Eagle Pass, city (2020 pop. 28,130),
seat of Maverick co., W Tex., a port of entry on the Rio Grande opposite
Piedras Negras, Mexico; inc. 1918. Linked by highway with Mexico City, it is
a tourist center and a shipping and processing point for cattle, wheat,
pecans, and oats. Mineral processing (especially oil and gas) and
international trade are also important, but drug smuggling has been a
problem in recent years. The site of a U.S. army camp during the Mexican
War, it was on an important route to California during the gold rush. Fort
Duncan (1849) was a base for actions against Mexicans and Native Americans,
including the 1855 burning of Piedras Negras; it also housed U.S. troops
during the Villa revolution in Mexico just before World War I.
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