El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1914-02-24

southwest for the United States. This
| appears TO have opened up the way,
, SO that about ten years later, the Santa
! Re trail was first established
! Origin OF the Santa Fe Trail.
Although it is said to have no def
! mite origin, the sending out Of lie
/ Lande, French Creole, to Santa Fe,
/ by Morrison, a merchant of Haskaskia,
/ of trading with the provinces of
| northern Mexico, may be regarded as
the real beginning of the Santa Fe
/ trail as a commercial highway. Car
! goes went out in 1922, the profits be-
ing so great that a better means of
transportation than pack horses was
looked for, consequently in 1924, so
traders crossed the plains. The cara
van was composed Of '25 wheeled We
hicles Of which one or two were stout
road wagons, two mere carts and the
rest Dearborn carriages" There were
few obstacles to wagons except the
indian attacks. Fort LeayenwOrth was
established to protect the trade. The
greatest proportion Of trade came from
Independence, Missouri. There were
generally IA or IS mules oxen or
horses and from 20 to 40 armed men.
AS trade increased, other places than
Santa Fe were sought, SO in 1928 car
avans went as far south as Chihuahua,
passing through Ell Paso.
FL PasO's FIRST Building.
In 1927, north of the Pioneer plaza,
land was granted to Ponce de Leon.
Here was built the first building of
FL Paso, a one story adobe. on the site
Of the present Mills building. Later
the Central hotel was located at the
same place. Occasional trappers and
hunters announced the coming Of the
Americans, but not until 1876, when
general Kearney and colonel DOniphan
made stopping places at Ell PasO, did
its future seem certain
On December IS. 1876, colonel Doni-
phan met and defeated colonel Ponce
at Bracito, six miles north Of FL PasO.
One result OF this might be said to be
the esta blishing of a fort in 1913 near
the foundry now conducted by the FL
PasO Foundry and Machine shop. In
1S49, FL Paso was made a resting place
for many of the hardy forty miners"
who were on their way to the Ell
Dorado of the west"
Americans Acquire Property.
About 1855, the ranch of Ponce de
Leon passed into the hands Of Ameri-
cans From Franklin CoOntZ, postmas-
ter at this time, the town was named
Franklin.
Early FL PasO's Unique Bill Board.
In 1858, Ell PasO was small adobe
village Of only 800 inhabitants, of
which three fOurths were Mexicans.
Where the little plaza is now, there
were a number Of ash and cottonwood
trees under which was a little market
for fruits, vegetables and sometimes
fresh meats. Ou6 OF the trees upon
which some energetic person had nailed
n board, served as n bulletin board
Here were posted the opinion one per
son had of another and also, the names
OF those who refused to pay their |
board bills to Mrs. GillOck, the hotel
keeper. A humorous incident is told |
of Arson Mills, who, about 1859, posted |
the information on this rude bulletin !
board that three certain men were the ]
biggest liars in the country"
An "acequia," or irrigation ditch, ran
down San Francisco street. across /
Pioneer plaza, through the alley back |
of the Sheldon hotel and continued on I
its way down oregon street.
Imagine, if you can, the country
south of San Francisco street q bios 1
som with flowers and gardens the /
sites of the State National, American /
National banks, and the places where |
there are now up to date business |
houses, theaters, railway stations, tel
egraph. telephone, electric lights and
gas offices were then covered with 1
golden corn and wheat fields. vege-
tables and truck gardens and dotted /
with vineyards in which luciOus purple
grapes were ripening all the wear
through; where Strawberries were
served to you from your own garden
Water supply Cut OF.
But with the settling up of Colorado !
and northern New Mexico with farms /
the water was exhausted in the river !
and most disastrous of all, destroyed
agriculture in the valleys below El
Paso. To remedy this the United
States Geological survey projected the |