This is a classic of Mexican nortena style, performed here by a master - Antonio Aguilar, who passed away just last year. Mexicans are prolific - he made over 150 albums in his career, and sold over 25 million. He also made a lot of movies (167), and the title of the album here is Las Temas De Mis Peliculas, (The Themes From My Films). It came out on the Musart-Balboa label in 2001. (3:26)
Headline
EL PASO DEL NORTE by W.H. Timmons
As they approached the Rio Grande from the south, Spanish explorers in the colonial period viewed two mountain ranges rising out of the desert with a deep chasm between. This site they named El Paso del Norte (the Pass of the North), and it became the location of two future border cities, Ciudad Juárez on the south or right bank of the Rio Grande and El Paso, Texas, on the opposite side of the river. The arrival of the first Spanish expedition at the Pass of the North in 1581 marked the beginning of more than 400 years of history in the El Paso area. It was followed in 1598 by the colonizing expedition under Juan de Oñate. On April 30, 1598, in a ceremony at a site near present San Elizario, Oñate took formal possession of the entire territory drained by the Rio Grande and brought Spanish civilization to the Pass of the North.
In 1659 Fray García de San Francisco founded Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe Mission, which still stands in downtown Ciudad Juárez, the oldest structure in the El Paso area. The Pueblo revolt of 1680 sent Spanish colonists and Tigua Indians of New Mexico fleeing southward to take refuge at the Pass. By 1682 five settlements were founded south of the river-El Paso del Norte, San Lorenzo, Senecú, Ysleta, and Socorro, thus providing the Pass with a concentration of population from that time to the present. A presidio was built in 1684. The area became a trade center on one of the historic caminos reales, or royal highways, and agriculture flourished, particularly the vineyards, producing wine and brandy that ranked in quality with the best in the realm.
When Mexico won its independence from Spain in 1821 the El Paso area and what is now the American Southwest became a part of the Mexican nation. The municipal council of El Paso del Norte granted land north of the Rio Grande to Juan María Ponce de León,qv and it became a thriving agricultural and ranching enterprise; his land is now the site of downtown El Paso. With the outbreak of hostilities between the United States and Mexico in May 1846, Col. Alexander Doniphan and his Missouri volunteers defeated the Mexicans at the battle of Brazito, entered El Paso del Norte, and occupied the city of Chihuahua in early 1847. The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo of February 2, 1848, fixed the boundary between the two nations at the Rio Grande, and thus El Paso del Norte, the future Ciudad Juárez, became a bordertown.
By late 1849, aided by the gold rush to California, five settlements had been established by Anglo-Americans north of the river, one of them, known as Franklin, on the ranch of former proprietor, Ponce de León. In 1859, however, pioneer Anson Mills named this settlement El Paso, thus generating considerable confusion that lasted for almost thirty years.
From The Handbook of Texas Online
Headline
Headline
Headline
HISTORY OF THE CAMINO REAL HOTEL (formerly the Paso del Norte Hotel) From the caminoreal.com site
The hotel's builder, Zach T. White, was drawn to El Paso by its magical name "Pass of the North." After witnessing the 1892 burning of the Gran Central Hotel, which stood on the site of the present day Mills Building, White dreamed of building an elegant hotel that would by the center of social life and a gathering place for tourists. He hired the local architectural firm of Trost and Trost and together they studied the structures in San Francisco, which withstood the Great Earthquake of 1906. They designed a brick, steel and terra cotta building with interior walls made of gypsum from nearby White Sands National Monument that was not only structurally sound but was also fireproof.
The hotel was built at a cost of $1.5 million. White referred to it as his "dream hotel." The Hotel Paso del Norte, so named by White, opened Thanksgiving Day 1912 with a lavish ball. It was hailed as the "Showplace of the West." The interior of the hotel was the most elegant in the area. No detail was spared in its construction. Cherrystone, golden scagliola, and black serpentine marble installed by Italian artesians graced the lobby, mezzanine and dining rooms. Twelve gold-leaf cages with live parakeets adorned the pillars in the main dining area. A Tiffany glass dome crowned the lobby. All woodwork was solid mahogany.
The hotel supported its own bakery, ice-factory, butcher shop, laundry and a bar "stocked with every liquor you've ever heard of", said Mrs. Paul Harvey, daughter of Zach T. White. The roof top ballroom and patio were the scene of many dinner dances and Sunday Tea dances. It was also a favored place to gather and watch the progress of the Mexican Revolution and Pancho Villa across the river. The hotel became the headquarters for cattlemen and ranchers. The Paso del Norte claimed that more head of cattle were bought and sold in its lobby than at any other single location in the world.
The hotel remained in the White family until 1970, when TGK Investment Co. Ltd. bought the hotel from Mary and Katherine White, the daughters of Zach T. White. The new owners said they would refurbish and modernize the hotel, but every effort would be made to preserve the Western atmosphere. Over the years, the hotel has undergone several remodelings. Major construction on the hotel in 1986 added the 17-story tower. By mid 2004, Camino Real Hotels & Resorts will have added to the Camino Real El Paso history by completing a 4.2 million dollar renovation.
Headline
Headline
The writing on the photo: "On the Roof Garden of Hotel Paso del [Norte] - The only Hotel in the World offering its Guests a Safe, Comfortable Place to View a Mexican Revolution."
The title in Spanish for this medley is: "Popurri Pancho Villa: Pancho Villa, Corrido do Durango, Dorado de Villa, Caballo Prieto Azabache, Siete Leguas." It's by Mariachi Cobre, and the CD was released in '96 on the Black Sun label, titled Mariachi Cobre - XXV Aniversario (1971-1996). It's a bit long (7:23), but between the various songs, you have a brief history of the Mexican Revolution. In the 50's, when you walked around downtown Juarez and El Paso, you'd hear this kind of music everywhere.
Headline
Headline
Headline
Headline
Headline
Headline
Downtown El Paso
Of all the Southwestern cities, El Paso has a real downtown, a downtown worthy of the name, complete with department stores, grand hotels and bank buildings, and the hustle and bustle one expects of a big city, but hardly a west Texas border town. It's changed a lot over the last 50 years, but it still hums. In comparison, Albuquerque, Tucson, and even mammoth Phoenix have pathetic downtown districts that are, it seems, always going through a new phase of "urban redevelopment" that tries to put a new face on what's now a pretty shabby mug. It needs to be admitted that a good percentage of "old-timey" buildings that had some character in these towns, from The Alvarado and The Franciscan Hotels in Albuquerque, to countless smaller buildings in southwestern cities that had some stamp of originality, are gone. And so went much of the culture and the people who were part of that, from dime stores to watchmakers, magic shops to bakeries to theatres. And the "newer" versions of downtowns, the "NEW - IMPROVED!" versions, have never had any soul. Government office buildings and such attract a certain number of folks who are there because they have to be, till five, at which time the parking lots empty out and the downtown ghosts get ready for another night on the town.
Out-of-state conventioneers generally are far more familiar with what's happening in these places than the locals, who long ago gave up on shopping trips to the city's center, and became devout practicioners of "mall" culture - so much cleaner, with none of those pesky transients or "street people." Of course, that's all changed. Now the malls can be as strange as the kids with the shaven heads and the baggy pants that prowl through them, sixteen years old with more tatoos than a sailor from the Pacific, looking for. . . whatever. The parents have a split-level with three-car garage.
El Paso's Plaza, shown below in different phases, has, for over a hundred years, been the hub of the downtown district. This is where, in the 50's, I waited for a bus, met a friend, or just hung out and watched the alligators, who. . . well. . . just hung out, pretty much. The center of the plaza was The Alligator Pond, home to a half dozen or so of these ancient wonders, who kicked back, in or out of the pond, poster kids for what your skin does after milleniums of hanging out at the pool and doing some serious tanning. And extremely calm. If one would open its eyes and actually LOOK at you, whoa! To actually see one lumber on over to the pond for a dip, well, that was real ACTION!
Gators are pretty docile, though there can be exceptions. In 1952, a 54 year old female named Minnie laid an egg in the pond. Soon afterwards, when city employees began a routine pond cleaning one day, the mother-to-be bolted into action, terrorizing the park workers and giving evidence that "Mad Mothers" is a prehistoric genetic thing, in the case of Minnie, about 200 million years old.
One morning just before Christmas The El Paso Times carried an unusual story. My childhood orthodontist, Doctor Kelly, was arrested, along with another dentist, when the cops discovered them at the gator pond the night before. They had the jaws of one of the poor beasts pried open, and, with the aid of a flashlight, were attempting to count the teeth. They had been at a Christmas party at one of the downtown hotels, enjoying more than a few toasts to "the Season" I'm sure, and had gotten into an argument, which turned into a bet: How many teeth does an alligator have? I can remember the good dentist, leaning over me with what appeared to be (to the child) fence pliers and barbed wire, grinning and telling me to "Open like a bear now. . . ARRGGHH" - and he'd show you by example, and I'd giggle and open up and say "ARRGGHH" - and it was all OK, and all fun. The man had found his calling. He and his friend were hauled off that night for disorderly conduct. Doc Kelly - what a character. I loved that guy.
From 1885 till 1965, the gators were the attraction at center stage, that pond in the plaza's center. They were moved to the city zoo after two were killed by being stoned to death, and another had a spike driven through an eye. But I don't blame El Paso for this kind of stupidity. There are no safe places now, none, in any downtown, for transients or street people, kids or gators. Artist Luis Jiminez created the sculpture which now occupies the space the gators had, showing the beasts in a wild, frolicking pose that begs the title "Gators High on Meth," or maybe "Minnie's Revenge."
Headline
Headline
Headline
Headline
Headline
Humpy the Alligator Desert Denizen and San Jacinto Plaza’s Witness to History
Transported in 1883 from Louisiana to Texas via the Texas & Pacific Railway, Humpy [above] and five other alligators comprised a zoological gift to El Paso Mayor C.R. Morehead. The unusual desert denizens arrived in a cigar box, living in a whiskey barrel at the old Vault Saloon pending the construction of a special alligator pond in downtown’s San Jacinto Plaza. Humpy witnessed history, staring into the eyes of people from all walks of life including gunslingers, several American Presidents, Mexican Revolutionary Pancho Villa and U.S. General Blackjack Pershing.
Several stories detail adventures of the aquatic reptilian cohorts. One narrative describes a weight-guessing contest with the winner receiving a whopping $100 and a trip to Mexico. In 1952, a 54-year-old female gator laid an egg in the pond. To the amusement of downtown spectators, the recumbent, protective mother-to-be sprang to life and rushed toward city employees who were trying to clean the fountain and pond. Also in ’52, someone smuggled one of the gators to Texas Western College (now UTEP), placing him in a professor’s office as a prank. Another time, people spotted one of the alligators swimming in the college pool before an intramural swim meet.
After vandals blinded his left eye in 1965, Humpy moved to the safety and protection of the El Paso Zoo. His imposing size at 9 1/2 feet, 425 pounds and 100+ years of age made him one of the region’s most popular attractions until his quiet passing after cancer surgery in 1992. Humpy received a fitting burial next to another alligator pond at a local wildlife rehabilitation facility in Northeast El Paso, where a new generation of gators now finds peaceful refuge in El Paso’s desert Southwest. A memorial sculpture stands in the Plaza today as homage to the world famous alligator pond and its last stoic survivor, Humpy.
Humpy was the 2006 candidate for the El Paso Animal Hall of Fame, an annual award since '98 sponsored by the El Paso Veterinary Medical Association. The description above comes from the association site: epvma.org.
