Border Monument No. 232 is one of the original boundary markers placed in the mid-1800's by the International Boundary Commission to demarcate the new international boundary lines between the United States and Mexico after the Mexican War in accordance with the Guadalupe Hidalgo Treaty of 1848 and the Gadaden Treaty of 1853. Of the original 52 monuments only 7 were made of marble or iron; the rest were stone mounds built without mortar. In 1888 the stone mound monuments were rebuilt and additional monuments added for a total of 258. This monument is made of iron. Another 18 were added in the 1900s as the border region population grew, for a total of 276.
No. 232 sits on the Mexican side of the border fence in the high desert near Campo, California close to the southern terminus of the Pacific Crest Trail. (I had to shoot through the fence.) It is a remote, harsh region and this article published on August 27,1894 in the N.Y. Times gives a wonderful description of the troubles encountered by the men who installed the monuments, including a very vivid description of what it's like to die from thirst in the desert!
Many thanks to reader Ben Corby for great discussions we've been having about the California border region and the information that led me to this site.
