We took a driver over to the . . .

The National Border Patrol Museum is located in the county of El Paso, Texas. It’s the only museum of its kind in the entire US. and it is manned by volunteers. The museum was founded by Border Patrol retirees and runs without government help.

We learned a lot about The Border Patrol’s history including that it began in 1904. They didn’t have a lot of direction back then, but it was a start. Inside is their history, the adjustments and the encounters. The museum has a number of exhibits with the uniforms, equipment, photographs, and documents vehicles & weapons. You get to see the equipment the Border Patrol has used over the years and also see some of the cars and boats and other homemade vehicles used by smugglers to get drugs, people and contraband into the country.

As this map shows the Border Patrol is broken down into various districts with the border with Mexico obviously being where most of the Border Patrol’s districts are located.

The above vehicles were decommissioned and on display. The iconic sea foam green color was established in the 1950s, and remained the primary vehicle color until a new color scheme in 1995. It was harder to see than a white vehicle in the desert.

Lots of confiscated weapons are displayed, including improvised spears, a giant knife in a sheath inscribed “Guatemala,” and a 12 gauge shotgun seized from a Jamaican during “Operation Rumpunch.”

On horse patrol in 1924 and today, looks about the same.

The government initially provided the inspectors with a badge and a revolver. Recruits furnished their own horse and saddle, and the government provided the oats and hay for the horses. The Patrol Inspectors were paid $1,680 per year, and in December 1924 Congress approved additional funding for uniforms.

They have a wall that honors agents killed in the line of duty.

The sign on these two motorcycle looking things said ” hand-built from lawnmower parts and scrap metal, were “fully loaded with aliens when seized, Nine people were piled on them, zipping across the desert at night.”

Another plaque describing this smuggling boat said the boat was made with automobile hoods and was used to move people across the Rio Grande River for $500 a person:

You can’t forget about dogs who assist the agents by smelling for the drugs being smuggled into the country:

The Over

The Under

Sign is the physical evidence of any disturbance of the environment left behind by animals, humans or objects. The detection of this sign is called sign cutting.