Valentín & Agustina Hernandez
Valentín Hernandez and his wife, Agustina Hernandez, purchased their Chamizal home in the Cordova Gardens Addition to the City of El Paso in 1952. Having married five years prior, the couple had plans to grow their family and start a business at the nearby international port of entry. “Pero entro lo de El Chamizal y todo se echo a perder,” explained Valentín Hernandez in a 1994 interview.
In response to the Chamizal Treaty, Valentín and Agustina formed the Cordova Gardens Homeowners Association. The association’s goal was to renegotiate the government’s initial offers on Cordova Gardens properties, which association members felt were insufficient, consistently low-balled, and racially motivated. “Como era mucha gente Mexicana y en muchos casos ya gente de edad, les decían que si no les vendían los iban a echar para México,” Valetín recalled of the deportation threats made by treaty negotiators if Cordova Gardens homeowners refused to accept the government’s offers on their homes.
Through the early 1960s, Valetín and Agustina held association meetings in their Cordova Gardens home at 3520 Oak Street. At one point, Agustina served as acting president of the association—a position of authority that was unusual for women to hold at this time.
“Para acá pues ya no era El Chamizal”
As part of his organizing strategy, Valentín began studying the history of the Chamizal Dispute. “Yo quería ver si teníamos algo en que basarnos,” he later recalled as part of a 1994 interview conducted by the University of Texas at El Paso, “y empezé a ver y a preguntar como había estado lo de los cambios de la tierra, qué era El Chamizal y todo lo que se relacionaba con él.”
As a result of that research, Hernandez came to the conclusion that Cordova Gardens—a residential subdivision east of Cordova Island—was well beyond the boundaries of El Chamizal. “Despues de eso,” Herandez explained, referring to his research findings, “yo me sentí en lo justo de decir que nosostros no estabamos en El Chamizal porque El Chamizal llegaba hasta la isla de Cordoba y de ahí para acá pues ya no era El Chamizal.” Valetín was correct. Prior to the Chamizal Treaty, neither the U.S. nor Mexico had ever claimed Cordova Gardens to be part of El Chamizal.
This is because Cordova Gardens is not part of the original contested tract of land.
Listen to Valetín yourself by clicking on the audio clip below:
El Paso Times August 12, 1965
Alleging harassment, threats, & derogatory remarks, the Cordova Gardens Homeowners Associated went to Washington D.C. to share their story with elected officials. There, the Association explained that treaty officials had threatened to confiscate U.S. citizenship if Chamizal homeowners refused to sell.
Agustina Hernandez remembers such an exchange herself:
Although Cordova Gardens had never been part of El Chamizal, the barrio was ultimately ceded to Mexico by virtue of the Chamizal Treaty. As Valetín argued in his 1994 interview, Cordova Gardens had been included in the settlement to accomodate for the northern part of Cordova Island (Mexican territory) that was also ceded to the U.S. in the settlement.
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1952: Valentín & Agustina purchase home in Cordova Gardens
On December 20, 1952, the Valetín and Agustina Hernandez purchased lot 4 in the Cordova Gardens Addition to the City of El Paso for $4,210. According to the Herandezs, federal negotiators initially offered them a buy-out offer of $2,500. Valetín and Agustina refused this offer, arguing that the property was woth more and that they would not be able to purchase a similar home elsewhere in El Paso with $2,500.
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Tract Map & Desciption: Lot I-4
In 1966, Valetín & Agustina were named as defendants in “United States of America v. 6.235 Acres of Land, More or less, in El Paso County, State of Texas, and William E. Johnson Jr., Et Al” in the Western District of Texas. The tract map & description for the Hernandez property (shown above) was included in supporting documents submitted by the International Boundary and Water Commission on behalf on the U.S. government. Because a price for the Hernandez property could not be agreed on, the government condemned the Hernandez property and evaluated the home at $11,400.
“Sólo queríamos que no dieron lo justo”
It was important to Valetín and Agustina Hernandez that listeners of their story understand that they had never been against the Chamizal Treaty. But what had pained them—& what motivated them to organize the Cordova Gardens Homeowners Association—was the injustice, indifference, & cruelty city & federal officials treated them & their Cordova Gardens neighbors.