Documentary Films
A Letter From Roma: African American Soldiers on the Rio Grande 1864-1867
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pPadR2Yt9AQ&feature=youtu.be
In fall of 1864 during the US Civil War, the 62nd and 84th Regiments of US Colored Troops arrived at Brazos Santiago and served in the last land battles of the war at Palmito/White’s Ranch outside Brownsville, Texas on May 12-13, 1865. They would be present in Galveston on June 19th for the reading of General Order # 3 which freed the enslaved people of Texas - the First Juneteenth. They were joined in Texas by 16,000 veterans of the XXV Corps – the 114th, 116th, 117th, and 118th Regiments of USCT – fresh from Appomattox and the capture of the Army of Northern Virginia. Hailing from Kentucky these regiments were tasked with rebuilding Forts Brown (Brownsville), Ringgold (Rio Grande City), and McIntosh (Laredo) and guarding the international border between the United States and Mexico.
In the fall of 1865 Sgt. Major Thomas Boswell, 116th USCT wrote a letter from his post in Roma, Texas which described life in the community and his thoughts regarding the duration of their service far from their homes in Kentucky. While the majority returned to Kentucky, some married locally and remained in the Rio Grande Valley adding to the rich cultural mix that is South Texas.
Cotton Times: The Rio Grande Valley Civil War Trail
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gPjdrJnj5b4&feature=youtu.be
The Rio Grande Valley of Texas played an important role in global economic trade during the US Civil War. Once the Rio Grande became the natural and international border between the US and Mexico at the end of the Mexican American War in 1848, it became an international waterway and therefore neutral territory during the US Civil War in 1861 – 1865. When President Lincoln put his blockade on the Confederacy, the only way Texans and people from states such as Louisiana and Arkansas could get their cotton to market was to take their cotton across the Rio Grande into Mexico and take their bales of cotton down the river either by steamboat or by wagon to Bagdad at the mouth of the river where ships from all over the world were waited to purchase this cotton. Citizens of the region viewed these times as “Los Algodones” or “Cotton Times.” Not only did this trade allowed the Confederacy to continue funding its operations but several regional merchants were able to get rich from this trade.
And then the Soldiers were gone: Fort Ringgold and Rio Grande City
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D6InhFKyPoA&feature=youtu.be
And Then The Soldiers Were Gone” is about the military base at Fort Ringgold that was established before the Civil War to protect the people of South Texas. It served as a military base for many years, until the 1940s, when the fort closed and the soldiers left Rio Grande City. The question that circulated within the city was what to do with the vacant base. Friction arose between those who wanted it to be a tuberculosis hospital and others who wanted it to be used as a center for education. Eventually, in 1949, the Rio Grande City Consolidated School District bought Fort Ringgold and it served as a school for decades for all students to attend. However, the divide between the people of Rio Grande City lingered. Then, in 2010, a project to research Fort Ringgold was created under then University of Texas Rio Grande Valley’s Community Historical Archaeology Project with Schools (CHAPS). And in 2016, the idea for the documentary was born. It has earned spots in several film festivals and won awards such as The Award of Excellence in Research from the WRPN Short, Tight and Loose film Global Film Festival in 2018 and was a finalist: Best Domestic Feature, Documentary in the Fort Worth Indie Film Festival in 2018 and finalist: Best in Show, Documentary in the 2018 CARE Awards.