The Underground Chamizal National Memorial
The Underground Chamizal National Memorial seeks to create a permanent memorial that honors the names, lives, & stories of the 5,600 mostly Mexican American South El Paso residents who lost their homes & neighborhoods to the Chamizal Treaty of 1964.
Scroll down to learn the names of those who were displaced.
Click on the images to learn more about some of these residents, their families, & life in El Chamizal.
In 1964, after 100 years of conflict over internationally contested land known as “El Chamizal,” the U.S. recognized Mexico’s claim to this land.
The Chamizal Dispute, as this conflict came to be called, was the result of the meandering Río Grande. Ever since this river’s establishment as the international boundary in 1848, the Río Grande repeatedly shifted the border between El Paso, Texas & Cd. Juárez, Chihuahua. In 1864, one particular shift in 1864 “relocated” El Chamizal north of the river/boundary—& seemingly into El Paso.
One hundred years later, the U.S. agreed to return 630-acres of El Paso to Cd. Juárez as El Chamizal by virtue of the Chamizal Treaty. This settlement remains the first & only time the United States has ever given land back to Mexico after the U.S.-Mexico War.
