The River Has Never Divided Us: A Border History of La Junta de los Rios by Jefferson Morgenthaler. Not quite the United States and not quite Mexico, La Junta de los Rios straddles the border between Texas and Chihuahua, occupying the basin formed by the conjunction of the Rio Grande and the Rio Conchos. It is one of the oldest continuously inhabited settlements in the Chihuahuan Desert, ranking in age and dignity with the Anasazi pueblos of New Mexico.
In the first comprehensive history of the region, Jefferson Morgenthaler traces the history of La Junta de los Rios from the formation of the Mexico-Texas border in the mid-19th century to the 1997 ambush shooting of teenage goatherd Esquiel Hernandez by U.S. Marines performing drug interdiction in El Polvo, Texas. "Though it is scores of miles from a major highway, I found natives, soldiers, rebels, bandidos, heroes, scoundrels, drug lords, scalp hunters, medal winners, and mystics," writes Morgenthaler. "I found love, tragedy, struggle, and stories that have never been told." In telling the turbulent history of this remote valley oasis, he examines the consequences of a national border running through a community older than the invisible line that divides it. University of Texas Press, 2004. 355 pages, 42 photos, 8 maps. 6 1/8 x 9 1/4 in. softcover.
Mto haujawahi Kututenganisha: Historia ya Mipaka ya La Junta de los Rios na Jefferson Morgenthaler. La Junta de los Rios ni mji wa mto wa Rio Grande, Texas, ambao unapatikana katika eneo la mto la Rio Grande na Rio Conchos. Ni moja ya makazi ya kale zaidi ya kuendelea kukaliwa katika Jangwa la Chihuahua, nafasi katika umri na heshima na Anasazi pueblos ya New Mexico. Katika kitabu chake cha kwanza cha historia ya eneo hilo, Jefferson Morgenthaler anaelezea historia ya La Junta de los Rios, kuanzia kuundwa kwa mpaka wa Mexico na Texas katikati ya karne ya 19 hadi 1997 wakati askari wa jeshi la wanamaji wa Marekani walipomuua mchungaji wa mbuzi Esquel Hernandez katika eneo la El Polvo, Texas. "Ijapokuwa ni kilometa nyingi kutoka barabara kuu, nilipata wenyeji, askari-jeshi, waasi, wapiganaji, mashujaa, wahalifu, mabwana wa dawa za kulevya, wawindaji wa ngozi, washindi wa medali, na wachawi", anaandika Morgenthaler. "Nilipata upendo, msiba, mapambano, na hadithi ambazo hazijawahi kuelezwa". Katika kuelezea historia yenye msukosuko ya bonde hili la mbali, anachunguza matokeo ya mpaka wa kitaifa unaopitia jamii ya zamani kuliko mstari usioonekana unaoigawanya. Chuo Kikuu cha Texas Press, 2004. 355 kurasa, 42 picha, 8 ramani. 6 x 8 x 9 x 4 inchi jalada laini.