Ysleta is a community in

El Paso El Paso (; ; or ) is a city in and the county seat of El Paso County, Texas, United States. The 2020 United States census, 2020 population of the city from the United States Census Bureau, U.S. Census Bureau was 678,815, making it the List of ...

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

, 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 countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

conquistadors Conquistadors (, ) or conquistadores (; ; ) were Spanish Empire, Spanish and Portuguese Empire, Portuguese colonizers who explored, traded with and colonized parts of the Americas, Africa, Oceania and Asia during the Age of Discovery. Sailing ...

Franciscan The Franciscans are a group of related organizations in the Catholic Church, founded or inspired by the Italian saint Francis of Assisi. They include three independent Religious institute, religious orders for men (the Order of Friars Minor bei ...

clerics and Tigua Indians took refuge along the southern bank of the

Rio Grande The Rio Grande ( or ) in the United States or the Río Bravo (del Norte) in Mexico (), also known as Tó Ba'áadi in Navajo language, Navajo, is one of the principal rivers (along with the Colorado River) in the Southwestern United States a ...

. These people were fleeing the

Pueblo Revolt The Pueblo Revolt of 1680, also known as Popé, Popé's Rebellion or Po'pay's Rebellion, was an uprising of most of the Indigenous Pueblo people against the Spanish Empire, Spanish colonizers in the province of Santa Fe de Nuevo México, larger t ...

New Mexico New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. It also ...

. 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 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

at the time. The Rio Grande was prone to both flooding and silt deposit.Nancy Hamilton, "Ysleta, TX,"

Handbook of Texas Online The Texas State Historical Association (TSHA) is an American nonprofit educational and research organization dedicated to documenting the history of Texas. It was founded in Austin, Texas, United States, on March 2, 1897. In November 2008, the ...

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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 officially ended the Mexican–American War (1846–1848). It was signed on 2 February 1848 in the town of Villa de Guadalupe, Mexico City, Guadalupe Hidalgo. After the defeat of its army and the fall of the cap ...

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

Butterfield Overland Mail Butterfield Overland Mail (officially 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 in ...

trail from 1858 to 1861.

The City of Ysleta

The neighboring community and county seat of San Elizario was a center of

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

influence in an increasing Anglo-dominated post-

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, 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.J ...

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 ...

. 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, El Paso, Texas (United States, 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. ...

, 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 (Texas), Franklin Mountains. Its southern boundary is variously given as Fred Wilson Boulevard or Cassidy Road an ...

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

Tiwa Revival

In the 1960s, Tom Diamond 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. The next year, the

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature, legislative branch of the federal government of the United States. It is a Bicameralism, bicameral legislature, including a Lower house, lower body, the United States House of Representatives, ...

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
nps.gov
*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 Pueblo peoples Former cities in Texas Pueblo 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