I am the Franklins

Today we (citizens from all walks of life, members of the Franklin Mountains Wilderness Coalition, conservationists, environmentalists, many of what I call the "usual suspects" announced to the City Council that we were submitting a petition to preserve the area known as the Transmountain Scenic Corridor as Natural Open Space. I made the announcement and then several other persons spoke. Petitions were submitted to and received by the office of the Municipal Clerk. Mr. Brian Heller and his assistants were most helpful, courteous and professional.

One speaker, Mr. Raul Amaya, is a member of the Board of the Franklin Mountains Wilderness Coalition. He composed the following poem for the occasion:

I am the Franklin Mountains
by Raul F. Amaya
8/9/11

I am the Franklin Mountains called by the conquistadors Las Sierras de los Mansos or Las Sierras de los Organos.

I am the outstanding geological feature in the town then city that I tower over & that grew up around me.

I was born about 50 to 70 million years ago from geologic & volcanic activity & have been growing & changing since then.

I am the Franklin Mountains.

I’ve seen many creatures come & go over my life span like dinosaurs as they migrated from Northern Mexico to Colorado, millions of years later Mammoths & giant sloths.

About 50,000 years ago I saw the formation of the Rio Grande below me, and eventually it cut a path, named by the Spaniards who came thousands of years later, El Paso del Norte, between me the Sierras de Juárez forming the Rio Grande Valley.

I am the Franklin Mountains.

Many kinds of plants & animals make their homes in me; plants like barrel cactus & Mexican poppies, & trees like cottonwood, hackberry, oak, and juniper; and animals like rodents, deer, mountain lions, foxes, lizards, snakes, hawks, & many other kinds of birds.

About 10,000 to 7,000 BC the Paleo-Indians arrived although it wasn’t until four thousand years ago that I saw the first humans, the Manso, Suma, and Jumano tribes make their homes at my foothills in Keystone Park & up and down the Rio Grand Valley.

I am the Franklin Mountains.

In 1581 I witnessed the 1^st Europeans cross the pass the Rio Grande cut through me. In 1598 I witnessed the 1^st Thanksgiving celebrated by Juan de Oñate who named the town & city beneath me.

I saw the establishment of Ft. Bliss in 1849. Then in 1881 I saw the arrival of the railroad which greatly accelerated the growth in the lands below me.

Starting in 1914 I saw the Texas State School of Mines & Metallurgy being built on my foothills.

I am the Franklin Mountains.

From my peaks people can see 2 countries, the United States of America, & 3 states, Texas, New Mexico & Chihuahua.

Yes in my long history I have seen many things including 6 flags flying over me & the lands around me, the flags of Spain, Mexico, France, the Republic of Texas, the United States of America & the Confederacy.

I am the Franklin Mountains.

Some people want to live within & on top of me. They want to economically develop me for commercial & residential properties, to make money. I don’t really care because I’ll be here long after they & all their building are long gone. But animals & plants would be destroyed to accommodate this development. And there are people called conservationists, environmentalists & greens who like me the way I am & do not want to see any further development on or immediately around me. They love the way I look & they want to keep me that way. They want to preserve & protect the habitat I provide the animals & plants that live around me. For their sake & that of the animals & plants that make their homes in & around me I hope you will support their efforts on my behalf & the animals & plants whose home I am & which I sustain.