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Texas
| Aviation
Patrolling
the Mexican Border by Air
Government and Private Enterprise Working Together
Cruse Aviation
in the late 40s and early 50s
by John
Troesser
Photos courtesy Cruse Aviation |
| Shortly
after World War
II, the threat of invasion from Mexico
was far different from the perceived threat today. Then the menace
was disease. Mexican cattle infected with the dreaded hoof and mouth
disease could easily wander (or be herded by smugglers) across the
shallow, drought-stricken Rio Grande. Already rampant in Mexico, if
the disease were to get a foothold in the U.S. it would be a huge
economic disaster for Texas and the other border states - as well
as the entire country. If you think of how serious the threat of Mad
Cow disease is taken today, you'll have an idea of the seriousness
of the problem back then. |
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King Cruse in Houston, Texas, 1959 |
| Former
WWII pilot King
Cruse of San Benito
read where the cost of patrolling the border on horseback was $900
per mile per year. It was half that if the patrol were made by vehicle,
but King knew flying and he knew that planes were far more efficient
and cost effective than any vehicle. Cruse approached the U.S. Department
of Agriculture and it sounded to them like an idea with wings. The
best part about the proposition was that King came with his own fleet
of planes. |
The
Ultimate Cattleguard
King
Cruse and his brother John ran San Benito Flying Service. While
their fleet of Piper Cubs was less swift than the warplanes they flew
during WWII,
it was still flying - and to pilots - flying is living - even if it's
just giving lessons or doing occasional aerial photography. The contract
was written for San Benito Flying Service to furnish planes and pilots
and the Bureau of Animal Industry would furnish observers. When cattle
were spotted the pilots would dip as low as five feet to enable the
government inspectors to read the brand or observe the animal's condition.
If the animal was identified as diseased, a note would be dropped
to a nearby government vehicle and the animal would be killed and
burned where it stood.
The 2,400 mile U.S. - Mexico border was patrolled by seven of the
Cruse Brothers' planes. These were stationed at their headquarters
at San Benito
and local airports at Laredo,
Del Rio, Presidio,
El Paso and
Yuma, Arizona - many of them former U.S. airfields. Each plane had
a range of 200 miles and a cruising speed of 75 miles per hour. It
was estimated that at the peak of the program, Cruse planes logged
1,000,000 per year. Later in the program four-seater Cessna 170s replaced
the two passenger Pipers. |
| Hoof
and Mouth disease was contained in Mexico by 1952 and the program
ended. The brothers continued operations as Cruse Air Inc. John Cruse
died in 1976 and King ran the business until 1985. He passed away
in 1996 but the name lives on. Cruse Air Parts, run by son Steve Cruse,
exports airplane parts and equipment worldwide from their office in
The Woodlands,
Texas. |
| Steve Cruse has
preserved his father's substantial photographic collection of the
South Texas region and has supplemented it with vintage postcards
- many of which he is now sharing with our readers in our Coastal
town pages. |
| Texas
Escapes, in its purpose to preserve historic, endangered and vanishing
Texas, asks that anyone wishing to share their local history, stories,
landmarks and recent or vintage photos, please contact
us. |
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