2010.45.2

Walkie-talkie, more formally known as a handheld two-way radio transceiver. Front of body has a screen, a microphone and speaker, "up" and "down" arrows, and buttons saying "CALL," "MENU," and "MON/SCAN." The body is made of black and orange plastic, and printed on the front are the model number, "LXT435," as well as "X-TRA TALK," and "MIDLAND." A black plastic antenna comes up from the body. The back of the body is removable to allow the insertion of batteries. Used by the Campo Minutemen. Deborah Sattler, a member of the Campo Minutemen, wrote the following to accompany this artifact: "Radios - this is one that was used at the Border. The Minutemen were sometimes careless with them, using them as cell phones and forgetting the channels were open. All channels were monitored by law enforcement, which was helpful when someone got into trouble. The illegal border crossers and smugglers also monitored the channels. So calls [to] the Border Patrol were made by cell phone."

Used: Campo Minutemen | California/Mexico border