The Tecate Journals: Seventy Days on the Rio Grande

Bowden, Keith

ISBN 10: 1594850771 / ISBN 13: 9781594850776

Published by Mountaineers Books, 2007

About this Item

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Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Tecate Journals: Seventy Days on the Rio Grande
• Publisher: Mountaineers Books
• Publication Date: 2007
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1594850771
• ISBN 13: 9781594850776
• Binding: Paperback
• Condition: Very Good

About this title

Synopsis

* More than a man-against-nature adventure-the author floats us along the border of political furor, cultural limbo, and dangerous human encounters
*Touches on environmental issues, adrenalin-spiked action, and the author's ambivalence with his own cultural identity
* A first work from a new voice that is parts gritty, elegant, and
contemporary

The Rio Grande is a national border, a water source, a dangerous rapid with house-sized boulders, a nature refuge, a garbage dump, and a playground, depending on where you are on its 1885-mile course.

That's why journalist Keith Bowden decided to become the first person to travel the entire length of the Rio as it forms the border between America and Mexico. This is his fascinating account of the journey by bike, canoe, and raft along one of North America's most overlooked resources. From illegal immigrants and drug runners trying to make it into America to the border patrol working to stop them; from human coyotes -- smugglers who help people navigate their way into the United States -- to encounters with real coyotes, mountain lions, and other flora and fauna, Bowden reveals a side of America that few of us ever see. The border between the U.S. and Mexico is, in many ways, a country unto itself, where inhabitants share more in common with fellow riverside dwellers than they do with the rest of their countrymen. With this isolated and colorful micro-world as his backdrop, Bowden not only explores his surroundings, but also tests his inner mettle along some of the most dangerous and remote riparian wilderness in North America.

About the Author

Fluent in Spanish, KEITH BOWDEN has found his place in the dry, cross-cultural expanses of the Texas-Mexico border region. Living in Laredo -- where he teaches writing at Laredo Community College -- Keith has spent countless hours both exploring the canyons of the Rio Grande River and and snagging hot ground balls on the cross-border baseball teams for which he has played. He has also traveled extensively throughout Mexico and in South and Central America. Tecate Journals is his first book.