conditions led to disease and infection, such as trench foot , lice , typhus , trench fever , and the ' Spanish flu '. At the start of the war, German cruisers were scattered across

SECTION 20

#1732765618214

2992-537: Is a popular waypoint for tourists visiting northeast Mexico. Popular destinations across the border and Rio Grande include: Matamoros , Nuevo Progreso , Río Bravo , and Reynosa , all located in the Mexican state of Tamaulipas . The region also attracts tourists from the Mexican states of Tamaulipas , Nuevo León , Coahuila , and Mexico, D.F. (México City). The ancestral lands of the Rio Grande Valley have been home to historic Native groups, which today include

3128-508: Is known, however, that from 1908 to 1913, military spending by the six major European powers increased by over 50% in real terms. The years before 1914 were marked by a series of crises in the Balkans, as other powers sought to benefit from the Ottoman decline. While Pan-Slavic and Orthodox Russia considered itself the protector of Serbia and other Slav states, they preferred the strategically vital Bosporus straits to be controlled by

3264-574: The Schutzkorps was established, and carried out the persecution of Serbs. The assassination initiated the July Crisis, a month of diplomatic manoeuvring between Austria-Hungary, Germany, Russia, France and Britain. Believing that Serbian intelligence helped organise Franz Ferdinand's murder, Austrian officials wanted to use the opportunity to end their interference in Bosnia and saw war as

3400-641: The World War . In August 1914, the magazine The Independent wrote "This is the Great War. It names itself". In October 1914, the Canadian magazine Maclean's similarly wrote, "Some wars name themselves. This is the Great War." Contemporary Europeans also referred to it as " the war to end war " and it was also described as "the war to end all wars" due to their perception of its unparalleled scale, devastation, and loss of life. The first recorded use of

3536-695: The Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary Force landed on the island of New Britain , then part of German New Guinea . On 28 October, the German cruiser SMS  Emden sank the Russian cruiser Zhemchug in the Battle of Penang . Japan declared war on Germany before seizing territories in the Pacific, which later became the South Seas Mandate , as well as German Treaty ports on

3672-847: The First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War , was a global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers . Fighting took place mainly in Europe and the Middle East , as well as in parts of Africa and the Asia-Pacific , and in Europe was characterised by trench warfare ; the widespread use of artillery , machine guns, and chemical weapons (gas); and

3808-488: The Mexican side of the border Matamoros , Río Bravo , and Reynosa are major cities in this region. As of 2020, the U.S. Census Bureau estimated the population of the Rio Grande Valley at 1,368,723. Hidalgo County has the largest population with an estimate of 861,137. Cameron County has the second-highest population estimated at 422,135. Starr County has the third-largest population estimated at 64,032. Willacy County has

3944-758: The Mexican Revolution . The revolution spilled over the border through cross-border supply raids, and in response President Taft sent the United States Army into the region beginning in 1911 and continuing until 1916 when the majority of the United States armed forces were stationed in the region. Texas governor Oscar Colquitt also sent the Texas Rangers into the area to keep the peace between Mexicans and Americans. The region played host to several well-known conflicts including

4080-513: The Mexican–American War . The area along the Rio Grande was the source of several major battles, including the Battle of Resaca de la Palma near Brownsville. The war ended in 1848 with the signing of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo which defined the United States' southern border as the Rio Grande. The change in government led to a mass migration from Tamaulipas to the United States side of

4216-542: The Mexico–United States border . The residents of the Lower Rio Grande Valley are generally bilingual in English and Spanish often mixing into Spanglish depending on demographics and context. Government statistics for the region are often underreported due to underlying immigration issues. The Spanish language plays an important role in all aspects of life. In 1982 a statistically significant majority of people in

Lower Rio Grande Valley - Misplaced Pages Continue

4352-1275: The Rio Grande Valley FC Toros (soccer) One of the Valley's major tourist attractions is the semi-tropical wildlife. Birds and butterflies attract a large number of visitors every year all throughout the entire region. Ecotourism is a major economic force in the Rio Grande Valley. The Rio Grande Valley is served by three commercial airports: Brownsville South Padre Island International Airport in Brownsville, Texas, Valley International Airport in Harlingen, Texas, and McAllen Miller International Airport in McAllen, Texas. American Airlines and United Airlines provide service to all three airports, with Avelo Air also providing service to Brownsville South Padre Island International Airport, Allegiant Air also providing service to McAllen Miller International Airport, Southwest Airlines , Sun Country Airlines and Delta Air Lines also providing service to Valley International Airport. There are several bus lines that run through

4488-721: The Rüstungswende or 'armaments turning point', when he switched expenditure from the navy to the army. This decision was not driven by a reduction in political tensions but by German concern over Russia's quick recovery from its defeat in the Russo-Japanese War and subsequent 1905 Russian Revolution . Economic reforms led to a significant post-1908 expansion of railways and transportation infrastructure, particularly in its western border regions. Since Germany and Austria-Hungary relied on faster mobilisation to compensate for their numerical inferiority compared to Russia,

4624-513: The St. Louis, Brownsville, and Mexico Railway in 1903 and the irrigation of the Rio Grande allowed the Rio Grande Valley to develop into profitable farmland. Droughts in the 1890s and early 1900s caused smaller farmers and cattle ranchers to lose their lands. Rich white settlers brought by the railroad bought the land and displaced the Tejano ranchers. Meanwhile, across the river, Mexico was dealing with

4760-684: The Union Pacific Railroad . In Mexico, Kansas City Southern de México runs freight service and crosses from Matamoros into Brownsville over the Brownsville & Matamoros International Bridge . Sea trade runs through the deepwater seaport, the Port of Brownsville and the Foreign Trade Zone 62. SpaceX South Texas launch site is located near Brownsville. The region is represented by Ted Cruz and John Cornyn in

4896-632: The United States Senate and by Monica De La Cruz , Vicente Gonzalez , and Henry Cuellar in the United States House of Representatives . Coahuiltecan The Coahuiltecan were various small, autonomous bands of Native Americans who inhabited the Rio Grande valley in what is now northeastern Mexico and southern Texas . The various Coahuiltecan groups were hunter gatherers. First encountered by Europeans in

5032-828: The United States entered the war on the Allied side following Germany's resumption of unrestricted submarine warfare against Atlantic shipping. Later that year, the Bolsheviks seized power in the Russian October Revolution , and Soviet Russia signed an armistice with the Central Powers in December, followed by a separate peace in March 1918. That month, Germany launched an offensive in

5168-593: The Zimmermann Telegram . The Texas Rangers also increased their presence as law enforcement in the region with a new class of Ranger that focused on determining Tejano loyalty. They were often violent, carrying out retaliatory murders. They were never held accountable to the law even though charges were brought in the Texas senate. There were two major military training facilities in the Valley in Brownsville and Harlingen during World War II . The North American Free Trade Agreement , also known as NAFTA,

5304-487: The hydrophone and depth charges were introduced, destroyers could potentially successfully attack a submerged submarine. Convoys slowed the flow of supplies since ships had to wait as convoys were assembled; the solution was an extensive program of building new freighters. Troopships were too fast for the submarines and did not travel the North Atlantic in convoys. The U-boats sunk more than 5,000 Allied ships, at

5440-442: The tank . After the First Battle of the Marne in September 1914, Allied and German forces unsuccessfully tried to outflank each other, a series of manoeuvres later known as the " Race to the Sea ". By the end of 1914, the opposing forces confronted each other along an uninterrupted line of entrenched positions from the Channel to the Swiss border. Since the Germans were normally able to choose where to stand, they generally held

5576-522: The "mythologies of Indigenous ‘disappearance’ appear as ahistorical as they are problematic." Scholars like Blackhawk work to address the narrative of Native peoples as passively disappeared and of existing solely in the past by amplifying the intentional and strategic projects of dispossession and settler colonialism in their goals to erase, harm, and destabilize a group of people. Therefore, the Carrizo/Comecrudo tribe's work to establish their presence and continually advocate for their way of living and place in

Lower Rio Grande Valley - Misplaced Pages Continue

5712-510: The 16th century, their population declined due to European diseases, slavery, and numerous small-scale wars fought against the Spanish , criollo , Apache , and other Indigenous groups. After the Texas secession from Mexico, Coahuiltecan peoples were largely forced into harsh living conditions. In 1886, ethnologist Albert Gatschet found the last known survivors of Coahuiltecan bands: 25 Comecrudo , 1 Cotoname , and 2 Pakawa . They were living near Reynosa , Mexico. The Coahuiltecan lived in

5848-588: The 1839 Treaty of London did not require it to oppose a German invasion with military force; however, Prime Minister Asquith and his senior Cabinet ministers were already committed to supporting France, the Royal Navy had been mobilised, and public opinion was strongly in favour of intervention. On 31 July, Britain sent notes to Germany and France, asking them to respect Belgian neutrality; France pledged to do so, but Germany did not reply. Aware of German plans to attack through Belgium, French Commander-in-Chief Joseph Joffre asked his government for permission to cross

5984-431: The 1879 Dual Alliance , which became the Triple Alliance when Italy joined in 1882. For Bismarck, the purpose of these agreements was to isolate France by ensuring the three Empires resolve any disputes between themselves. In 1887, Bismarck set up the Reinsurance Treaty , a secret agreement between Germany and Russia to remain neutral if either were attacked by France or Austria-Hungary. For Bismarck, peace with Russia

6120-520: The 18th and 19th centuries, but the language samples are too small to establish relationships between and among the languages. The Karankawa and Tonkawa were possibly linguistically related to the Coahuiltecan. Over more than 300 years of Spanish colonial history, their explorers and missionary priests recorded the names of more than one thousand bands or ethnic groups. Band names and their composition doubtless changed frequently, and bands were often identified by geographic features or locations. Most of

6256-441: The 1913 Treaty of London , which had created an independent Albania while enlarging the territories of Bulgaria, Serbia, Montenegro and Greece. However, disputes between the victors sparked the 33-day Second Balkan War , when Bulgaria attacked Serbia and Greece on 16 June 1913; it was defeated, losing most of Macedonia to Serbia and Greece, and Southern Dobruja to Romania. The result was that even countries which benefited from

6392-409: The Austrians and Serbs clashed at the battles of the Cer and Kolubara ; over the next two weeks, Austrian attacks were repulsed with heavy losses. As a result, Austria had to keep sizeable forces on the Serbian front, weakening their efforts against Russia. Serbia's victory against Austria-Hungary in the 1914 invasion has been called one of the major upset victories of the twentieth century. In 1915,

6528-593: The Austrians briefly occupied the Serbian capital, Belgrade . A Serbian counter-attack in the Battle of Kolubara succeeded in driving them from the country by the end of 1914. For the first 10 months of 1915, Austria-Hungary used most of its military reserves to fight Italy. German and Austro-Hungarian diplomats scored a coup by persuading Bulgaria to join the attack on Serbia. The Austro-Hungarian provinces of Slovenia , Croatia and Bosnia provided troops for Austria-Hungary. Montenegro allied itself with Serbia. Bulgaria declared war on Serbia on 14 October 1915 and joined in

6664-493: The Balkan Wars, such as Serbia and Greece, felt cheated of their "rightful gains", while for Austria it demonstrated the apparent indifference with which other powers viewed their concerns, including Germany. This complex mix of resentment, nationalism and insecurity helps explain why the pre-1914 Balkans became known as the " powder keg of Europe ". On 28 June 1914, Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria , heir presumptive to Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria , visited Sarajevo ,

6800-412: The Carrizo/Comecrudo tribe of Texas. While not recognized under the government, this tribe and other communities have existed on the lands predating European settlement and the acquisition of Texas from Mexico. The tribe speaks of their existence as a way of life. Today, a working map of Native and Indigenous nations and tribes across Turtle Island and the Northern Americas has been communally constructed on

6936-404: The Central Powers. However, the pro-German King Constantine I dismissed the pro-Allied government of Eleftherios Venizelos before the Allied expeditionary force arrived. The Macedonian front was at first mostly static. French and Serbian forces retook limited areas of Macedonia by recapturing Bitola on 19 November 1916 following the costly Monastir offensive , which brought stabilisation of

SECTION 50

#1732765618214

7072-410: The Chinese Shandong peninsula at Tsingtao . After Vienna refused to withdraw its cruiser SMS  Kaiserin Elisabeth from Tsingtao, Japan declared war on Austria-Hungary, and the ship was sunk in November 1914. Within a few months, Allied forces had seized all German territories in the Pacific, leaving only isolated commerce raiders and a few holdouts in New Guinea. Some of the first clashes of

7208-421: The Coahuiltecan were diverse in both culture and language. At least seven different languages are known to have been spoken, one of which is called Coahuiltecan or Pakawa, spoken by a number of bands near San Antonio. The best-known of the languages are Comecrudo and Cotoname, both spoken by people in the delta of the Rio Grande and Pakawa. Catholic Missionaries compiled vocabularies of several of these languages in

7344-548: The German High Seas Fleet was confined to port. German U-boats attempted to cut the supply lines between North America and Britain. The nature of submarine warfare meant that attacks often came without warning, giving the crews of the merchant ships little hope of survival. The United States launched a protest, and Germany changed its rules of engagement. After the sinking of the passenger ship RMS Lusitania in 1915, Germany promised not to target passenger liners, while Britain armed its merchant ships, placing them beyond

7480-465: The German Army increased in size from 1908 to 1914, he changed the allocation of forces between the two wings to 70:30. He also considered Dutch neutrality essential for German trade and cancelled the incursion into the Netherlands, which meant any delays in Belgium threatened the viability of the plan. Historian Richard Holmes argues that these changes meant the right wing was not strong enough to achieve decisive success. The initial German advance in

7616-462: The German right wing would sweep through the Netherlands and Belgium , then swing south, encircling Paris and trapping the French army against the Swiss border. The plan's creator, Alfred von Schlieffen , head of the German General Staff from 1891 to 1906, estimated that this would take six weeks, after which the German army would transfer to the East and defeat the Russians. The plan was substantially modified by his successor, Helmuth von Moltke

7752-426: The Germans bled heavily as well, with anywhere from 700,000 to 975,000 casualties between the two combatants. Verdun became a symbol of French determination and self-sacrifice. The Battle of the Somme was an Anglo-French offensive from July to November 1916. The opening day on 1 July 1916 was the bloodiest single day in the history of the British Army , which suffered 57,500 casualties, including 19,200 dead. As

7888-565: The Middle East. In all, 140,000 soldiers served on the Western Front and nearly 700,000 in the Middle East, with 47,746 killed and 65,126 wounded. The suffering engendered by the war, as well as the failure of the British government to grant self-government to India afterward, bred disillusionment, resulting in the campaign for full independence led by Mahatma Gandhi . Pre-war military tactics that had emphasised open warfare and individual riflemen proved obsolete when confronted with conditions prevailing in 1914. Technological advances allowed

8024-617: The Native Land webpage. The Carrizo/Comecrudo tribe is recognized on the Native Land webpage, represented across South Texas. The visibility and recognition of Native communities like the Carrizo/Comecrudo are paramount and require a constant fight by many Indigenous tribes worldwide, especially when histories of vulnerable groups like Indigenous communities are essentially contested and being attacked legally by state governments. As historian and scholar Ned Blackhawk outlines in "The Centrality of Dispossession: Native American Genocide and Settler Colonialism," in World History of Genocide: Volume II ,

8160-703: The Ottoman Empire , which disturbed the long-standing balance of power in Europe, as well as economic competition between nations triggered by industrialisation and imperialism . Growing tensions between the great powers and in the Balkans reached a breaking point on 28 June 1914, when a Bosnian Serb named Gavrilo Princip assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand , heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne. Austria-Hungary held Serbia responsible, and declared war on 28 July. After Russia mobilised in Serbia's defence, Germany declared war on Russia and France , who had an alliance . The United Kingdom entered after Germany invaded Belgium , whose neutrality it guaranteed, and

8296-545: The Ottomans joined the Central Powers in November. Germany's strategy in 1914 was to quickly defeat France, then to transfer its forces to the east, but its advance was halted in September , and by the end of the year the Western Front consisted of a continuous line of trenches stretching from the English Channel to Switzerland. The Eastern Front was more dynamic, but neither side gained a decisive advantage, despite costly offensives. Italy , Bulgaria , Romania , Greece and others joined in from 1915 onward. In April 1917,

SECTION 60

#1732765618214

8432-449: The Ottomans' territory in the Balkans during the 1912–1913 First Balkan War , much to the surprise of outside observers. The Serbian capture of ports on the Adriatic resulted in partial Austrian mobilisation, starting on 21 November 1912, including units along the Russian border in Galicia . The Russian government decided not to mobilise in response, unprepared to precipitate a war. The Great Powers sought to re-assert control through

8568-439: The Rio Grande Valley is resilient and vital. The Carrizo/Comecrudo tribe of Texas has long fought with SpaceX over the environmental protection of their lands. Elon Musk established Starbase, one of the engineering hubs, in Boca Chica Beach, a coastal beach of the Rio Grande Valley. Alongside the Carrizo/Comecrudo tribe of Texas, local RGV environmental organizations have opposed SpaceXs business and activities at Boca Chica, citing

8704-413: The Rio Grande Valley spoke Spanish. People speak Spanish to communicate in all aspects of life including business, government, and at home. County County County County People often prefer Spanish to English when interacting with government officials as seen in the response to the region's 2018 flooding. The Catholic Church has been present in the Rio Grande Valley since the Spanish colonization of

8840-434: The Rio Grande Valley. The Lower Rio Grande Valley experiences a warm and fair climate that brings visitors from many surrounding areas. Temperature extremes range from triple digits during the summer months to freezing during the winter. While the Valley has seen severe cold events before, such as the 2004 Christmas snow storm and 2021 cold snap , the region rarely experiences temperatures at or below freezing, especially by

8976-416: The Rio Grande delta and large-multi-tribal encampments along the rivers of southern Texas, especially near San Antonio. The Spanish established Mission San Antonio de Valero (the Alamo) in 1718 to evangelize among the Coahuiltecan and other Indians of the region, especially the Jumano . They soon founded four additional missions. The Coahuiltecan supported the missions to some extent, seeking protection with

9112-426: The Rio Grande, ostensibly to punish the Indians for their 1554 attack on the shipwrecked sailors, more likely to capture enslaved people. In 1580, Carvajal, governor of Nuevo Leon, and a gang of "renegades who acknowledged neither God nor King", began conducting regular slave raids to capture Coahuiltecans along the Rio Grande. The Coahuiltecan were not defenseless. They often raided Spanish settlements, and they drove

9248-549: The Russian Stavka agreed with the French to attack Germany within fifteen days of mobilisation, ten days before the Germans had anticipated, although it meant the two Russian armies that entered East Prussia on 17 August did so without many of their support elements. By the end of 1914, German troops held strong defensive positions inside France, controlled the bulk of France's domestic coalfields, and inflicted 230,000 more casualties than it lost itself. However, communications problems and questionable command decisions cost Germany

9384-429: The Serbian retreat toward the Adriatic coast in the Battle of Mojkovac on 6–7 January 1916, but ultimately the Austrians also conquered Montenegro. The surviving Serbian soldiers were evacuated to Greece. After the conquest, Serbia was divided between Austro-Hungary and Bulgaria. In late 1915, a Franco-British force landed at Salonica in Greece to offer assistance and to pressure its government to declare war against

9520-414: The Spanish from a new menace, Apache , Comanche , and Wichita raiders from the north. The five missions had about 1,200 Coahuiltecan and other Indians in residence during their most prosperous period from 1720 until 1772. That the Indians were often dissatisfied with their life at the missions was shown by frequent "runaways" and desertions. Spanish settlement of the lower Rio Grande Valley and delta,

9656-405: The Spanish out of Nuevo Leon in 1587. But they lacked the organization and political unity to mount an effective defense when a larger number of Spanish settlers returned in 1596. Conflicts between the Coahuiltecan peoples and the Spaniards continued throughout the 17th century. The Spanish replaced slavery by forcing the Indians to move into the encomienda system. Although this was exploitative, it

9792-613: The United States is well developed in the Lower Rio Grande Valley and connects Brownsville, Hidalgo, McAllen, Raymondville , Edinburg , Pharr , and Laredo . On the Mexican side, there are several major highways between Matamoros , Reynosa , and Nuevo Laredo . As of 2015 car travel on the Mexican side was considered dangerous and the Mexican Federal Police offered a police escort between Ciudad Victoria , Matamoros, and Reynosa. Freight trains run between Harlingen , Mission , Edinburg, and Santa Rosa connecting to

9928-542: The United States side of the Lower Rio Grande Valley including Metro Connect ( McAllen ), McAllen Paratransit, McAllen Metro Services, Brownsville Metro/ADA Paratransit Service Island Metro ( South Padre Island ), and Greyhound Lines . On the Mexican side of the border there are several bus companies that run including Greyhound, Tornado, Ave Senda Ejecutiva, Enlaces Terrestres Nacionales, Futua, Noreste, Omnibus de Oriente, Transpais, Transportes del Norte, Transportes Frontera, and Turistar Lujo. The Interstate Highway System in

10064-717: The Valley citrus crop, which also includes orange , tangerine , tangelo and Meyer lemon production each Winter. One minor professional sports team plays in the Rio Grande Valley: The Rio Grande Valley Vipers (basketball). Defunct teams that previously played in the region include: the Edinburg Roadrunners (baseball), La Fiera FC (indoor soccer), Rio Grande Valley Ocelots FC (soccer), Rio Grande Valley WhiteWings (baseball), Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees (ice hockey), Rio Grande Valley Sol (indoor football) and

10200-487: The Valley usually experiences the catastrophic effects of tropical cyclones in the form of flooding. The Lower Rio Grande Valley encompasses landmarks that attract tourists. Popular destinations include Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge , Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge , Bentsen-Rio Grande Valley State Park , South Padre Island , Brazos Island , and the Port Isabel Lighthouse . The Valley

10336-613: The Wall has begun construction on a section of the border wall in the Valley. Local residents have expressed concerns about the project including the site's proximity to the National Butterfly Center and the Rio Grande with its potential for seasonal flooding. The U.S. Section of the International Boundary and Water Commission has ordered We Build the Wall to stop until they can review whether or not

10472-704: The West was very successful. By the end of August, the Allied left, which included the British Expeditionary Force (BEF), was in full retreat , and the French offensive in Alsace-Lorraine was a disastrous failure, with casualties exceeding 260,000. German planning provided broad strategic instructions while allowing army commanders considerable freedom in carrying them out at the front, but von Kluck used this freedom to disobey orders, opening

10608-485: The Younger . Under Schlieffen, 85% of German forces in the west were assigned to the right wing, with the remainder holding along the frontier. By keeping his left-wing deliberately weak, he hoped to lure the French into an offensive into the "lost provinces" of Alsace-Lorraine , which was the strategy envisaged by their Plan XVII . However, Moltke grew concerned that the French might push too hard on his left flank and as

10744-501: The aggressor, German Chancellor Bethmann Hollweg delayed the commencement of war preparations until 31 July. That afternoon, the Russian government were handed a note requiring them to "cease all war measures against Germany and Austria-Hungary" within 12 hours. A further German demand for neutrality was refused by the French who ordered general mobilization but delayed declaring war. The German General Staff had long assumed they faced

10880-474: The attack by the Austro-Hungarian army under Mackensen's army of 250,000 that was already underway. Serbia was conquered in a little more than a month, as the Central Powers, now including Bulgaria, sent in 600,000 troops in total. The Serbian army, fighting on two fronts and facing certain defeat, retreated into northern Albania . The Serbs suffered defeat in the Battle of Kosovo . Montenegro covered

11016-600: The backlash from the Plan of San Diego , and the racially fueled violence of Texas Ranger Harry Ransom. In 1921 the United States Border Patrol came to the region with less than 10 officers. Initially the agency was focused on import and export business, especially alcohol during Prohibition in the United States , but later moved to detaining illegal aliens. The region had a significant increase of Border Patrol agents during World War I in conjunction with

11152-422: The bands apparently numbered between 100 and 500 people. The total population of non-agricultural Indians, including the Coahuiltecan, in northeastern Mexico and neighboring Texas at the time of first contact with the Spanish has been estimated by two different scholars as 86,000 and 100,000. Possibly 15,000 of these lived in the Rio Grande delta, the most densely populated area. In 1757, Spanish chroniclers recorded

11288-543: The best way of achieving this. However, the Foreign Ministry had no solid proof of Serbian involvement. On 23   July, Austria delivered an ultimatum to Serbia, listing ten demands made intentionally unacceptable to provide an excuse for starting hostilities. Serbia ordered general mobilization on 25   July, but accepted all the terms, except for those empowering Austrian representatives to suppress "subversive elements" inside Serbia, and take part in

11424-483: The border and pre-empt such a move. To avoid violating Belgian neutrality, he was told any advance could come only after a German invasion. Instead, the French cabinet ordered its Army to withdraw 10 km behind the German frontier, to avoid provoking war. On 2 August, Germany occupied Luxembourg and exchanged fire with French units when German patrols entered French territory; on 3   August, they declared war on France and demanded free passage across Belgium, which

11560-655: The campaign saw the first use of anti-aircraft warfare after an Austrian plane was shot down with ground-to-air fire, as well as the first medical evacuation by the Serbian army. Upon mobilisation, in accordance with the Schlieffen Plan , 80% of the German Army was located on the Western Front, with the remainder acting as a screening force in the East. Rather than a direct attack across their shared frontier,

11696-649: The capital of the recently annexed Bosnia and Herzegovina . Cvjetko Popović , Gavrilo Princip , Nedeljko Čabrinović , Trifko Grabež , Vaso Čubrilović ( Bosnian Serbs ) and Muhamed Mehmedbašić (from the Bosniaks community), from the movement known as Young Bosnia , took up positions along the Archduke's motorcade route, to assassinate him. Supplied with arms by extremists within the Serbian Black Hand intelligence organisation, they hoped his death would free Bosnia from Austrian rule. Čabrinović threw

11832-578: The chance of a decisive outcome, while it had failed to achieve the primary objective of avoiding a long, two-front war. As was apparent to several German leaders, this amounted to a strategic defeat; shortly after the First Battle of the Marne , Crown Prince Wilhelm told an American reporter "We have lost the war. It will go on for a long time but lost it is already." On 30 August 1914, New Zealand occupied German Samoa (now Samoa ). On 11 September,

11968-559: The coast and were deprived of its other resources, such as fish and shellfish, which limited the opportunity to live near and employ coastal resources. Spanish colonists created the name Coahuiltecan , derived from Coahuila , the state in New Spain where they first encountered Coahuiltecan peoples. This name was derived by the Spanish from a Nahuatl word. Alternate spellings include: Coahuilteco, Coaguileno, Coaguilleno, Coahuila, Coahuileno, Coavileno. The Coahuiltecan languages are

12104-452: The coast in winter. Little is known about the original religion of the Coahuiltecan. They came together in large numbers on occasion for all-night dances called mitotes . During these occasions, they danced and took peyote as medicine. The meager resources of their homeland resulted in intense competition and frequent, although small-scale, warfare. In the early 1530s Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca and his three companions, survivors of

12240-665: The coast, which transitions into a Tropical climate. The region's proximity to the Gulf of Mexico makes it a target for hurricanes . Though not impacted as frequently as other areas of the Gulf Coast of the United States, the Valley has experienced major hurricanes in the past. Hurricanes that have made landfall in or near the area include Hurricane Beulah (1967) , Hurricane Allen (1980) , Hurricane Gilbert , Hurricane Bret , Hurricane Dolly (2008) , Hurricane Alex (2010) , and Hurricane Hanna (2020) . Having an especially flat terrain,

12376-537: The construction violates a Treaty to resolve pending boundary differences and maintain the Rio Grande and Colorado River as the international boundary between the United States and Mexico signed in 1970. The Rio Grande Valley is not a true valley , but a river delta . "Valley" is often used in the western United States to refer to a large expanse with rivers. Most such valleys, including the Rio Grande, have good agricultural production. Early 20th-century land developers, attempting to capitalize on unclaimed land, utilized

12512-520: The cost of 199 submarines. World War I also saw the first use of aircraft carriers in combat, with HMS  Furious launching Sopwith Camels in a successful raid against the Zeppelin hangars at Tondern in July 1918, as well as blimps for antisubmarine patrol. Faced with Russia in the east, Austria-Hungary could spare only one-third of its army to attack Serbia. After suffering heavy losses,

12648-522: The creation of new independent states, including Poland , Finland , the Baltic states , Czechoslovakia , and Yugoslavia . The League of Nations was established to maintain world peace, but its failure to manage instability during the interwar period contributed to the outbreak of World War II in 1939. Before World War II , the events of 1914–1918 were generally known as the Great War or simply

12784-449: The creation of strong defensive systems largely impervious to massed infantry advances, such as barbed wire , machine guns and above all far more powerful artillery , which dominated the battlefield and made crossing open ground extremely difficult. Both sides struggled to develop tactics for breaching entrenched positions without heavy casualties. In time, technology enabled the production of new offensive weapons, such as gas warfare and

12920-965: The crowds listened to music and drank wine, as if nothing had happened." Nevertheless, the impact of the murder of the heir to the throne was significant, and has been described by historian Christopher Clark as a "9/11 effect, a terrorist event charged with historic meaning, transforming the political chemistry in Vienna". Austro-Hungarian authorities encouraged subsequent anti-Serb riots in Sarajevo . Violent actions against ethnic Serbs were also organised outside Sarajevo, in other cities in Austro-Hungarian-controlled Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia and Slovenia. Austro-Hungarian authorities in Bosnia and Herzegovina imprisoned approximately 5,500 prominent Serbs, 700 to 2,200 of whom died in prison. A further 460 Serbs were sentenced to death. A predominantly Bosniak special militia known as

13056-718: The differences in native languages, so they mainly focused on the coast of the Gulf of Mexico also known as the Seno Mexicano . Also, a major conflict existed on who would conquer the region. Antonio Ladrón de Guevara wanted to colonize the region, but the Viceroy of New Spain José Tienda de Cuervo doubted Ladrón de Guevara's character, eventually leading to a royal Spanish declaration preventing Ladrón de Guevara from participating in colonization efforts. The first villas in

13192-516: The diseases spread through contact among indigenous peoples with trading. After a Franciscan Roman Catholic Mission was established in 1718 at San Antonio, the indigenous population declined rapidly, especially from smallpox epidemics beginning in 1739. Most groups disappeared before 1825, with their survivors absorbed by other Indigenous and mestizo populations of Texas or Mexico. Texas historian Jennifer Logan wrote that Coahuiltecan culture represents "the culmination of more than 11,000 years of

13328-695: The expansion of the French colonial empire . In 1873, Bismarck negotiated the League of the Three Emperors , which included Austria-Hungary , Russia and Germany. After the 1877–1878 Russo-Turkish War , the League was dissolved due to Austrian concerns over the expansion of Russian influence in the Balkans , an area they considered to be of vital strategic interest. Germany and Austria-Hungary then formed

13464-455: The first time on the Western Front. Several types of gas soon became widely used by both sides and though it never proved a decisive, battle-winning weapon, it became one of the most feared and best-remembered horrors of the war. In February 1916, the Germans attacked French defensive positions at the Battle of Verdun , lasting until December 1916. Casualties were greater for the French, but

13600-841: The flat, brushy, dry country of northern Mexico and southern Texas, roughly south of a line from the Gulf Coast at the mouth of the Guadalupe River to San Antonio and westward to around Del Rio . They lived on both sides of the Rio Grande. Their neighbors along the Texas coast were the Karankawa , and inland to their northeast were the Tonkawa . To their north were the Jumano . Later the Lipan Apache and Comanche migrated into this area. Their indefinite western boundaries were

13736-583: The fourth-largest population estimated at 21,419. According to the U.S. Census Bureau in 2008, 86 percent of Cameron County, 90 percent of Hidalgo County, 97 percent of Starr County, and 86 percent of Willacy County are Hispanic . The major metropolitan areas in the Rio Grande Valley are surrounded by smaller rural communities called colonias. These communities are primarily poor and Hispanic. The areas often lack basic services like sanitation and sewage, and suffer from flooding. Many of these colonias are mixes of mobile homes and self-constructed houses owned by

13872-652: The front. Serbian and French troops finally made a breakthrough in September 1918 in the Vardar offensive , after most German and Austro-Hungarian troops had been withdrawn. The Bulgarians were defeated at the Battle of Dobro Pole , and by 25 September British and French troops had crossed the border into Bulgaria proper as the Bulgarian army collapsed. Bulgaria capitulated four days later, on 29 September 1918. The German high command responded by despatching troops to hold

14008-542: The globe, some of which were subsequently used to attack Allied merchant shipping . These were systematically hunted down by the Royal Navy, though not before causing considerable damage. One of the most successful was the SMS ; Emden , part of the German East Asia Squadron stationed at Qingdao , which seized or sank 15 merchantmen, a Russian cruiser and a French destroyer. Most of the squadron

14144-629: The headquarters of SpaceX to the Starbase site in Boca Chica Beach. The Valley is historically reliant on agribusiness and tourism . Cotton , grapefruit , sorghum , maize , and sugarcane are its leading crops, and the region is the center of citrus production and the most important area of vegetable production in the State of Texas. Over the last several decades, the emergence of maquiladoras (factories or fabrication plants) has caused

14280-549: The high ground, while their trenches tended to be better built; those constructed by the French and English were initially considered "temporary", only needed until an offensive would destroy the German defences. Both sides tried to break the stalemate using scientific and technological advances. On 22 April 1915, at the Second Battle of Ypres , the Germans (violating the Hague Convention ) used chlorine gas for

14416-682: The influx of jobs and exportation, many people migrated to the RGV, both documented and undocumented. According to Akinloye Akindayomi in Drug violence in Mexico and its impact on the fiscal realities of border cities in Texas: evidence from Rio Grande Valley counties , NAFTA also indirectly aids the rise in immigration and drug smuggling practices between cartels in the region, with cartels profiting with over $ 80 billion. The Trump Administration decided to make new accords with Mexico and Canada and replaced NAFTA with

14552-435: The introductions of tanks and aircraft . World War I was one of the deadliest conflicts in history , resulting in an estimated 10 million military dead and more than 20 million wounded , plus some 10 million civilian dead from causes including genocide . The movement of large numbers of people was a major factor in the deadly Spanish flu pandemic. The causes of World War I included the rise of Germany and decline of

14688-470: The investigation and trial of Serbians linked to the assassination. Claiming this amounted to rejection, Austria broke off diplomatic relations and ordered partial mobilisation the next day; on 28 July, they declared war on Serbia and began shelling Belgrade . Russia ordered general mobilization in support of Serbia on 30 July. Anxious to ensure backing from the SPD political opposition by presenting Russia as

14824-680: The late 20th century, these families united in public opposition to the excavation of Indian remains buried in the graveyard of the former Mission. Archeologists conducted investigations at the mission in order to prepare for projects to preserve the buildings. In the words of scholar Alston V. Thoms, they “became readily visible as resurgent Coahuiltecans.” Numerous bands made up the Coahuiltecan peoples. They include the: Several unrecognized organizations in Texas claim to be descendants of Coahuiltecan people. These organizations are neither federally recognized or state-recognized as Native American tribes . World War I World War I or

14960-638: The name "Magic Valley" to attract settlers and appeal to investors. The Rio Grande Valley is also called El Valle , the Spanish translation of "the valley", by those who live there. The main region is within four Texan counties: Starr County , Hidalgo County , Willacy County , and Cameron County . The largest city on the American side of the region is Brownsville (Cameron County), followed by McAllen (Hidalgo County). Other major cities include Harlingen , San Benito , Edinburg , Mission , Rio Grande City , Raymondville , Weslaco , Hidalgo and Pharr . On

15096-549: The new trade agreement, United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement (USMCA) in 2018. After the September 11 attacks , the Customs Border Security Act of 2001 established United States Border Patrol interior checkpoints with some situated at the north end of the Rio Grande Valley. This allows for a second line of defense in the ever increasing subtlety of smuggling. More recently the organization We Build

15232-465: The ocean, even to neutral ships. Since there was limited response to this tactic, Germany expected a similar response to its unrestricted submarine warfare. The Battle of Jutland in May/June 1916 was the only full-scale clash of battleships during the war, and one of the largest in history. The clash was indecisive, though the Germans inflicted more damage than they received; thereafter the bulk of

15368-738: The protection of the " cruiser rules ", which demanded warning and movement of crews to "a place of safety" (a standard that lifeboats did not meet). Finally, in early 1917, Germany adopted a policy of unrestricted submarine warfare , realising the Americans would eventually enter the war. Germany sought to strangle Allied sea lanes before the United States could transport a large army overseas, but, after initial successes, eventually failed to do so. The U-boat threat lessened in 1917, when merchant ships began travelling in convoys , escorted by destroyers . This tactic made it difficult for U-boats to find targets, which significantly lessened losses; after

15504-593: The region were settled in Laredo and Reynosa in 1767. In 1805, the Spanish government solidified the autonomy of the region by defining the territory of Nuevo Santander as south of the colony of Tejas from the Nueces River south to Tampico , Charcas , and Valles. The local government of the region had a rough start with various indigenous wars up until 1812. In 1821 after the Mexican War of Independence ,

15640-529: The region. In San Juan, Texas the Basilica of the National Shrine of Our Lady of San Juan del Valle is a major Catholic shrine. One of the offshoots of the Catholic Church, worship of Santa Muerte , has a small but significant following in the valley. There has been public outcry against followers erecting shrines at their homes and in public places. In 2015, a Santa Muerte statue was involved with

15776-414: The remaining demographic stronghold of the Coahuiltecan, began in 1748. The Spanish identified fourteen different bands living in the delta in 1757. Overwhelmed in numbers by Spanish settlers, most of the Coahuiltecan were absorbed by the Spanish and mestizo people within a few decades. After a long decline, the missions near San Antonio were secularized in 1824. The Coahuiltecan appeared to be extinct as

15912-602: The residents. The Bracero program enacted in the 1940s allowed Mexicans to cross the border and work in the agricultural fields. Most worked in the Rio Grande Valley, and due to a shortage of affordable houses, developers started selling them land in unincorporated areas; these clusters of homes over time became what are now known as colonias. According to the Housing Assistance Council, a nonprofit organization that tracks rural housing, approximately 1.6 million people live in 1,500 recognized colonias alongside

16048-507: The river. From the end of the Mexican-American War, the population of the Valley began to grow, and farmers began to raise cattle in the area. Despite the end of the formal war in 1848, interracial strife continued between native peoples and the white settlers over land through the 1920s. At the turn of the 20th century trade and immigration between Mexico and the United States was a normal part of society. The development of

16184-460: The state was renamed Tamaulipas . The Texas Revolution of 1835-1836 put the majority of what is now called the Rio Grande Valley under contested Texan sovereignty. The area also became a thoroughfare for runaway slaves fleeing to Mexico. In 1844, the United States under President James K. Polk annexed the Republic of Texas, against British and Mexican sentiments, contributing to the onset of

16320-469: The term First World War was in September 1914 by German biologist and philosopher Ernst Haeckel who stated, "There is no doubt that the course and character of the feared 'European War' ... will become the first world war in the full sense of the word." For much of the 19th century, the major European powers maintained a tenuous balance of power , known as the Concert of Europe . After 1848, this

16456-691: The threat posed by the closing of this gap was more important than competing with the Royal Navy. After Germany expanded its standing army by 170,000 troops in 1913, France extended compulsory military service from two to three years; similar measures were taken by the Balkan powers and Italy, which led to increased expenditure by the Ottomans and Austria-Hungary. Absolute figures are difficult to calculate due to differences in categorising expenditure since they often omit civilian infrastructure projects like railways which had logistical importance and military use. It

16592-619: The tribe's claims to land and destruction to the local terrain and natural life. On August 5, 2024, a group of local organizations including the Carrizo/Comecrudo tribe wrote a letter to the Federal Aviation Administration raising concerns about SpaceX operations in Boca Chica Beach and requesting a meeting to discuss the FAA's process of incorporating community voice into the conversation. The group includes

16728-572: The vicinity of Monclova, Coahuila , and Monterrey, Nuevo Leon , and southward to roughly the present location of Ciudad Victoria, Tamaulipas , the Sierra de Tamaulipas , and the Tropic of Cancer . Although living near the Gulf of Mexico, most of the Coahuiltecan were inland people. Near the Gulf for more than 70 miles (110 km) both north and south of the Rio Grande, there is little fresh water. Bands thus were limited in their ability to survive near

16864-538: The war ended with the Armistice of 11 November 1918 . The Paris Peace Conference of 1919–1920 imposed settlements on the defeated powers, most notably the Treaty of Versailles , by which Germany lost significant territories, was disarmed, and was required to pay large war reparations to the Allies. The dissolution of the Russian, German, Austro-Hungarian, and Ottoman Empires redrew national boundaries and resulted in

17000-601: The war involved British, French, and German colonial forces in Africa. On 6–7 August, French and British troops invaded the German protectorates of Togoland and Kamerun . On 10 August, German forces in South-West Africa attacked South Africa; sporadic and fierce fighting continued for the rest of the war. The German colonial forces in German East Africa , led by Colonel Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck , fought

17136-566: The warm climate, they wore minimal clothing. At times, bands came together in large groups of hundreds of people, but most of the time their encampments were small, consisting of a few homes with a few dozen people. Along the Rio Grande, some Coahuiltecan lived more sedentary lives, perhaps constructing more substantial dwellings and using palm fronds as a building material. Coahuiltecan peoples hunted deer, bison, peccary , armadillos, rabbits, rats, mice, snakes, lizards, frogs, salamanders, and snails for meat. They fished and caught shellfish. Fish

17272-428: The warm weather, access to pharmaceuticals and healthcare in Mexican border crossings such as Nuevo Progreso . There is a substantial health-care industry with major hospitals and many clinics and private practices in Brownsville , Harlingen , and McAllen . Texas is the third largest producer of citrus fruit in the United States, the majority of which is grown in the Rio Grande Valley. Grapefruit make up over 70% of

17408-418: The west , which despite initial successes left the German Army exhausted and demoralised. A successful Allied counter-offensive from August 1918 caused a collapse of the German front line. By early November, Bulgaria, the Ottoman Empire and Austria-Hungary had each signed armistices with the Allies, leaving Germany isolated. Facing a revolution at home , Kaiser Wilhelm   II abdicated on 9 November, and

17544-400: Was an important summer food, from its paddles to its fruits. It also provided water when that resource was scarce. In the winter, plant roots provided important sustenance. Most of the Coahuiltecan seemed to have had a regular round of travels in their food gathering. The Payaya band near San Antonio had ten different summer campsites in a 30 square-mile area. Some of the Indians lived near

17680-403: Was challenged by Britain's withdrawal into so-called splendid isolation , the decline of the Ottoman Empire , New Imperialism , and the rise of Prussia under Otto von Bismarck . Victory in the 1870–1871 Franco-Prussian War allowed Bismarck to consolidate a German Empire . Post-1871, the primary aim of French policy was to avenge this defeat, but by the early 1890s, this had switched to

17816-420: Was established in 1994 as a trade agreement between the three North American countries, The United States, Mexico, and Canada. NAFTA was supposed to increase trade with Mexico as they lowered or eliminated tariffs on Mexican goods. Exports and imports tripled in the region and accounted for a trade surplus of $ 75 billion. The Rio Grande Valley benefited from NAFTA in retail, manufacturing, and transportation. Due to

17952-599: Was less destructive to Indian societies than slavery. Smallpox and measles epidemics were frequent, resulting in numerous deaths among the Indians, as they had no acquired immunity. The first recorded epidemic in the region was 1636–39, and it was followed regularly by other epidemics every few years. A 17th-century historian of Nuevo Leon, Juan Bautista Chapa, predicted that all Indian and tribes would soon be "annihilated" by disease; he listed 161 bands that had once lived near Monterrey but had disappeared. Spanish expeditions continued to find large settlements of Coahuiltecan in

18088-448: Was probably most important as food for groups living near the Rio Grande delta. Most foods could be eaten raw, but they used an open fire or fire pit when cooking. Plants provided most of their diet. Pecans were an important protein source, gathered in the fall and stored for future use. They cooked the bulbs and root crowns of the maguey , sotol , and lechuguilla in pits, and ground mesquite beans to make flour. Prickly pear

18224-654: Was refused. Early on the morning of 4   August, the Germans invaded, and Albert I of Belgium called for assistance under the Treaty of London . Britain sent Germany an ultimatum demanding they withdraw from Belgium; when this expired at midnight, without a response, the two empires were at war. Germany promised to support Austria-Hungary's invasion of Serbia, but interpretations of what this meant differed. Previously tested deployment plans had been replaced early in 1914, but those had never been tested in exercises. Austro-Hungarian leaders believed Germany would cover its northern flank against Russia. Beginning on 12 August,

18360-723: Was returning to Germany when it sank two British armoured cruisers at the Battle of Coronel in November 1914, before being virtually destroyed at the Battle of the Falkland Islands in December. The SMS Dresden escaped with a few auxiliaries, but after the Battle of Más a Tierra , these too were either destroyed or interned. Soon after the outbreak of hostilities, Britain began a naval blockade of Germany . This proved effective in cutting off vital supplies, though it violated accepted international law. Britain also mined international waters which closed off entire sections of

18496-781: Was the foundation of German foreign policy but in 1890, he was forced to retire by Wilhelm II . The latter was persuaded not to renew the Reinsurance Treaty by his new Chancellor , Leo von Caprivi . This gave France an opening to agree the Franco-Russian Alliance in 1894, which was then followed by the 1904 Entente Cordiale with Britain. The Triple Entente was completed by the 1907 Anglo-Russian Convention . While not formal alliances, by settling long-standing colonial disputes in Asia and Africa, British support for France or Russia in any future conflict became

#213786