Dec. 20, 1963 | LBJ Signs U.S.-Mexico Border Treaty

Dec. 20, 1963 - President Johnson today signed the Chamizal Treaty with Mexico, ending the 99-year-old dispute over the Chamizal area. Mr. Johnson cited the treaty as an example of how international disagreements can be solved with "tolerance and trust." Under the treaty, Mexico is to get back 437 acres it lost to El Paso, Texas, late in the 19th century by a change in course of the Rio Grande. The river had been established earlier as the boundary. Both nations plan to make the Chamizal area into a park with broad roadways and two bridges linking the two countries. The signing ceremony took place in the Treaty Room, in the residential quarters of the White House. The President made it a homey, informal occasion, and ended it by taking a group of reporters on a brief tour of some of the White House living quarters.

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