Boquillas del Carmen
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Boquillas (Boquillas del Carmen) is a small town in the Mexican state of Coahuila, on the banks of the Río Bravo del Norte (Rio Grande). It belongs to the municipality of Ocampo.
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[edit] Until 2002
Efforts began in the 1930s to create a United States-Mexico International Peace Park in the area, joining Big Bend National Park with the Maderas del Carmen in Coahuila. Boquillas del Carmen would have been at the center of this proposed international peace park, but these efforts have not yet reached fruition.
Despite this inaction, Boquillas del Carmen cooperated with Big Bend in other ways. In the late 1990s, Boquillas was a small (300 resident) town that was premilarily dependent on the Big Bend tourist trade, with visitors crossing the Rio Grande to visit the village's bar, restaurant, and taco stands. Children posted adjacent to the village's mission sold rocks collected in the desert or from nearby caves. Tourism options included pony and donkey rentals, parties at Park Bar and overnight stays at a local bed and breakfast, The Buzzard's Roost.
Country music star Robert Earl Keen was known to frequent Boquillas and even wrote a song about a day he visited the village, "Gringo Honeymoon".
[edit] After 2002
The events of September 11, 2001 destroyed Boquillas del Carmen's traditional way of life. In May 2002 the border crossing from Big Bend National Park to Boquillas was closed indefinitely. As of October 2006, only 19 families, totaling about 90-100 residents, remained in Boquillas. Most of the town's residents had been forced to move away by the closure of the tourist crossing and destruction of the town's traditional economy.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Virtual Reality Panorama Near Boquillas
- Boquillas Crossing
- Mexican towns slowly recovering from closed borders
Coordinates: 29°11′N 102°56′W / 29.183°N 102.933°W
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