A preview of the Rio Grande Guardian's "To Conquer, To Defend" conference: Part Two

The Rio Grande Guardian International News Service is hosting "To Conquer, To Defend" because this year marks the 175th anniversary of a significant war in North American history.“The U.S.-Mexico War of 1846-48 basically changed the destiny of both countries,” said Salomon Torres, director of event initiatives for the Rio Grande Guardian and co-founder of the conference.“For the U.S. it gained the entire southwest as new territory, to finally solidify the geographical lines that the U.S. wanted for many decades. For Mexico it was tragic in that they lost one-third of their geography, including the northern Mexican provinces of Alta California (present-day California) and New Mexico, which itself later got partitioned into several U.S. states including Arizona, Nevada, Utah, and portions of Wyoming and Colorado.”By the time the war started, the region Mexico called Tejas had been taken from the state of Coahuila-Tejas and turned into a fledging republic.Torres said the disputed border region we now call the Rio Grande Valley played a key part in the U.S.-Mexico War.“War began in May 1846 after a group of General Zachary Taylor’s troops were killed or taken prisoner by the Mexican cavalry at a site on Military Highway south of La Feria – about three miles from the house I grew up in,” Torres explained. “A cannon facing south on Military Highway now commemorates that incident.”In the attached podcast I interview Torres about the conference.The "To Conquer, To Defend" conference takes place Thursday, Dec. 9 at the Port Isabel Event & Cultural Center. The conference can be attended either in-person or virtually. To learn more about the conference and how to purchase tickets, click here.Go to www.riograndeguardian.com to read the latest border news stories and watch the latest news videos.