Traveling from Uvalde to Harlingen today and there’s not much to see. In the early years of the Republic of Texas this area was called the Wild Horse Desert. Texas claimed the Rio Grande as their nation’s southern boundry and Mexico claimed it to be the Nueces River. That left a vast area as disputed territory, a sort of “no man’s land.” It was an arid stretch filled with wild mustangs, not really a desert but dry and featureless. It remains that way today except the mustangs have been replaced by trophy-sized whitetail deer.
So miles and miles of mesquite, game fences, mesquite, oil field activity, mesquite and, well, mesquite. I filled the time watching out for the next greatest and latest Game Ranch entrance gate. The super-rich owners seem to be in a contest as to who can spend the most money on an insanely elaborate first impression. One that says “look, see what I’ve got - and you don’t”
Maybe it is a desert.