[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 160 (2014), Part 3]
[House]
[Page 4148]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                            BIG BEND COUNTRY

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Texas (Mr. Gallego) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. GALLEGO. Mr. Speaker, in my continuing efforts to highlight the 
23rd District of Texas, I would like to talk about one of my favorite 
and one of the most rural parts of the 23rd District, the ghost town of 
Terlingua. Terlingua, the ghost town, is located near Big Bend National 
Park.
  There are not a lot of ghosts there. There is a lot of history. There 
are very few people. The population is about 100 people or so. The name 
comes from tres lenguas, which is Spanish for three tongues because 
three creeks flow together nearby. It was founded in the mid-1880s as a 
mining town after the discovery of cinnabar.
  There are many things to do there every day. You can go rafting or 
kayaking on the Rio Grande, mountain biking, camping, hiking, 
motorcycling, and many, many other outdoor activities.
  On the first Saturday in November, more than 10,000 chiliheads 
convene for two annual chili cookoffs, the Chili Appreciation Society 
International and the Frank X. Tolbert/Wick Fowler World Chili 
Championships.
  In the 1970s, as a matter of fact, the chili cookoff also sponsored a 
Mexican fence-climbing contest to parody the U.S. government's plan to 
reinforce chain link fences along the U.S.-Mexico border.
  The other interesting thing about Terlingua is the unique politics of 
Terlingua. Clay Henry, the first mayor elected, was elected in 1986. 
Clay Henry was a beer drinking goat, and he defeated a local dog. Some 
of his campaign posters are still around, and now, they are worth a lot 
of money.
  I invite everyone to explore the beauty of the Big Bend Country and 
the beauty of the 23rd District.

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