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GUERRERO
Coahuila, Mexico
South
of the Border
A Side Trip from Eagle
Pass
30 miles from
Piedras Negras
across the Rio Grande
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Guerrero
means "warrior" in Spanish.
There are three Guerreros on the Texas/ Mexico
border - all of them on the Mexican side. There is a Guerra in Jim Hogg County
- but that's another story.
The other two Guerreros are in the State
of Tamaulipas: Guerrero Viejo was flooded when the Falcon Reservoir was formed
in the 1950s and the new Ciudad Guerrero remains not far from its namesake.
The Guerrero we're visiting here dates to Spanish rule and among other things
- was the point where Santa Anna's army crossed the Rio Grande in 1836. Guerrero
was once a very busy crossing point until smugglers moved about 30 miles upriver
to avoid involving government in their business. |
| | Welcome
to Guerrero, Coahuila
TE Photo |
Getting
There:
Guerrero is only about 30 miles from Piedras Negras and is certainly
worth the trip if you're in the area and don't mind the absence of nightlife.
From downtown Piedras Negras - follow the signs that say Highway 57
(To Saltillo). As the town thins out you'll come to a major intersection where
you'll see the directional sign to Nuevo Laredo (Hwy 2).
After passing
scores of ranches on a smooth 30-mile trip road you'll arrive at Guerrero.
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| | A
street scene in Guerrero
TE Photo |
Guerrero
is spacious with well-paved streets. The feeling of spaciousness is perhaps due
to the removal (or collapse) of some buildings - but the wells remain in place
- many of them on vacant lots.
Many buildings and some crypts in the
cemetery show that Guerrero dates to the 1700s. |
| The
town square consists of the two story municipal building/city hall on the south
side and a church to the east. A bandstand is the centerpiece and a primary school
is on the NW corner. A casual restaurant sits north of the church. |
| | The
smaller bell of the Guerrero church
TE Photo |
| The
bell tower of the church contains two bells - the smaller of which has a large
noticeable crack. The larger bell is rung by means of a screaming yellow plastic
rope. Rather than confine the bell ringer to inside the tower - he rings the bell
from the outside. This practice is wearing a groove into the masonry - but it
doesn't seem to bother anyone enough to abandon the practice. |
| | The
store "Tres Esquinas" (three corners)
TE Photo |
Traffic
is so rare that housewives actually sweep the street in front of their houses
with their household brooms. Kids in the street may be actual kids - since many
househods keep goats.
During our visit a woman stopped in the middle
of the street to deliver a cake to the primary school - leaving her car door open
for the ten minutes she was inside. |
| | A
decorative strip on a downtown wall
TE Photo |
| | Another
row of buildings
TE Photo |
| | Another
of Guerrero's decorative strips
TE Photo |
Two
things give Guerrero a distinctive color - one is their trademark type of well
- an arch over a rustic natural crosspiece from which the pulley is hung - and
a decorative strip of paint waist-high on all of the houses and stores. Within
the decorative strip the pattern may vary but it's always the same height.
The wells (we are told) reach the water table 1500 feet below the surface.
April
2002
© John Troesser
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Readers'
Comments: - When
you were down in Eagle
Pass did you cross the border and go to Guerrero, about 25 miles down river
from Piedras Negras, to visit the mission San Juan Baptista?
This mission was the original mission and the headquarters from which the fathers
operated in their forming and governing the missions in Texas including the Alamo.
It is a ruin now but the Mexican government has made some attempts to save it.
- Sincerely, Bick Eubanks, June 24, 2002
More South
Texas Towns
Mexico |
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