This Week in USBP History, Vol. 7

October 17 - October 23

1910

• On October 20, 1910, the Supervising Inspector of the Southwest Border Frank Berkshire wrote a memo to the Commissioner-General concerning the selection and compensation of "mounted inspectors" (which were also know as mounted watchmen and mounted guards).  Frank Berkshire would become the Father and the Border Patrol and the 3rd person to have been "Chief of the Border Patrol".

1927

• On October 19, 1927, two separate shootings occurred in the El Paso Sub-district.  This document contains the reports of both shootings.

1929

• On October 17, 1929, the Commissioner-General responded to the Commissioner of Immigration for the Montreal District's request to appoint 4 Senior Patrol Inspectors to act as assistants to their respective sub-district Chief Patrol Inspectors.
  • In 1929, the Montreal District included 4 sub-districts which would be called "sectors" in the 1940's (Houlton, Newport, Rouses Point and Massena).
  • This memo contains the earliest reference of which I am aware of the "Assistant Chief Patrol Inspector" position.

1930

• This October 18, 1930 report details an alcohol seizure by which the Marfa Sub-district Border Patrol Inspectors and local Customs Border Patrol Inspectors combined forces to catch over 400 gallons of alcohol valued at approximately $680,000 in today's dollars.

1940

• This collection of costs to build Border Patrol facilities is signed by "H.J. Walls, Assistant Supervisor of Border Patrol".  This is the earliest known evidence of the position that would evolve to become "Deputy Chief of the Border Patrol".

1941

• On October 17, 1941, Willard Kelly, the 4th Chief of the Border Patrol, wrote a memo to the DOJ concerning (Immigration) Guard badges.  This memo highlights a few things:
  • Internment camps were being staffed before the U.S. entered WWII
  • Although the USBP did augment the internment camps, there was an (Immigration) Guard position that was most likely the primary position to fill that roll
  • Nick Collaer, who is mentioned in the memo, was a Chief Patrol Inspector for the El Paso Sub-district, then the Assistant Superintendent of the El Paso District and he finished his federal career as the 7th Chief of the Border Patrol (1948-1950)
  • Finally, although not mentioned in the memo, the (Immigration) Guard uniforms are believed to have been very similar to the USBP uniforms, as the DEO uniforms were similar to the USBP uniforms in the 1990's and early 2000's.  Therefore, when looking at old internment camp photos, it is difficult to ascertain if a person in a "USBP" uniform was a (Immigration) Guard or a Border Patrol Inspector.

1954

• Fences are not a new concept on the southwestern border.  See this October 20, 1954 photograph of a 2-mile fence in Nogales.

2004

• On October 20, 2004 the Border Patrol Basic Academy returned to Artesia, New Mexico where it remains today.  The first class to report to Artesia was session 583. The Border Patrol Academy continued to teach Spanish to all trainee agents until session 715, when trainees were able to test out of Spanish, shortening the academy to 55 days for those able to pass the Spanish Proficiency Test.  Traditionally agents begin their careers on the southern Border.  In August of 2008, session 803 was the first class with trainees reporting to the Northern U.S. Border since 1950.