Page:Memoir of a tour to northern Mexico.djvu/40

[ 26 ] Norte.” The road was very good, in the latter part descending; on both sides of the river rose mountains, which converge above el Paso, and confine the river for several miles to a narrow pass, hemmed in by precipitous rocks.

August 8.–El Paso del Norte lies about six miles from the upper crossing, and two roads lead to it. One road crosses here the river, and leads over hills, covered with deep sand, to the plain, on which the town lies. The other continues on the left side of the river, ascends over a rocky, broken country to a considerable elevation, and descends from here to the valley of el Paso, crossing the river below, at the town. We selected the first road, and crossed the river, therefore, at once. The water was very low, and we passed it without any difficulty. My barometrical observations, made here on the flat river bank, gave an elevation above the sea of 3,797 feet; about 1,000 feet lower, therefore, than I had found the river nearly 300 miles north from here, near Albuquerque. Supposing that the circuitous course of the river in that distance amounts to 400 miles, the fall of its water would, on an average, be 2 feet per mile. After some rest on the right bank of the river, we started for the sandy hills, but the sand was by far deeper, and our animals more exhausted, than we had anticipated; and seeing the impossibility of getting through on this road without fresh animals, we retraced our way to the river, crossed again, and took the other road, which was rough, broken and rocky, but without sand. To our right was the river, running through a cañon; to our left rose high, steep walls of mountains; the road always ascending from hill to hill, till we gained at last the highest point and perceived the charming valley of el Paso del Norte spread out before us. The Rio del Norte, having escaped the mountain pass, runs here into an open, fertile plain, at the beginning of which el Paso is situated. The town is principally built on the right bank of the river; but few houses are on the left. Stretched out along the river to the length of many miles, all the houses surrounded by gardens, orchards, and vineyards, and rich settlements, with cornfields, as far as the eye can trace the stream, lining its green bank–such a scenery will always be attractive; but to a traveller, who has passed over the lonesome plains and through the dreary Jornada del Muerto, it appears like an oasis in the desert. Descending from the hills in the valley, we crossed the river on the lower ford opposite the town, and were soon in the middle of it, on the “plaza.”

I rested in el Paso for about a week, to recruit my animals, and take some view of the town and surrounding country. Unfortunately, the rainy season came on and prevented me from making many excursions and observations. What information, however, I was enabled to collect, I will tender to the public.

The settlement of el Paso was commenced about 1680, when Governor Otermin, of New Mexico, and his party, were driven from Santa Fe to the south by a revolt of the Indians. Some Indian pueblos, which received them well, already existed in the fertile valley, but this seems to have been the first Spanish settlement.

El Paso belonged under the Spanish government to the province of New Mexico; at present, to the State of Chihuahua. The latter State claims as its northern limits towards New Mexico, as already stated, 32° 30′ latitude north, a line which by Mexicans is supposed to fall near Robledo, our first camp on the river in coming out of the Jornada. El Paso itself, according to my own observations, lies in 31° 45′ 50″ north latitude. In