El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1917-11-03

Of the larger living rooms. Some OF
/ the rose bushes planted beside the
[ thick old walls nobody knows when
[ are still putting forth their blossom
! and their perfumery in season. Some
I Of the old cOttonwoods planted by
l hands long since stil IN death con-
I unue 70 shade the spacious grounds
Or. Harris. since coming to FL Pasu
Z has become so deeply Interested In
I the history Of the old convent as well
as that OF the mission churches N
the valley. that he has been doing his
best 20 gather some definite data up
on them but has not succeeded very
well. rs the original records are said
TO be In Spain At the time the first
missions were founded. Mexico was a
part OF the Spanish kingdom.
When Priests First Came.
The fist record OF the appearance
OF religious teachers In the valley
dates back TO 1912, when Coronado.
the explorer came out Of Mexico ana
laid claim to all the territory now
embraced In New Mexico and Arizona
and even a much wider area In the
name OF the king OF SDain- Francis
can priests and monks came with him
and shortly thereafter. they es-
tablished missions throughout the
present western portion OF the United
States for prosecuting among the IN
dams. The presumption is that a
lllASnaNA " as SET N|N EOflIEska mere IN LFIH
li Faso valley. Whether this was al
san ElizariO Is not known, but in
later years, San E1izariO was the
church seat for all this district and
,he convent was the seat OF learning
for the whole region. The records
show that the F'ranciscans were all
massacred In 1875, according to inves-
LEGATIONS made by Or. Harris. For
four years, the work was neglected.
out agaln In 1880, the FranCiscans re-
turned and religious propaganda
under the Church OF Rome has con-
unued since that time, continuously.
IN 1852 the Jesuits took over the
work IN the valley and they have
been In charge since then.
Dates Lost In the Ages
The sisters OF Loretto came after
the coming Of the Jesuits. so the
convent that was, is not as old 8 the
tlrst missions, though IL IS believed
TO be as old. possibly. as any Of the
existing church buildings in the val
ley To was continued as an educa-
tional Institution until some 80 years
ago, when, san ElizarIo having lost
ITS prestige as the commercial
metropolis OF the southwest and FL
Paso having taken its place. the Sis
lers OF Loretto moved TO II PasO and
esta blished themselves The convent
IT Las Cruces is much older than the
II Paso convent but not as old. it Is
clain1eu. as the San Elizario convent,
which was the headquarters for the
sisters OF the entire southwest at one
time. Many women are still living in
this section OF the United States and
northern Mexico, who received their
education IN the San Elizario convent
as young girls. At that time 20 was
one OF the best known schools IN
the whole west and pupils were sent
1000 miles TO receive instruction /
from the good sisters at san Eliz- I
lrio.
san Elizario is a corruption OF the I
original name. for originally the
mission and town were called san Ell /
.eari0. after a French nobleman, FL ]
.ear, who lived in the 18th century I
md did much work for the Catholic
1hurch Annually, the commandments q
II the San Elizario parish pay honor /
20 their patron saint and his sanity /