La Junta de los Ríos: Reporter’s Notebook from Presidio and Big Bend

It is false that a river is a good political border. It is the opposite. A river attracts, creates, and foments life. This includes bears.

As I was leaving my hotel in Marfa, Texas, the front desk clerk asked me where I was headed next. “Presidio,” I told him. Perhaps he expected me to say something else, like Big Bend (I was going there too), Alpine, or Terlingua. “Too bad for you,” he said. He immediately backtracked when he saw my dismay, but his comment reflected a broader impression o…