Fronton Island
Fronton Island is an uninhabited island in the Rio Grande in Starr County, Texas.
Geography
Fronton Island lies between two channels of the Rio Grande immediately downstream of Fronton, Texas, across from Los Guerra in Miguel Alemán Municipality, Tamaulipas. It is located about downstream of the Falcon Dam and about northwest of Roma, Texas. It measures approximately in area.A smaller Fronton Island is located just upstream on the Mexican side of the border in Miguel Alemán Municipality. The American island is sometimes called Isla de San Francisco, which can also refer to a larger island on the Mexican side downstream of Ciudad Miguel Alemán.
History
Fronton Island was formed between 1852 and 1926 when the Rio Grande cut a new channel to the south, which became the main channel by 1955.As of 1959, Fronton Island was acknowledged as Mexican territory by both the Mexico and United States sections of the International Boundary and Water Commission, as the channel that formed the island had cut into Mexican territory to the south. In 1976, the IBWC delineated the international border to the south under the terms of the Boundary Treaty of 1970, placing the island under American jurisdiction.
In the 1980s, the island was used by Mexican ranchers for grazing but was claimed by the Cisneros Ranch of Texas. In 1983, armed fugitives from the Miguel Alemán Municipal Jail hid on the island before their capture, taking advantage of its dense foliage.