Ysleta, Texas
Encyclopedia
Ysleta is a community in El Paso
, Texas
. Ysleta was settled between October 9 and October 12, 1680, when Spanish
conquistadors, Franciscan
clerics and Tigua Indians
took refuge along the southern bank of the Rio Grande
. This is the oldest European settlement in the area that is the present-day U.S. state
of Texas
. These people were fleeing the Pueblo Revolt
in New Mexico
.
, the Spanish Governor, placed Fray Francisco de Ayeta
as administrator of the refuge camp of those fleeing Popé's
rebellion. The refuge camp and mission was placed about 3 miles south of the Rio Grande at the time. The Rio Grande was prone to both flooding and silt deposit.
) 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 Texas
claimed the new channel of the Rio Grande as the boundary. In 1848, with the ratification of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
, Ysleta was ceded to the United States
.
influence in an increasing Anglo- dominated post-Civil War
period. In 1873 Ysleta made a bid to become 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.
(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 tribe opened the very successful Speaking Rock casino but after major lobbying efforts by Jack Abramoff
the casino was shut down.
. Ysleta High School
serves Ysleta.
El Paso Public Library
operates the Ysleta Branch.
El Paso, Texas
El Paso, is a city in and the county seat of El Paso County, Texas, United States, and lies in far West Texas. In the 2010 census, the city had a population of 649,121. It is the sixth largest city in Texas and the 19th largest city in the United States...
, Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
. Ysleta was settled between October 9 and October 12, 1680, when Spanish
Spanish colonization of the Americas
Colonial expansion under the Spanish Empire was initiated by the Spanish conquistadores and developed by the Monarchy of Spain through its administrators and missionaries. The motivations for colonial expansion were trade and the spread of the Christian faith through indigenous conversions...
conquistadors, Franciscan
Franciscan
Most Franciscans are members of Roman Catholic religious orders founded by Saint Francis of Assisi. Besides Roman Catholic communities, there are also Old Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran, ecumenical and Non-denominational Franciscan communities....
clerics and Tigua Indians
Ysleta del Sur Pueblo
Ysleta del Sur Pueblo is a Puebloan Native American tribal entity in the Ysleta section of El Paso, Texas, comprising a formerly Southern Tiwa-speaking people who were displaced from New Mexico in 1680 and 1681 during the Pueblo Revolt against the Spaniards.-Tigua:In Spanish the people and...
took refuge along the southern bank of the Rio Grande
Rio Grande
The Rio Grande is a river that flows from southwestern Colorado in the United States to the Gulf of Mexico. Along the way it forms part of the Mexico – United States border. Its length varies as its course changes...
. This is the oldest European settlement in the area that is the present-day U.S. state
U.S. state
A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...
of Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
. These people were fleeing the Pueblo Revolt
Pueblo Revolt
The Pueblo Revolt of 1680, or Popé's Rebellion, was an uprising of several pueblos of the Pueblo people against Spanish colonization of the Americas in the province of Santa Fe de Nuevo México.-Background:...
in New Mexico
Santa Fe de Nuevo México
Santa Fe de Nuevo México was a province of New Spain and later Mexico that existed from the late 16th century up through the mid-19th century. It was centered on the upper valley of the Rio Grande , in an area that included most of the present-day U.S. state of New Mexico...
.
Settlement
Antonio de OtermínAntonio de Otermín
Antonio de Otermín was the Spanish Governor of the northern New Spain province of Santa Fe de Nuevo México, today the U.S. states of New Mexico and Arizona, from 1678 to 1682. Otermín was governor at the time of the Pueblo Revolt, during which the religious leader Popé led the Pueblo people in a...
, the Spanish Governor, placed Fray Francisco de Ayeta
Francisco de Ayeta
Francisco de Ayeta was a Spanish Franciscan missionary of the Seventeenth century, in New Spain and Mexico.-Life:He became successively Visitor of the Province of the Holy Evangel of New Mexico, and its Procurator at Madrid as well as Commissary of the Inquisition in New Spain.Ayeta investigated...
as administrator of the refuge camp of those fleeing Popé's
Popé
Popé or Po'pay was a Tewa religious leader from Ohkay Owingeh , who led the Pueblo Revolt against Spanish colonial rule in 1680.-Background:...
rebellion. The refuge camp and mission was placed about 3 miles south of the Rio Grande at the time. The Rio Grande was prone to both flooding and silt deposit.
Resettlement
The settlement and associated mission moved several times over the next few hundred years. In 1691 the original refuge 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 peopleTiwa people
The Tiwa are group of related Tanoan pueblo peoples in New Mexico and Texas. They traditionally spoke a Tiwa language , and are divided into the two Northern Tiwa groups, in Taos and Picuris, and the Southern Tiwa in Isleta and Sandia, around what is now Albuquerque, and near El Paso.-Name:Tiwa is...
) 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 Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
claimed the new channel of the Rio Grande as the boundary. In 1848, with the ratification of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo is the peace treaty, largely dictated by the United States to the interim government of a militarily occupied Mexico City, that ended the Mexican-American War on February 2, 1848...
, Ysleta was ceded to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
The City of Ysleta
The neighboring community and county seat of San Elizario was a center of HispanicHispanic
Hispanic is a term that originally denoted a relationship to Hispania, which is to say the Iberian Peninsula: Andorra, Gibraltar, Portugal and Spain. During the Modern Era, Hispanic sometimes takes on a more limited meaning, particularly in the United States, where the term means a person of ...
influence in an increasing Anglo- dominated post-Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
period. In 1873 Ysleta made a bid to become county seat, but the elections were ignored or inconclusive until 1878 after the Salt War
San Elizario Salt War
The San Elizario Salt War, also known as the Salinero Revolt or the El Paso Salt War, was an extended and complex political, social and military conflict over ownership and control of immense salt lakes at the base of the Guadalupe Mountains of West Texas...
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 fire in 1907 damaged the mission. 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, El Paso annexed Ysleta, although residents voted against the change. Ysleta was allowed to keep its own school district (which extends from the lower Valley into parts of Northeast El Paso), although that required an appeal to the Supreme Court.Tiwa Revival
In the 1960s, Tom Diamond sued on the behalf of the TiwaTiwa people
The Tiwa are group of related Tanoan pueblo peoples in New Mexico and Texas. They traditionally spoke a Tiwa language , and are divided into the two Northern Tiwa groups, in Taos and Picuris, and the Southern Tiwa in Isleta and Sandia, around what is now Albuquerque, and near El Paso.-Name:Tiwa is...
(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
Ysleta del Sur Pueblo is a Puebloan Native American tribal entity in the Ysleta section of El Paso, Texas, comprising a formerly Southern Tiwa-speaking people who were displaced from New Mexico in 1680 and 1681 during the Pueblo Revolt against the Spaniards.-Tigua:In Spanish the people and...
. The tribe opened the very successful Speaking Rock casino but after major lobbying efforts by Jack Abramoff
Jack Abramoff
Jack Abramoff is an American former lobbyist and businessman. Convicted in 2006 of mail fraud and conspiracy, he was at the heart of an extensive corruption investigation that led to the conviction of White House officials J. Steven Griles and David Safavian, U.S. Representative Bob Ney, and nine...
the casino was shut down.
Education
Residents are served by the Ysleta Independent School DistrictYsleta Independent School District
Ysleta Independent School District is a school district based in El Paso, Texas . Ysleta ISD is the second largest school district in the city of El Paso.Ysleta Independent School District is a school district based in El Paso, Texas...
. Ysleta High School
Ysleta High School
Ysleta High School is a high school in the Ysleta Independent School District in Ysleta, El Paso, Texas. It is located on 8600 Alameda and is the second oldest school in the El Paso, TX area...
serves Ysleta.
El Paso Public Library
El Paso Public Library
El Paso Public Library is the municipal public library system of El Paso, Texas.- Overview :The El Paso Public Library serves the needs the public in El Paso, Texas, Chaparral, New Mexico and Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. It consists of 13 branches and one Bookmobile service...
operates the Ysleta Branch.
External links
- http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/CC/uqc3.html
- http://ysletamission.org/site/
- http://www.co.el-paso.tx.us/courthouse/
- http://www.clayhound.us/sites/ysleta.htm
- http://www.cr.nps.gov/nr/travel/tx/tx3.htm
- http://www.texasalmanac.com/history/highlights/franciscan/
- http://www.epcc.edu/nwlibrary/borderlands/17_tigua_indians.htm