Chamizal dispute

The Chamizal dispute was a border conflict over around 600 acres (240 ha; 2.4 km²) on the Mexico–United States border between El Paso, Texas, and Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua. It was caused by a shift in the Rio Grande, as a survey presented in 1852 marked differences between the bed of the Rio Grande (in Spanish: Río Bravo del Norte) and the present channel of the river. Tensions over the territory during the historic Taft–Díaz summit almost resulted in the attempted assassination of both presidents on October 16, 1909.

The Spanish word chamizal comes from chamizo, the common name for the four-wing saltbush (Atriplex canescens) which covered the disputed land near the present-day park.