The River and the Wall

Ben Masters

Texas A&M University Press, Mar 22, 2019 - Travel - 200 pages

When a team of five explorers embarked on a 1,200-mile journey down the Rio Grande, the river that marks the southern boundary of Texas and the US-Mexico border, their goal was to experience and capture on film the rugged landscapes of this vast frontier before the controversial construction of a border wall changed this part of the river forever.

The crew—Texas filmmaker Ben Masters, Brazilian immigrant Filipe DeAndrade, Texas conservationist Jay Kleberg, wildlife biologist Heather Mackey, and Guatemalan-American river guide Austin Alvarado—began the trip in El Paso, pedaling mountain bikes through the city’s dry river bed. Their path took them on horseback through the Big Bend, down the Wild and Scenic stretch of the river in canoes, and back to bikes from Laredo to Brownsville. They paddled the last ten miles through a forest of river cane to the Gulf of Mexico.

As they made their way to the Gulf, they met and talked with the people who know and live on the river—border patrol, wildlife biologists, ranchers, politicians, farmers, social workers, locals, and travelers. They climbed the wall (in twenty seconds). They encountered rare black bears, bighorn sheep, and birds of all kinds. And they sought to understand the complexities of immigration, the efficacy of a wall, and the impact of its construction on water access, wildlife, and the culture of the borderlands.

The River and the Wall is both a wild adventure on a spectacular river and a sobering commentary on the realities of walling it off.
 

Contents

• Inspiration by Ben Masters: 5
• The Team: 14
• The River by Colin McDonald: 19
• Starting Line to Sonic Ranch by Jay Kleberg: 35
• The Congressmen by Ben Masters: 41
• The Forgotten Reach by Ben Masters: 50
• The Mustangs by Ben Masters: 63
• Learning to Ride by Heather Mackey: 69
• Me and CStar by Filipe DeAndrade: 73
• Desert Bighorn Sheep by Ben Masters: 76
• The Draw of the Big Bend by Austin Alvarado: 82
• Black Bears by Ben Masters: 86
• The YellowBilled Cuckoo by Heather Mackey: 90
• The International Park Idea by Jay Kleberg: 95
• Boquillas by Heather Mackey: 103
• Wild and Scenic River by Austin Alvarado: 106
• Waterlogged on the Rio by Korey Kaczmarek: 112
• Langtry by Hillary Pierce: 116
• Lake Amistad by Heather Mackey: 119
• Crossers by Ben Masters: 124
• A Landowners Viewpoint by Becky Jones: 137
• The Santa Ana Rally by Hillary Pierce: 142
• The National Butterfly Center by Heather Mackey: 148
• Ocelots by Katy Baldock: 151
• Roma Captain Richard King and the River by Jay Kleberg: 156
• The Maquiladora by Ben Masters: 160
• The Respite Center by Hillary Pierce: 164
• My Immigration Story by Geny Alvarado: 168
• The Last Stand by Jay Kleberg: 175
• The Final Paddle by Ben Masters: 180
• Acknowledgments: 187

About the author

BEN MASTERS is CEO of Fin & Fur Films, LLC. He is an award-winning filmmaker, an accomplished photographer, a contributor to Western Horseman Magazine and National Geographic, and the author and producer of the book and film Unbranded. He lives in Austin, Texas.

Bibliographic information

• Title: The River and the Wall; River Books, Sponsored by The Meadows Center for Water and the Environment, Texas State University
• Author: Ben Masters
• Contributors: Andrew Sansom, Jay Kleberg, Heather Mackey, Austin Alvarado, Filipe DeAndrade, Hillary Pierce, Colin McDonald, Geny Alvarado, Katy Baldock, Becky Jones, Korey Kaczmarek
• Edition: illustrated
• Publisher: Texas A&M University Press, 2019
• ISBN: 1623497809, 9781623497804
• Length: 200 pages
• Subjects: Nature / Environmental Conservation & Protection; Performing Arts / Film / General; Photography / Subjects & Themes / Landscapes; Social Science / Emigration & Immigration; Travel / Essays & Travelogues