Ysleta is a community in

El Paso El Paso (; "the pass") is a city in and the seat of El Paso County in the western corner of the U.S. state of Texas. The 2020 population of the city from the U.S. Census Bureau was 678,815, making it the 23rd-largest city in the U.S., the s ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

, United States. Ysleta was settled between October 9 and October 12, 1680, when

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

conquistadors Conquistadors (, ) or conquistadores (, ; meaning 'conquerors') were the explorer-soldiers of the Spanish and Portuguese Empires of the 15th and 16th centuries. During the Age of Discovery, conquistadors sailed beyond Europe to the Americas, ...

Franciscan , image = FrancescoCoA PioM.svg , image_size = 200px , caption = A cross, Christ's arm and Saint Francis's arm, a universal symbol of the Franciscans , abbreviation = OFM , predecessor = , ...

clerics and Tigua Indians took refuge along the southern bank of the Rio Grande. These people were fleeing the

Pueblo Revolt The Pueblo Revolt of 1680, also known as Popé's Rebellion or Popay's Rebellion, was an uprising of most of the indigenous Pueblo people against the Spanish colonizers in the province of Santa Fe de Nuevo México, larger than present-day New Mex ...

New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Tiguex , OfficialLang = None , Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ke ...

. Ysleta is the oldest European settlement in the area that is the present-day U.S. state of Texas.

History

Settlement

Antonio de Otermín, the Spanish Governor, placed Fray

Francisco de Ayeta Francisco de Ayeta (dates unknown) was a Spanish Franciscan missionary of the 17th century, in New Spain. Life Francisco de Ayeta, missionary, was born in Pamplona, Spain, in 1640. He entered the Franciscan order at the age of nineteen, he becam ...

as administrator of the refugee camp of those fleeing Popé's rebellion in 1680. The refugee camp and mission was placed approximately three miles south of the Rio Grande at the time. The Rio Grande was prone to both flooding and silt deposit.Nancy Hamilton, "Ysleta, TX," Handbook of Texas Onlinebr>
accessed June 29, 2012. Published by the Texas State Historical Association

Resettlement

The settlement and associated mission moved several times over the next few hundred years. In 1691, the original refugee mission was replaced by an adobe structure. A flood in 1740 washed away that mission. It was rebuilt on higher ground four years later. The Tigua (i.e. Tiwa Puebloans, Tiwa people) of Ysleta were among the most faithful Christian converts in the area and the Spanish were keen to keep the settlement healthy and vibrant. In the period between 1829 and 1831, the river moved much further south than usual. In 1836, the new country of

claimed the new channel of the Rio Grande as the boundary. In 1848, with the ratification of the

Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ( es, Tratado de Guadalupe Hidalgo), officially the Treaty of Peace, Friendship, Limits, and Settlement between the United States of America and the United Mexican States, is the peace treaty that was signed on 2 ...

, Ysleta was ceded to the United States. The mission was a stop on the

Butterfield Overland Mail Butterfield Overland Mail (officially the Overland Mail Company)Waterman L. Ormsby, edited by Lyle H. Wright and Josephine M. Bynum, "The Butterfield Overland Mail", The Huntington Library, San Marino, California, 1991. was a stagecoach service i ...

trail from 1858 to 1861.

The City of Ysleta

The neighboring community and county seat of

San Elizario San Elizario is a city in El Paso County, Texas, United States. Its population was 13,603 at the 2010 census. It is part of the El Paso metropolitan statistical area. It lies on the Rio Grande, which forms the border between the United States an ...

was a center of

Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to viceroyalties forme ...

influence in an increasing Anglo- dominated post-

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

period. In 1873, Ysleta made a bid to become the county seat, but the elections were ignored or inconclusive until 1878, after the Salt War period. In response, the people of Ysleta incorporated as a Texas city in 1880. There were internal disputes as to whether the tax burden was worth the status as a city. There was also much opposition from the growing community of El Paso as to whether an "Indian" city should be the county seat. The railroad did not come to Ysleta, and in a strongly disputed election in which counted votes were nearly three times the number of voters, the county seat was moved to El Paso in 1883. The town government dissolved in 1895.

Fire

A chemical fire in 1907 damaged the

Ysleta Mission The Ysleta Mission, located in the Ysleta del Sur Pueblo within the municipality of El Paso, Texas, is recognized as the oldest continuously operated parish in the State of Texas. The Ysleta community is also recognized as the oldest in Texas and c ...

. In 1916, the Rio Grande was dammed and the area was heavily irrigated. The resulting rise in the water table brought salt to the surface and the land became suitable for only salt-tolerant crops such as cotton.

Annexation

In 1955,

annexed Ysleta, although residents voted against the change. Ysleta was allowed to keep its own school district (

Ysleta Independent School District Ysleta Independent School District is a school district based in El Paso, Texas ( USA). Ysleta ISD is the third largest school district in the city of El Paso. All of the district area covers sections of El Paso. The Ysleta Independent School ...

, which extends from the lower Valley into parts of

Northeast El Paso Northeast El Paso is part of the city of El Paso, Texas and is located north of Central El Paso, and east of the Franklin Mountains. Its southern boundary is variously given as Fred Wilson Boulevard or Cassidy Road and Van Buren Avenue, and it ex ...

), although that required an appeal to the Supreme Court.

Tiwa Revival

In the 1960s,

Tom Diamond Tom or TOM may refer to: * Tom (given name), a diminutive of Thomas or Tomás or an independent Aramaic given name (and a list of people with the name) Characters * Tom Anderson, a character in '' Beavis and Butt-Head'' * Tom Beck, a character ...

sued on the behalf of the

Tiwa Tiwa and Tigua may refer to: * Tiwa Puebloans, an ethnic group of New Mexico, US * Tiwa (Lalung), an ethnic group of north-eastern India * Tiwa language (India), a Sino-Tibetan language of India * Tiwa languages, a group of Tanoan languages of the ...

(known as the Tigua tribe in Spanish). The state of Texas was reluctant to recognize any Native American tribes, but in 1967 the Tiguas were formed legally as the

Ysleta Del Sur Pueblo Ysleta del Sur Pueblo (also Tigua Pueblo) is a Puebloan Native American tribal entity in the Ysleta section of El Paso, Texas. Its members are Southern Tiwa people who had been displaced from Spanish New Mexico from 1680 to 1681 during the Pueblo ...

. The next year, the

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washing ...

also recognized the tribe.

Education

Residents are served by the

. Ysleta High School serves Ysleta. The El Paso Public Library operates the Sergio Troncoso Branch in Ysleta.Sergio Troncoso Branch Library
" El Paso Public Library. Retrieved on January 9, 2016.

References

External links

*https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/uqc03 *https://web.archive.org/web/20070201211854/http://ysletamission.org/site/ *https://web.archive.org/web/20070203222707/http://co.el-paso.tx.us/courthouse/ *http://www.clayhound.us/sites/ysleta.htm *http://www.cr.nps.gov/nr/travel/tx/tx3.htm *https://texasalmanac.com/topics/history/franciscan-missionaries-texas-1690-0
Tigua Indians Survive 300 Years of Ordeals
* https://web.archive.org/web/20140122141011/http://news.msn.com/in-depth/disenrollment-leaves-natives-culturally-homeless {{Authority control Tiwa Former cities in Texas Puebloan peoples Neighborhoods in El Paso, Texas Populated places established in 1680 1680 establishments in the Spanish Empire San Antonio–El Paso Road San Antonio–San Diego Mail Line Butterfield Overland Mail in Texas Stagecoach stops in the United States