Paper short abstract:

The salutary climate of the lower Rio Grande Valley, a river delta divided by the US-Mexico border, led to two transformations in the twentieth century. Irrigation canals transformed the region into an agricultural center and also attracted people fleeing northern winters, known as “winter Texans.”

Paper long abstract:

Turn-of-the-century boosters touted South Texas as a “Magic Valley.” They lied, as the area is a river delta that extends into Mexico rather than a valley. Access to the Rio Grande River allowed local developers to install irrigation canals. Migratory workers, many who crossed the border from Mexico, returned home during the winter months. The Valley’s moderate climate, access to abundant water, and cheap labor, transformed the region into a major agricultural growing center for produce and citrus crops. The temperate climate also increasingly attracted people fleeing harsh northern winters – from as far away as Canada – known as “winter Texans.” These two transformations, and the two migratory groups connected to them, led inequities in income, which in turn led to inequities in health care.

Charting winter temperatures, irrigation canals, produce crops and citrus groves, and the appearance of trailer courts allow for an examination of the Magic Valley over the long-twentieth century. The sources used to plot these environmental and economic transformations include temperature and growing data, irrigation canals maps, farm fields and citrus groves business records, and locating the growing numbers of spaces dedicated to housing winter Texans. Representing these changes visually shows the ways the Magic Valley was transformed.