El Paso, Texas, USA
1854 - El Paso Del Norte / El Paso
El Paso, an unorganized county forming the W. extremity of Texas. It is not mentioned in the census of 1850.
El Paso, or El Passo, a post-office in the above county.
El Paso del Norte, el pa'so del nor'ti, better known as El Paso, (often written El Passo,) though not within the limits of the United States, has become so well known in connection with the unsettled national boundary question, that some notice of it seems indispensable. El Paso is properly a line of settlements, embracing a population of about 5000 souls, situated in a rich but narrow valley, which extends 9 or 10 miles along the right bank of the Rio Grande, in the Mexican state of Chihuahua, 350 miles S. by W.from Santa Fe. The grape is extensively cultivated in this locality, and considerable quantities of a weak but well-flavoured wine and brandy (known to the American traders as Pass wine and Pass brandy) are made. The houses are built of adobes, or sun-dried bricks, chiefly of one story, with earthen floors. Though supplied with abundance, the inhabitants are remark ably deficient in the commonest appliances of civilized life: glazed windows, chairs, tables, knives and forks, and other conveniences, which the humblest American considers in dispensable to comfort, are unknown even to the rich. Few of the people are pure white, being nearly all more or less tinged with Indian blood. That portion of the settlement at the northern part of the valley, where the plaza, the parish church, and the dwellings of a few of the principal inhabitants are located, may be considered as the town of El Paso. It is in lat. N. 31° 42', Lon. W. 106° 40', 1420 miles above the mouth of the Rio Grande, following the course of the stream, 600 miles in a direct line eastward of the Pacific coast, and 1800 miles from Washington City. El Paso is the chief thoroughfare between New Mexico and Chihuahua, and the other Mexican states farther south, the Rio Grande being fordable near the town a great portion of the year. The name, signifying "the passage," is supposed to be derived from the passage of the river through a gorge or gap in the mountain, just above the town.
A New and Complete Gazetteer of the United States: Giving a Full and Comprehensive Review of the Present Condition, Industry, and Resources of the American Confederacy ... Thomas Baldwin (of Philadelphia.) Joseph Thomas January 1, 1854 Philadelphia : Lippincott, Grambo & Company 1854.
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