El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1913-02-17
Ell PASO HERALD
Editorial and Magazine Page
An Ell Paso Pioneer
By W. NJ CoIdweiI, FL Paso0

The death Of ". W. Mills, at Austin
on his nth birthday anniversary, has
deeply moved all the older residents.
MeXicans and Americans, of this valley;
aside from the grief which it has Oc-
casiOned, the event may be deemed to
close the first volume Of our local his
tory. With him has gone the last man,
of purely American education and train
ing, who was here conspicuous in those
far distant days, when Americans were
but strangers in the land and the peO-
pie, in their civilization. language,
thought, and everything but normal pO-
litical allegiances, belonged to a diff
ferent and not always amicable race.
His death sewers almost the last strand
Of tradition even. In 1858, barely %
years Of age, he first saw the sun rise
upon Mount Franklin, and from that
day to the hour Of his death Ell PasO
never ceased to be his real home and
place of affection.
Mr.. Mills, in many respects, was a
shining example Of the fallibility of
hasty human judgment. Those who
ought to have known better fire.
quently supposed that he cherished
prejudices which were the parent
Of animosities; nothing can be far
Their from the fact. On his arrival
here, he did not judge the people (alien
in everything but common humanity,
but who for more than 200 years, in this
then distant wilderness, had main
tanned the banner Of Christianity, and
the essentials Of civilization from the
narrowing standpoint. which is even
yet too characteristics of our country
men.
From the very first, he appreciated
the MeXicans, won and attained their
friendship and their confidence, and
again was exercised for the common
good Of both races, on those frequent
occasions when misunderstanding due
to difference Of race, arose between
Ton he "a of
both. He was supposed by many to be
a man of the north, not from the acct
dent of birth alone, but as the repre-
sentative of all its preJudices and AMI
mOsities, whereas, there was little but
the accident of birth to distinguish
him and all the great features Of his
character from the people among whom
he spent fOur-fifths Of his life and one
Of whose daughters he marrfed-unless
his answering devotion to the union
can be adduced as an evidence Of his
aIienage and he shared that reprOach,
if such now it be deemed to be, with
many Of the most illustriOus men Of
the south
He bore arms for the union. and to
his latest day, though seldom men
toned that fact was evidently the one
deed Of his career, at which he most
rejOiced. But no man better understood
and more highly hOnOred. the prowess,
the spirit and cOnstancy Of the soldiers
Of the cOnfederacy. He claimed them
all as a part Of the common national
glory, regretting only the occasion OF
their manifestation.
When the civil war ended, in the tri-
umph of the cause for which he risked
his life, the seeded states were not
regarded by him as conquered prov
inces, to be oppressed and plundered,
but as an integral part Of Reunited
country. in all matters Of local interest,
to be ruled by its own people, and not
by the camp followers Of the victorious
Iegions He himself claimed to be a
southerner; and who viii deny his
claim. save those who would brand as
Americans, the millions who
though born abroad. at all periods Of
our history, performed all the duties,
shared all the dangers, and felt all
the sentiments Of the children Of the
What is ~successT' Is the gold
standard alone its measure2 He never
craved, and never acquired wealth, but
lived and died possessing more than
was necessary for his wants An Off
Ger in the army, a collector Of Gus
toms a member Of the constitutional
convention, and long an hOnored con-
sui abroad, in every instance perform
ing his duties in such a manner as TO
increase his reputation, identified by
his name and deeds with the history
of the valley and OF the states, a con-
spicuous member Of a family that will
be rememb ered here, for genera
lions to come-hOw many of all who
have lived and labOred here, have been
more successful2