The Coyote's Bicycle (48 page)

I suppose what my visual curios have in common is a type of circular synchronicity, pictures and stories that always come back around to their beginnings. Outwardly, the developments of the US–Mexico border and the bicycle don't have much in common. But they do share this circular nature, this piquant for irony. Some of the stories that occurred on the border were just too thick with it to include. For example, a common legend has it that construction on the earliest government fence was contracted out to American ranchers. Upon completion, the very next act of those locals was to cut holes in the fence to give themselves access to Tijuana's delights. Or, in more recent times, the government contracted with a firm to extend a physical boundary into San Diego's interior. This fence company was later charged with having used illegal labor in the building of the fortification designed to keep such labor out.

The search for El Indio took on a similar character, always cycling back to the few bits we could be certain about, variously plying the story with deeper mysteries. For El Negro, the characters involved in the bicycle operation appeared and disappeared again, as is the nature in a city where modern communication can be an expensive luxury.
The odd numbered chapters that explore the rise of El Indio are very much the result of having learned the coyote's story over time, from the memories of disparate individuals. El Negro conducted dozens of interviews with the gang, beat cops, and other officials, often returning for critical details. Illustrations of the same events, depending on the teller, differed in shape and scope. El Negro and I probed the veracity of these tales by visiting the scenes of the events—Panteón Jardín, where Marta is buried, or El Gato Bronco, or Los Laureles. Separately, I traveled to Oaxaca, Mexico, to small villages like the one where El Indio was born, to learn something not only of the place, but of the era in which Pablito and Solo resided there.

To understand the experience of migration I spoke to people who lived in the Tijuana River, deportees I met in Playas, people who had returned from the US to Oaxaca, people who had once crossed illegally but had obtained citizenship, and also to Dreamers, the children of crossers. The federal case against the brothers Raul and Fidel Villareal, the Border Patrol agents who were convicted of crossing migrants in Border Patrol vehicles, was especially enlightening. Enforcement agents I'd met, speaking on condition of anonymity, were extremely generous with their time and experiences. Victor Clark Alfaro, a human rights activist and lecturer at San Diego State University, invites human smugglers and street prostitutes to his office in Tijuana, where the subjects explain their work for his
SDSU
students via a video feed. I was able to attend one of these events at his office, and found Clark's use of primary sources in this field unparalleled. What I learned in person was aided by the books and articles of Peter Andreas, Lawrence A. Herzog, and Joseph Nevins.

So many people contributed to
The Coyote's Bicycle
in small ways, I could never thank them all. Early readers Chris Patterson, Brian Taylor, Cameron Taylor, Angie Fitzpatrick-Taylor, Zach Plopper, and Tim Barger helped to foster the work along. Grant Ellis labored over rugged terrain to capture the cover image. Shawn Bathe
acted as both my Baja co-pilot and artistic collaborator. Almost all of the principals and interview subjects in this story were unstinting with their information. I'd like to thank: Dick Tynan, Terry Tynan, Carol Kimzey, Sharon Kimzey-Moore, Jesse Gomez, David Gomez, Greg Abbott, Chris Peregrin, Mike McCoy, Serge Dedina, Oscar Romo, Janine Zúñiga, Eric Kiser, Kim Zirpolo, Tarek Albaba, Johnny Hoffman, Brian Anderson, Ron Nua, Eric Amavisca, Aaron Garrison, Maria Teresa Fernandez, Ana Teresa Fernandez, Eric Blehm, William Finnegan, J. Jesus Cueva Pelayo, Vianett Medina, Amy Isackson, Gabe Duran, Steve Hawk, Ian Taylor, Ken Gomez and the volunteers of Bikes del Pueblo, the Binational Conference on Border Issues, Squaw Valley Community of Writers, Tony Perez, Nanci McCloskey, and the staff of Tin House Books.

And in hopes that what El Negro promised his sources—“No one will know who it is except the one who knows his own life”—is indeed the case, I'd like to thank El Indio, Solo, Roberto, et al.

Notes and Sources

Page numbers listed correspond to the print edition of this book. You can use your device's search function to locate particular terms in the text. Please bookmark your page before following links.

CHAPTER 2

page 17:
most crossed international border zone
. . . “Number of Border Crossings Stabilizes,” Sandra Dibble,
San Diego Union-Tribune
, July 11, 2010

page 17:
brought several forty-foot Dumpsters'
. . . Interviews with Dick Tynan, Greg Abbott, and Chris Peregrin

page 18:
the flood cycle at seventeen years
. . . “Historias de las Inundaciones in Tijuana,”
El Mexicano
, January 23, 2011

page 18:
was caught by currents
. . . Ibid.

page 18:
The bridge to San Diego collapsed three times
. . . Ibid.

page 18:
Tijuana's original horse track
. . .
Tijuana: Identitades y Nostalgias
, Francisco Manuel Acuña Borbolla, 2002;
Seabiscuit: An American Legend
, Laura Hillenbrand, 2001

page 18:
a flash flood caused a landslide
. . . “Historias de las Inundaciones in Tijuana,”
El Mexicano
, January 23, 2011

page 18:
a commune of farmers
. . . “The Little Landers Colony of San Ysidro,”
The Journal of San Diego History
, Winter 1975

page 18:
A dairyman
. . .
San Diego Union-Tribune
, February 2, 1993

page 18:
A raft of wooden
. . .
Imperial Star News, March 2, 1980

page 20:
“When I bought”
. . . Interview with Ben McCue

page 21:
There was actually a guru
. . . “The Flow of Used and Waste Tires in the California-Mexico Border Region,” 2009, Institute for Regional Studies of the Californias, San Diego State University

page 22:
“This valley is forgotten”
. . . Interview with Dick Tynan and Terry Tynan

page 23:
Until Santa Anita opened
. . .
Seabiscuit: An American Legend
, Laura Hillenbrand, 2001

page 23:
Movie star cowboy Roy Rogers
. . . “Roy Rogers' Horse Trigger (1932?-1965): A Biography,” RoyRogersWorld.com; Interview with Dick Tynan

page 23:
Actor Jay Silverheels, who played Tonto
. . .
San Ysidro and the Tijuana River Valley
, Barbara Zaragoza, 2014

page 23:
automobile magnate Charles S. Howard
. . . “Charles S. Howard, Owner Of Seabiscuit, Noor Dies,”
San Diego Union
, June 7, 1950; “Howard Ranch,”
San Diego Union
, January 1, 1969

page 27:
Horses had even drowned
. . . “Horse Owners Surprised by Flood Waters,”
San Diego Union-Tribune
, December 18, 2008

page 27:
not one little piece
. . . In June of 2013, a fire that began on the All Bikes lot quickly grew into a blaze that consumed an estimated nine thousand bikes and motorcycles.

CHAPTER 4

page 39:
women of the
1890
s
. . .
Bicycle: The History
, David V. Herlihy, 2004

page 40:
the most militarized portion
. . . “Background to the Office of the Inspector General Investigation,” Office of the Inspector General, U.S, Justice Department, 1998

page 41:
had sold for decades
. . . Sears contracted with numerous manufactures to produce a range of styles under the Free Spirit brand. Some were made in the US by Huffy and Murray, but many more were made overseas, in Europe and Asia. I gleaned this information from knowledgeable enthusiasts on several cycling forums including BikeForums and oldroads.com. Under the tag, alanbikehouston, one Free Spirit buff had this to say on BikeForums, “During the 1960's and 1970's, probably half the bikes in any given small town in America were labeled ‘Free Spirit.' Most were sturdy bikes for their specific price range. An oddity of ‘Free Spirit' bikes in the 1968 to 1980 period was that Sears would buy bikes of similar appearance from suppliers in Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, and Japan. So, although the bikes looked like the same model, they might use different size rims and tires.”

page 42:
It was set at yellow
. . . Chronology of Changes to Homeland Security Advisory System, http://www.dhs.gov/homeland-security-advisory-system.

The color-coded advisory system lasted for nine years, ending in 2011. According to the
DHS
, it was going to be a “comprehensive and effective communications structure.”
CNN
commentator Bruce Schneirer wrote, “It was introduced after 9/11, and was supposed to tell you how likely a terrorist attack might be. Except that it never did.”

page 42:
The ranks of the border patrol agents
. . . “Border Patrol has lots of agents . . . in wrong places,”
Associated Press
, June 29, 2014

page 42:
least open or transparent
. . . “Reporting Around
DHS
Opacity,”
On the Media
, October 25, 2013; “Shedding Light on
DHS
,”
On the Media
, February 28, 2014

page 42:
In his
2009
memoir
. . .
The Test of Our Times: America Under Siege . . . and How We Can Be Safe Again
, Tom Ridge, Larry Bloom, 2009; “Ridge Says He Was Pressured to Raise Terror Alert,” Associated Press, August 20, 2009

page 43:
Back in
1980
. . . Interviews with Mike McCoy and Serge Dedina

page 43:
But in
2002
. . . “An
INS
Project Threatens Southern California Lands,” Deborah Knight,
Grist
, January 31, 2003

page 43:
The California Coastal Commision
. . . “Border Field State Park and Its Monument,” Nancy Carol Carter,
Eden: Journal of the California Gardens & Landscape History Society
, Fall 2011

page 44:
1
.
7
million cubic yards
. . . “U.S. Smooths Away an Illegal Border Crossing Wrinkle,” Richard Marosi,
Los Angeles Times
, January 4, 2009

page 44:
It was on the tops
. . .
La Gran Linea: Mapping the United States-Mexico Boundary, 1849–1857
, Paula Rebert, 2001; “La Mojonera and the Marking of California's U.S.–Mexico Boundary Line, 1849–1851,” Charles W. Hughes,
Journal of San Diego History

page 45:
Having missed the founding phase
. . . Monument at Initial Point,
Personal Narrative of Exploration and Incidents in Texas, New Mexico, California, Sonora, and Chihuahua
, John Russell Bartlett, 1854; “La Mojonera and the Marking of California's U.S.–Mexico Boundary Line, 1849–1851,” Charles W. Hughes,
Journal of San Diego History

page 46:
But the men attached to the Boundary
. . . Interview with Gabe Duran, International Boundary and Water Commision;
The Great Reconnaissance
, Edward S. Wallace, 1955

page 47:
Arguello Adobe
. . .
San Diego's Lost Landscape: La Punta
, John Blocker

page 49:
The problem started in the
1880
s
. . . “U.S. Smooths Away an Illegal Border Crossing Wrinkle,” Richard Marosi,
Los Angeles Times
, January 4, 2009

page 49:
Nearby is Russian Hill
. . . Interview with Oscar Romo

page 51:
Kum
e
yaay people's clam harvest
. . . Tijuana River National Estuarine Research Reserve, High School Curriculum

CHAPTER 6

page 63:
I came across a photo
. . . “A Vehicle for Quick Crossing,” Janine Zúñiga,
San Diego Union-Tribune
, January 30, 2009

page 64:
She cowrote a lengthy series
. . . “How boy from San Diego became accused cartel hitman,” Morgan Lee, Janine Zúñiga,
San Diego Union-Tribune
, July 13, 2011

page 65:
interned during World War II
. . . “Japanese in Tijuana River Valley,” Steve Schoenherr,
South Bay Historical Society
, 2015; Interview with Dick Tynan

page 68:
After years of watching
. . . Interview with Maria Teresa Fernandez

page 69:
One artist had
. . . The sky-blue section of the border fence at Playas de Tijuana was the work of Maria Teresa Fernandez's daughter Ana Teresa Fernandez, an acclaimed artist who lives in San Francisco and travels widely. At the time of publication, Ana Teresa was painting a section of the fence in Nogales, Sonora, the same sky blue.