Tales from the Morgue

1999: Spiritual leaders fought for Tiguas' rights, traditions

October 24, 1999

By Christina Ramírez / El Paso Times

Holding a bundle of reeds in his weathered hands, almost as if he had emerged from a cotton field, Cacique José Granillo sat before the House Indian Affairs Subcommittee in Washington, D.C.

It was Aug. 1, 1967, and Jose sat at a table, stoically describing why the Tigua Indians should be granted tribal status.

He was joined by his brother Trinidad, the Tigua war chief; their cousin, Miguel Granillo Pedraza, the Tigua governor; and Tom Diamond, the Tigua lawyer.

Of the three Indians, Pedraza was the only one who spoke English, but it was the chief whom the subcommittee addressed.

"José was dressed in dungarees, a worn shirt and khaki trousers," Diamond said. "Here was this guy who didn't speak English and was dressed so simply, asking for something so simple."

A U.S. representative told the interpreter, "Ask the chief what he wants us to do for him."

"The translator asked José, and José replied in Spanish, `There's nothing you can do for me. You can help my people,' " Diamond said, smiling as he recalled the moment. "So the chairman rephrased the question and asked, `What can we do for your people?' and the chief replied, `Give them water.' "

Diamond met the Granillos five years earlier when the Tiguas, unable to pay their taxes, faced eviction from their homes.

Diamond credits the Granillos with getting him involved in the fight to get the tribe recognized by the U.S. government, recognition that came with rare speed.

The House Indian Affairs Subcommittee approved on the spot a bill by Rep. Richard C. White of the El Paso district that made the Tigua Indians an official Indian tribe.

As a result of that trip to Washington, the Tiguas became the first new tribe to achieve federal recognition in more than half a century - a victory that allowed them to apply for federal grants to help pay for indoor plumbing.

The Tiguas would finally get their running water, and the victory cleared the way for the federal recognition of other tribes.

The Granillos

Although the federal recognition came in 1967, José Granillo - and his family - seemed well suited to the battle long before there was a battle.

Census reports and oral tradition place Granillos at the forefront of Tigua history, whether they were acting as guides for the U.S. Army or marrying an El Paso mayor.

"Tomàs Granillo was a scout for the United States Cavalry and even the Texas Rangers," said Joe Sierra, a tribal judge and former governor. "There was even a Granillo married to an El Paso mayor in the 1800s. There's a lot of history there."

Among the Granillos listed as scouts in the 1860s and 1870s were Tomàs, Aniseto, Encarnación, Fabrian and Juan Granillo.

"These men and other Tiguas, especially the Olguines, were considered among the best scouts the U.S. Army and Texas Rangers had ever seen," El Paso anthropologist Nick Houser said.

An Andrés Granillo is listed in the 1860 census as a servant in the Magoffin house.

Petitions of the late 1800s are scattered with Granillos, or Graníos (an alternate spelling), demanding justice and putting themselves on the political forefront.

"A lot of people don't think they were very politically active," Houser said, "but Indians back then were, as evident from the petitions."

José Granillo, who benefitted from the political activism of his ancestors, served as cacique, the spiritual and religious leader, of the Tigua Indians from 1966 up to his death in 1981. The Granillo family had a tradition of being cacique.

José became cacique after his brother Tomàs died in 1966. Tomàs was elected cacique after the death of their father, Cacique Aniseto Granillo, in 1957.

Known as patriarch of the tribe, José was the only tribal leader elected for life.

Following a traditional four-day period of mourning after José died, the adult male members of the tribe selected Trinidad to succeed his brother, continuing the Granillo tradition of leading the tribe.

Fact and folklore

Although legend and oral stories tell of a Luis Granillo coming to El Paso del Norte with the original cabildo during the Pueblo Revolt in 1680, census reports and other records indicate a Granillo signed a petition in 1853 - the first official documentation of a Granillo in the area. Tomàs Granillo signed a petition to the bishop regarding bullying tactics used to take land away from Native Americans.

Sierra said folklore links the Granillos to the building of the Ysleta Mission, but because names were changed and most Indians could not read or write, it is nearly impossible to prove.

Like Sierra, most tribal members can claim to be related to a Granillo one way or another.

"The Granillo family ties span across almost every member of the tribe, whether they are Candelarias, Pedrazas or Olguines," said Sierra, whose grandfather is the brother of Aniseto Granillo. "Everyone in the tribe is related in one way or another to a Granillo. We're like a huge family."

Sierra was 20 when he became alguacil, or sheriff, of the tribe. At the time, José Granillo was cacique.

"I was fortunate enough to come in very young to the tribal council," Sierra said. "I remember asking this 69-, 70-year-old chief all kinds of questions about life, and he would give me little lessons in bits and pieces. They taught me a lot of things that you will never find in books. They were born with this knowledge. It was a special gift given to them by the good spirits, and they used it to guide them to what was good for our people."

While José never married and had no children, Miguel Pedraza Jr. said Trinidad had eight children, but disclosure of a genealogy or family tree is against tribal law.

"In a tribe, everyone is a member of the same family," Houser said. "There's not supposed to be a division amongst members as to what family they belong to."

The rich and religious culture of the Tiguas is something the Granillos have always held dear, said Pedraza, whose father accompanied José and Trinidad on that fateful trip to Washington.

"I remember going to the old barrio when I was younger to visit Trinidad and José," Pedraza said. "I learned chants, ceremonial dances, but none of it was directly taught. It was something you observed in them."

Pedraza is now regarded as the patriarch of the Granillo family because most Granillos are too young to be politically active in the tribe. His paternal grandfather was Luz Pedraza, who was killed in a gun battle with Texas Rangers. Luz was raised by his grandfather Bensalado Granillo, an Indian scout for the U.S. Cavalry in the 1880s and the last war captain of the Senecú Piro tribe, which settled across the Rio Grande from Ysleta in the 1600s.

"Most of the Granillos are younger, and it takes time to become active, especially when there are people who shy away from Indian ways because of (pressure from white) society," Pedraza said. "That's where the Granillo name may start to fade a little ... but speaking for a small group, I can say there is still a small group of traditionalists who keep with Aniseto's teachings."

The elder Pedraza, who died in 1988, was quoted more than once saying he did not like what the future held for his people, and he feared the Tigua language, culture and identity would be lost eventually.

Among the traditions the younger Pedraza said he learned by watching his family is the sensitivity that must be maintained for nature and tradition.

Keeping traditions alive

Sierra said the Granillos tried to maintain the health and welfare of their people and the Earth to which they are connected.

"One of Cacique José's proudest moments was (in 1968) when he saw his children moving into homes with running water," Sierra said. "That was his dream.

"I am honored to have been there to see them put the seed in the ground and nurture it so it would start growing," Sierra said. "It has started growing, and now the younger generation must take care of it."

Sierra said among the many lessons he learned from his relatives and ancestors was what it means to be an Indian.

"It's more than blood; Being Indian is in your soul, not in your head," Sierra said. "You can read all the books you want, but it's something that comes from the soul."

But Sierra admits that the way of the Granillo caciques is fading fast with technology and other 20th century practices.

"Even way back, there were just a few Indians that kept the traditions going. You could count them on your fingers," he said. "But today with a bigger tribe, it's even harder. There are many Indians out there who don't know what it is to really be Indian."

Tigua time line

·Oct. 12, 1680: The Pueblo Revolt, an uprising of Indians against Spaniards, begins in New Mexico, Ysleta and Socorro, the area now known as the Lower Valley. Some Tiguas (the original spelling was "Tiwas") fled to the El Paso area during the revolt. Tiguas remaining faithful to Spanish Franciscans fled an Indian revolt in Isleta, N.M., coming south with the friars who founded the Ysleta Mission, according to historians. Some of the Tiguas went willingly, some fleeing war zones. Others were captives.

·1682: Socorro/Ysleta Mission founded; it is the oldest building in Texas.

·1730-50: Hacienda de Tiburcios founded; it is the forerunner of San Elizario.

·1740: Ysleta Mission demolished by Rio Grande floodwater.

·1744: Mission rebuilt.

·1773-74: First San Elizario presidio built near Porvenir, Mexico.

·1870s: El Paso is incorporated; Tiguas' land lost to settlers.

·1878: Ysleta protests El Paso's dumping of raw sewage into the Rio Grande.

·1906: Ysleta Mission church burned when it catches fire. Only the walls are left standing.

·1908: Restored Ysleta Mission is rededicated.

·1924: By Act of Congress, all Indians are declared to be citizens of the United States, gaining the right to vote for the first time.

·1936: Ysleta Indians make President Franklin Roosevelt "honorary chief."

·1956: José Cisneros becomes "honorary Tigua Artista."

·1957: Cacique Aniseto Granillo dies. Tomàs Granillo elected cacique.

·1966: Cacique Tomàs Granillo dies from traffic accident injuries. José Granillo is elected cacique.

·1967: Tigua Indians receive tribal status; reservation is established.

·1977: Ray Apodaca, who grew up in Tortugas area of Las Cruces and is an enrolled member of Tigua Indian Tribe, takes over as superintendent.

·1981: José Granillo dies. Trinidad Granillo elected cacique.

·1992: Apodaca fired as superintendent.

·1993: Apodaca removed from tribal roles because he's part of the San Juan de Guadalupe de Los Tortugueños, who left the El Paso area around 1910.

·1993: Speaking Rock Casino opens.

·1994: Lt. Gov. Manny Silvas banned from the tribe's election over allegations that he misused funds while in office. His attempts to get in the tuh-la (the place where the tribal members meet to cast their votes) spark a melee in the street outside, which is broken up by El Paso and tribal police. His brother Marty Silvas refuses to return tribe's sacred drum.

·1995: Both Silvases are expelled. Bureau of Indian Affairs Southern Pueblo Agency in Albuquerque is called to resolve election dispute. Apodaca reinstated.

·1997: All tribal members are asked to show proof that they are Tigua. Those who are deemed ineligible are banished from the rolls and the reservation.

Merry Christmas Amigos

This poem, Merry Christmas Amigos, first appeared in the El Paso Times in 1948 and ran every year at least through 1977:

'Tis the night before Christmas, and all through the casa

Not a creature is stirring. Caramba! Que Pasa?

The stockings are hanging, con mucho cuidado,

In hopes that St. Nicholas will feel obligado

To leave a few cosas aqui and alli,

For chico and chica (and something for me!)

Los ninos are snuggled all safe in their camas

(Some in camisas and some in pajamas.)

Their little cabezas are full of good things

Todos esperan lo que Santa will bring!

Santa is down at the corner saloon

(Muy borracho since mid-afternoon);

Mama is sitting beside the ventana

Shining her rolling pin para manana

When Santa will come en un manner extrano,

Lit up like the Star on the mountain, cantando,

Y mama lo manda to bed with a right.

Merry Christmas a todos y a todos good night!

 

1956: The Miracle of Cristo Rey

December 23, 1956

By Bill Latham

Out west of El Paso, as you drive along the river road to the Upper Valley, you can glance over into Mexico. The Rio Grande, sometimes a big river and sometimes a bare riverbed lies just to your left as you speed along the road.

Three miles beyond downtown El Paso as you pass through Smeltertown, you can see a high peak off to the West. On top of the peak stands a giant cross. From the road it is a little difficult to see but a huge state of Christ the King stands there.

The face turns toward Smeltertown and the El Paso Valley – the arms are outstretched to bless those living down there, in Texas and Mexico, on the one side, and New Mexico on the other.

A compassionate smile is hinted at about the lips of the face of the Christ sculpture by a famous Spaniard, Urbici Soler. And, sometimes, standing there gazing at the statue, so true to life, one gets the impression that if the lips could talk – they might tell strange tales.

Such as this one …

Petey was a little boy who lived in Smeltertown. His real name was a long Spanish name, beginning with Pedro. But since few of us could pronounce it and I wouldn’t want to embarrass him by trying, let’s just call him Petey. His mother was a widow who worked as a maid in a home in El Paso and Petey rarely saw her from the time she went to work in the morning until he had been home from school a long time. Then she would sweep him up in her arms and smother him with kisses. Petey loved his mother, with her long dark tresses, her flashing black eyes, her teasing and laughter.

But sometimes tears gathered in her eyes and Petey was sad. When it’s only a few days until Christmas and you know that all of your dollars must go for food and clothing and rent … it’s a little difficult to tell a youngster of six or seven that there will not be much of a Christmas.

You sort of choke up and say:

“Pedro my son, there may not be many presents this year. Santa may bring you clothes instead … or just a few toys … but I don’t think there will be any bicycle.”

And then you watch tears spring into a youngster’s eyes and a lower lip tremble and the best you can do is take the youngster in your arms and say:

“But don’t worry … maybe something will happened before then … maybe Jesus will see to it …”

***

Now Petey was an unusual youngster to find in Smeltertown. You see Petey was a Protestant and most of the youngsters there are Catholics. And, while they never poked fun at Petey for his beliefs, they often said things that made Petey wonder.

And at seven it’s a big world and lots of things to be wondered at …

“Petey, when you go to church do you pray to the Christ child?”

“Petey, who can hear your prayers if you don’ t pray to the Blessed Mary?

Now Petey couldn’t answer all such questions but he too loved the Christ child and he knew the story of Bethlehem and the shepherds and of the Magi who worshipped at the child’s manger …

And when pilgrimages would wind up Sierra de Cristo Rey Petey would hear remarks about “We’ll pray to the Christ and he’ll answer our prayers.”

So Petey, in the wisdom of seven years, gradually came to attach a special significance to the statue which stood afar off into the distance.

Many times he would glance out the window as bedtime neared and say, “Good night, Jesus.”

On rising, he would see the statue with the first rays of the morning sun falling on it and he would say, “Good morning, Jesus.”

So when Mother told him that Christmas might not have too many presents and that the bicycle, which he wanted so badly, might not come this Christmas, Petey decided to take his problem to Jesus. And being seven, and not looking at the world with the cynical eyes which you and I use, he took a strange course. Petey reasoned that if the Catholics went up the mountain and knelt to pray at the statue and, since the statue to him meant Jesus, he would go up there and pray, too – and maybe he would get his bicycle. You see, at seven, you know little of economics or debts and such.

**

So Petey made his plans and one afternoon, soon after he came from school, he put his plans into operation. He started out to walk to the top of the mountain to see the statue – and let Jesus know what he wanted for Christmas.

Petey took the road by the brick plant, nodded pleasantly and spoke briefly to a motorcycle placeman who was parked against one of the giant pillars under the railroad bridge, and wandered on past the oil refinery. The sun was low in the Went when he came out just east of the electric plant and went across the railroad tracks. A few tourists who were coming down the road in their cars paid no attention to the little boy they saw toiling up the hill by the stone house where the trail starts.

He ducked under the rail which keeps cars from going up the trail and started the climb. It was still daylight when he went past a place where there were a lot of white signboards and posts, as he would have described them. Then he was alone on the trail, which doubled back and forth as he climbed.

The December wind began to whistle as the sun dropped out of sight and Petey pulled his sweater tighter around his body ... his thin legs shivering already through the thin jeans he wore. Darkness was falling but Petey never stopped … he walked as rapidly as he could up the trail.

Soon it was dark. But the light from the valley and a quarter-phase moon gave a glow to the path and up overhead, as he turned, he could see the giant statue. So he climbed on ... sometimes a little scared as he heard a train whistle down below or a night bird sweep past or a rock tumble.

On and on, he climbed and finally … maybe it was hours later ... he stood at the west of the statue … where a small railroad had been used to haul blocks to the top. Laboriously he edged his way up the tracks for he was now a tired little boy … but the statue was so near. Now it loomed overhead and Petey reached out to touch the cold base ... then walked around to the front.

Breathing deeply, for he was so tired, he looked up at the giant face of Jesus and the outstretched arms. And then, he sank to his knees against the base and began to tell his problems, and those of his mother, to Jesus.

“Jesus, it isn’t going to be much of a Christmas unless you help. Mamacita says we have no money and I won’t get that bike. I’d sure like to have that bike …

It seemed hours that he talked to Jesus but Petey was so tired and cold now. Finally he rose to his feet. Down the trail, below him somewhere in the dark, he heard a shout and saw a light. Someone was coming up the trail and even at this distance a flashlight was directed toward him and he stood for a brief moment in the brilliant rays ... then, startled, scared, hungry and wanting his mother ... he turned and ran ... ran from the base of the statue down the mountain on the eastern side …

**

I’m a motorcycle cop ... and about three afternoons a week I watch for speeders out in Smeltertown. The afternoon that Petey climbed the mountain I was sitting beside one of the pillars under the railraod bridge as he came by. I know Petey and we exchanged greetings.

“Where to Pete? I asked.

He smiled to himself.

“I’m going to see Jesus about Christmas,” he said and started to say more …

But just then a car zipped by going toward El Paso and doing quite a bit more than the speed limit as it went through Smeltertown. So I hopped my motor and took off after him ... and Petey started across the bridge.

Around six that night, when it was almost time for me to quit for the day, I was patrolling along the Mesa Highway when I heard the radio on my motor say something about a lost boy in the Smeltertown area. From the description I recognized Petey and remembered that I had seen him that afternoon, heading along the bridge road. But where could he have gone?

“I’m going to see Jesus” his words came back to me.

They puzzled me a second and then I realized that perhaps he had been intending to climb up to the big statue of Cristo Rey. Anyway, it was worth checking.

You can climb to the top of Sierra de Cristo Rey in about 20 minutes in daylight, if you’re a good climber. I parked my motor at the rest house and decided I had better follow the winding trail. If Petey had taken the trail he might have had an accident of some sort or perhaps I could find where someone had gone off the trail. I took my flashlight and started up.

It was less than 30 minutes later when I stood at the end of the old haul line they had used to carry the blocks up to the statue base back in 1939 and 1940. I had seen nothing of a little boy and I was beginning to think I had made a bad guess.

But just then I saw something move at the base of the statue, about a half-city block from where I stood and I flashed my light on it. It was a little boy and, as he stood there, centered by my lightbeam, I shouted for joy …

“Petey!”

But he turned and plunged out of sight … running away from me and down the eastern slope in front of the statue … and my heart turned cold within me …

You see, that’s a strange place up there. Mountain tops, especially here in the West, aren’t built to hold too many people. And the top of Sierra de Cristo Rey is no exception – you can’t crowd many folks on the mountain top, even from the west, where there is a long slope in which the old rails are located. But in front of the statue there is a little outcropping of rock, sort of a plateau, not over 15 or 20 feet in width at the most and hardly that wide … and then there’s a drop ... a long drop ... straight down ... almost makes you dizzy just to look over it. And Petey was running away … away from the statue and straight to that drop … and instead of a youngster of seven I would find only what was left of him ... on the rocks below …

I raced forward, with the light still on, trying to reach the statue in time to holler again … trying to keep Petey from running off that tiny ledge and falling … 40 … maybe it was 50 feet …

I was almost up the slope when suddenly I slipped on loose gravel and fell … the flashlight spun out of my hand. I groped for it … picked it up and flashed it on again …

In the rays of my light stood the giant statue … with the left arm in plain view and as I glanced up momentarily, I stopped … stopped dead in my tacks … stopped by a sight I could hardly believe ... for ... from where I stood I could see the giant left arm and … it swung slowly out from its position … in a caressing movement … like a shepherd reaching out to save a sheep … or someone reaching out to save someone …

Now, as a cop, I’ve seen things. But I couldn’t think as I held that flashlight and saw that outstretched arm … reaching away from the arm of the cross and toward the direction Petey had run.

Miracle? I don’t know. But suddenly something was warm inside me and I lowered the flashlight and made my way slowly to the base of the statue ... I walked around it and shined the light on the ground in front of the statue … toward the precipitous drop ... and there, on the ground, lay a 7-year-old boy sound asleep … a boy who only seconds before had started to plunge down that mountainside …

But a lowering arm had reached out to stop and now he was asleep … and safe …

**

Well I took him back down the mountain in my arms and home to his mother. And when she stopped kissing him and hugging me and through her tears thanked me I sort of asked why she thought Petey had made the climb. I told her what he had said ... and she told me of her troubles …

The gang down a the Police Station kicked in and we bought Pete some good clothes ... that bicycle he wanted … some food and even had enough to pay the rent for a month. It was the best Christmas that Petey and his mother had had in a long time. And Petey was convinced Jesus had answered his prayer ... that his climb had not been in vain.

And me … I watch him grow and wonder over what I saw. You see - he didn’t know what had happened and who would believe that the big arm had moved? I wouldn’t if I hadn’t seen it …

I climbed back up there the next day and looked that arm over … it couldn’t have moved … But I saw it ... and it stopped Petey from running over that cliff… I KNOW it moved …

2003: Former UTEP star Jesse Whittenton lives out his dreams

November 6, 2003

By Bill Knight

Jesse Whittenton lived every young boy's dream -- starring for his high school, playing for his hometown university and finishing his career in the NFL.

Whittenton, now 69, was a standout at Ysleta High, led Texas Western to a pair of Sun Bowl victories, then played two years for the Los Angeles Rams and five years for the Green Bay Packers ... the final four of those years under legendary coach Vince Lombardi.

Whittenton now operates the Desert East Golf School and plays as much golf as possible.

"I just really wanted to stay home to go to college," Whittenton said. "I heard from Arizona and the University of Texas. I went to Austin for the state track meet (in the high hurdles) and that place was just a huge college. It just didn't impress me much; or maybe it did, maybe it just scared me. But I wanted to stay home."

Whittenton helped Texas Western, now UTEP, to a 37-14 victory over Southern Mississippi in the 1954 Sun Bowl, catching a 29-yard touchdown pass, then had a huge game in Texas Western's 1955 Sun Bowl thrashing of Florida State. He was the MVP of that 47-20 victory, throwing three touchdown passes, running for two scores and kicking five extra points.

Whittenton made All-Pro a number of times in the NFL and won championships under Lombardi in Green Bay.

"Actually, it was kind of fun playing for him," Whittenton said. "He was tough, but when it pays off when you are winning championships, you enjoy it.

"I always tell people I played in the days when you played the game for fun. The biggest salary I ever got was $29,000. That was pretty big back then. My rookie year was the first year we formed a union. We got $12 a day per diem on the road and we got $25 a week laundry money. The union got us up to $25 for our meals and $50 for our laundry money."

Whittenton retired after the 1964 season and went in with his cousin to buy Horizon Country Club (now Emerald Springs). He played two seasons on the PGA Senior Tour.

Whittenton said he has had two hip replacements and three vertebrae fused in his back, but still is enjoying the game of golf.

"I got my handicap back down to five now," he said.

 

OTHER LEGENDS OF THE SUN BOWL

2009	Gerald J. Rubin - Administrator
2008	Priest Holmes - Player, Texas (1994) Craig Silver - CBS Sports (1983-2005)
2007	Cornelius Bennett - Player, Alabama (1983 & 1986) Don James - Coach, Washington (1979 & 1986)
2006	Tony Franklin - Player, Texas A&M (1977) Grant Teaff - Coach, Baylor (1992)
2005	Terry Donahue - Coach, UCLA (1991); CBS Sports (1995) Verne Lundquist - CBS Sports (1988, 1992, 2000-05)
2004	Pat Tillman (Posthumously) - Player, Arizona State (1997) Alex Van Pelt - Player, Pittsburgh (1989)
2003	Ken Heineman - Player, El Paso All-Stars (1935)
2002	Thurman Thomas - Player, Oklahoma State (1987)
2001	John H. Folmer - Administrator Barry Switzer - Coach, Oklahoma (1981)
2000	Vince Dooley - Coach, Georgia (1964, 1969 & 1985) Derrick Thomas (Posthumously) - Player, Alabama (1986 & 1988)
1999	Hayden Fry - Coach, SMU (1963) and Iowa (1995 & 1997) Jimmy Rogers, Jr. - Administrator
1998	Jesse Whittenton - UTEP (1954 & 1955)
1997	Tom Brookshier - CBS Sports (1973, 1977-1981) Pat Summerall - CBS Sports (1971, 1977-80)
1996	Tony Dorsett - Player, Pittsburgh (1975)
1995	Johnny Majors - Coach, Iowa State (1971), Pittsburgh (1975) and Tennessee (1984)
1994	Harrison Kohl - Administrator Bill Stevens - Player, UTEP (1965 & 1967) Charley Johnson - Player, New Mexico State (1959 & 1960)

 

1959: Miss Effie Day's Creations Span Two Generations

November 13, 1959

MISS EFFIE DAY, Woman of the Week, is designing wedding gowns for the second generation of El Paso brides. She has created "that most important" gown for numerous prominent brides, many of whose mothers also came to her for fashion guidance on planning their wedding.

Miss Day has been a designer of original fashions for the Popular Dry Goods Co. for the past 35 years or more. Her scrapbook of brides dates back to the early 1920s and contains many names and faces familiar to El Paso's social and cultural groups today. Stacks of her scrapbooks contain photographs reminiscent of El Paso's social life during the past quarter century.

"I ALWAYS FEEL it a privilege to make a bridal gown," says this soft voiced and friendly lady known simply as "Miss Day" to thousands of El Paso people. "All of a girl's dreams and ideals are incorporated in her ideas for a bridal gown. Some come in with very definite ideas about what they want, while others are dreamy eyed and vague about it all. I go along with the desires of the girl whose ideas are already firmly fixed, and I help the other type in selecting a style which will be becoming and will fit her personality. The former girl is easier to work with, because she knows what she wants and doesn't change her mind or leave anything to chance," adds Woman of the Week.

Miss Day's designs do not stop at wedding gowns, although she attaches more sentiment to designing bridal gowns than any others, they are only a small part of her work. She designs and supervises the making of gowns for the Sun Carnival court, an assignment which she has enjoyed ever since its beginning, having designed the gown for the first Sun Carnival Queen.

She also designs for High School Fiesta Queens and the court, graduation balls and the annual Maid of Cotton Show. A few years ago Miss Day designed a gown of SuPima cotton for the National Maid of Cotton during her visit here. The Maid prized the gown so highly that she included it in her official cotton wardrobe which she modeled on her tour all over the world.

SO WELL KNOWN in the Southwest are "Miss Day" dresses that they are easily recognized anywhere in the country. At an important U. S. Military Academy ball at West Point a few years ago, two El Paso girls were drawn to each other and became acquainted because they both were wearing unmistakable "Miss Day" formals.

"It is gratifying to see how happy a girl is with one of my designs ... to see her eyes glow when she has the final fitting and knows that the "Miss Day" formal has come to life and is really hers. Then it is wonderful to watch her grow up remembering her first formal, the gowns for the various High School and College festivities and finally to create her wedding gown," says Miss Day. And with a wistful smile, she adds, "This is what makes life worth living and memories worth remembering."

Miss Day studied fashion designing in Paris and for many years returned at regular intervals "to keep up with what is new in the fashion capital of the world," Prior to associating herself with the Popular, she did dress designing for the movies in Hollywood.

"DURING THOMASON'S mayorship," she reflects, "the first all Cotton Style Show in the United States was held here. All of the cotton styles modeled in the show were under my supervision and I've worked with the cotton shows each year since."

Miss Day resides with her sister, Mrs. Margaret Day Barcroft on North Virginia street. She is a member of the First Christian Church, a life member of the El Paso Woman's Club and she is a member of Woodbine Chapter, Order of the Eastern Star. Although she leads a busy life in her work at the store, Miss Day never is found to neglect her church or her friends.

It's with pride and satisfaction that Miss Effie Day, Woman of the Week, remembers sharing in the happiest occasions of many El Paso girls' lives.

1936: Varied Calls Flood Office Of EP Mayor

April 5, 1963 1936

Requests to Find Husbands Or Lower Taxes Are Part Of Daily Routine

Roosters that crow too loudly, neighbors who play their radios all night, and those kids next door who trample the parking: with their roller skates—these are some of the things El Pasoans tell their mayor about.

Dozens of visitors, and scores of phone calls, asking' the mayor to do everything from finding a husband for a lonely widow, to reducing taxes on a lot in east El Paso, are received by Mayor R. E. Sherman.

"Hello — is this the mayor?" a woman's voice asked excitedly over the phone today. "Well somebody just stole my hose!"

"What color were they?" asked the mayor, wonderingly. "How did it happen?" '

All Go to Mayor

"Not that kind of hose—my garden hose," snapped, the caller. And she grumbled when the mayor advised her to report the loss to the police department.

Every day brings its quota of new requests. Salesmen want the city to buy their wares, clubs want the mayor to get them an appropriation to help-in their work, friends want Jobs for their friends.

"I refer them all to the proper department, heads," Mayor Sherman smiled. "It takes patience to explain to many that jobs are given by the department heads, that the purchasing agent buys the city's supplies,  and that there are things the city legally cannot use its money for, good though they may be."

Mail Mixed Up

The most unusual complaint, the mayor thinks, "was received from a woman who said' that a neighbor's children were' taking the mail out of her mail-box, placing it in another neighbor's box, and placing the neighbor's, mail in her box!

"She was expecting an important letter that never arrived, and was sure the children had destroyed it," the mayor said. "I advised her to notify the postal authorities.

Dozens of petitions asking the mayor to see that streets and sidewalks are repaired, graded, or improved, are received almost daily.

Anonymous-telephone calls inform him that there are speakeasies and disorderly houses running here and there—"No, I won't give you my name, but I'm sure they are, and something ought to be done about it."

Bothered at Night

Each rain brings fresh complaints. Citizens want to have the mayor do something about their flooded basements, and the rocks washed down from Mt. Franklin. They call the mayor at his office, at his home, from his meal in the restaurant where he eats, out of bed in the middle of the night.

One man called at 3 a.m. from the Juarez jail, demanding that the mayor come right over and obtain his release.

A downtown hotel guest declared that the railroad company had parked an engine on Main St. near his hotel and the engineer was deliberately tooting his whistle to keep folks awake!

Listens to All

"I try to listen to everyone that comes to my office," Mayor Sherman, said. "No one has ever been refused a hearing, no matter how small his complaint."

Under the glass top on the mayor's desk is a clipping with the following thought:

"No man should undertake to give service as the mayor of any town or city until he has prepared by thought and training to give patient audience to the complaints and suggestions of every person within his jurisdiction.”

1979: Orogrande 'sister city' delays 'airport'

June 14, 1979

Orogrande – Nothing is ever simple here. The 80 folk of this small community in the desert south of Alamogordo were all set to cut the ribbon on Orogrande International Airport this Sunday, when they complicated matters by throwing in this “sister city” thing.

Well. As always with Orogrande, it’s a long story. The airport first. A while back, a U.S. Border Patrol aircraft ran into engine trouble in the air above Orogrande and landed on an access road to U.S. 54, which runs through the community.

The plane was towed in to Perry Brunson’s garage, where it has been for about two months while Perry and friends work on the engine. The minor mishap inspired the impish Wood Johnston, who is chief ranger of the Orogrande National Forest (two trees and still growing) and chef du jour of the Oro Chico Café, to dub Perry’s station and garage Orogrande International Airport.

“Oh, we’re having fun,” Woody announced Monday. “We’ve got the signs up already and everything – where the ‘gates’ are, and ‘baggage claim’ counter – everything.”

Plans call for a gala ribbon-cutting Sunday. To those fuddy-duddies who can’t see how Orogrande could be so “presumptuous,” as one man put it. Woody has an easy answer: “Why, our Runway 54 is 80 miles long!”

But what about the sister city business? Seems some Algerian engineers and embassy officials, in El Paso to study the implementation and operation of a natural gas pipeline with El Paso Natural Gas engineers happened upon the Oro Chico.

The café is also the “temporary” Ranger Station of the Orogrande National Forest. What with explanations of that arbor’s sign, and the signs about the airport, the engineers and the Orograndians became fast friends. And the engineers decided Orogrande has much in common with their home town. Zelboun, Algeria.

For one thing, they’re both little desert towns, with about the same head count – 80 humans, dogs uncounted. And, Woody points out, they both have border crossing problems – the Algerians complain the Moroccans come over and take jobs away from natives.

By the time all the comparisons had been made, the Algerians and the Orograndians had decided Orogrande and Zelboun were born to be sister cities. So among the festivities Sunday will be the presentation to Ali Boukhiar, as representative of Zelboun, of a proclamation from Orogrande and gifts to the Algerian town.

They will be delivered when the engineer goes home in July. “The whole thing’s got to be quasi-official, of course, because we’re not really a municipality.” Woody says. “I’ll be signing the proclamation as chief ranger. But though the airport is tongue-in-cheek, and though there’s a great deal of fun, connected with the sister cities, the feelings of friendship are genuine.

“Surely we haven’t reached the point quite yet in this bureaucratic world,” he adds. “That a proclamation of friendship and hopes for peace must be ‘officially official’ to be real.

1941: EP Citizens Mobilized As War Comes

December 8, 1941

The outbreak of war with Japan Sunday saw military, government and civic organizations in El Paso prepared and “on the alert” to cope with any situation that might arise.

El Paso office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation was prepared for action but agents here had received no orders to arrest Japanese and pro-Jap suspects in El Paso area.

Dr. C. M. Hendricks, director general of the Southwestern Sun Carnival, said Sunday the annual Sun Carnival celebration and parade “will go ahead as scheduled New Year’s” despite the “present emergency.”

Military leaves were cancelled in several areas of the nation, but no such orders were received in Fort Bliss. The post, largest Cavalry post in the nation, has approximately 22,000 troups.

The U.S. Border Patrol and Immigration service were on the alert.

E.E. Adock, Border Patrol supervisor, said that his men were “tightening up their defenses” to prevent the departure of anyone not authorized by the state department to leave the country.

BORDER CLOSED TO JAPANESE NATIONALS

He said that he did not anticipate any addition to the Border Patrol force at the present but that there might be a shifting of personnel so as to concentrate strength in various spots.

Government officials here were preparing to uphold Treasury department orders issued Sunday to close the nation’s borders to Japanese nationals and to impose a strict ban on any financial transactions by Japanese aliens.

The department’s actions came to a brief order by Secretary Morgenthau revoking all outstanding general and specific licenses for any transactions by Japanese which may have been issued since Japanese and Chinese credits in this country were frozen by executive order on July 25.

AIR CORPS LEAVES CANCELLED IN NATION

Biggs Field officials said that orders canceling leaves and furloughs had not been received there yet but that they were expected by radio before Monday morning.

Air Corps leaves were being cancelled throughout the nation.

DEFENSE COUNCIL SWINGS INTO ACTION

Approximately 2500 members of El Paso Civilian defense Council swung into action Sunday as the organization, under leadership of Roy S. Nelson, prepared to handle local defense assignments.

Fire Chief W.E. Jackson headed 16 companies of volunteer El Paso fire fighters. Chief Jackson and Sheriff Bill Hawkins have divided El Paso into sections for fire fighting in case of emergency. Each volunteer squad handles one El Paso district.

Central Recruiting Office of El Paso Civilian defense Council is in the Chamber of Commerce building.

Divisions in the organization include fire and rescue, Red Cross, utility division, intelligence department and recruiting division.

MAYOR SAYS MEN NEEDED AS GUARDS

Mayor J.E. Anderson authorized the following statement Sunday night:

“The Chief of Police is receiving steady calls for reliable watchmen. Able-bodied American citizens of good health and character, who can furnish references, desiring such employment, may register with the Chief of Police, starting Monday, at 219 South Campbell Street. Men past the draft age are preferred.”

El Paso Electric company officials Sunday called up additional guard to protect the firm’s property in El Paso area from possible sabotage.

“We have had an organization of guards for some time for use in event of an emergency,” one company official said. “This guard has been increased and is on duty now.”

Guards will watch the company’s power plant in the Upper Valley, sub-stations and all power transmission lines.

Dr. G.M. Hendricks, chairman of El Paso chapter of American Red Cross, has issued a call to all workers and volunteers under the jurisdiction of the chapter territory which includes El Paso, Culbertson and Hudspeth Counties.

“In view of the impending state of war, I respectfully urge the following chairmen of committees to re-check and bring up to date a perfection of their organizations and to increase and intensity the training of each member of their organization,” Dr. Hendricks said.

Dr. T.J. McCamant, chairman and Tom Peterson, co-chairman of the Disaster Preparedness committee.

J. Warren Hoyte, director of Safety services.

Motor Corps personnel.

Mrs. Luis Zork, chairman of the canteen corps.

Mrs. Paul Gallagher, chairman of Home Nursing.

Mrs. Spencer Nye Cook, chairman of Production.

Mrs. Earl Hardage, chairman of Volunteer Special Services.

Chairman of Roll Call, J.Y. Wheeler is urged to direct his workers to complete the present Roll Call at once and keep this organization standing by for further request from National Headquarters.

JAPANESE BARRED FROM ALL AIRLINES

Airlines operating through El Paso – American Airlines and Continental Airlines – were instructed by chairman Robert H. Hinckley of the Civil Aeronautics Authority to take no Japanese nationals aboard.

The order went out Sunday afternoon to all American airlines, both domestic and those on foreign routes.

El Paso railroad men learned that a meeting will be held in Austin Wednesday to organize a voluntary force of train and engine service employes of Texas to serve anywhere. The announcement was made, by Joe Steadham, chairman of the Joint Railway Labor Board of Texas.

Railroad organizations here include Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen and enginemen. Brotherhood of Railway Trainmen, Order of railway Conductors, and brotherhood of Locomotive engineers. Several hundred El Pasoans are members of the organization.

A spokesman for one of the groups said, “El Paso railroad men will co-operate in every way possible, as ill railroad men throughout the nation.”

Representatives of El Paso Brotherhoods will be summoned to the Austin meeting. It is sought to enlist the support of railroad men who are above draft age.

LAS CRUCES GUARD UNIT ORDERED TO DUTY

The Third Company, New Mexico State Guard, in Las Cruces, N.M., were ordered to duty Sunday night by Governor John Miles. The Company is commanded by Harlow Hyland.

Chief of Police Jack Robertson of Las Cruces aid Sunday night that precautionary steps were being taken by all peace officers in the area against any possible sabotage.

El Paso amateur radio operators learned that the Federal Communications Commission Sunday prohibited further operation of the stations in the United States, its territories and possessions. The order was reported by Associated Press.

El Paso newspapers were notified Sunday night by A.R. Gere, Federal Bureau of Investigation, that all press dispatches to Japan, Germany, Italy, France and Finland had been forbidden by the United States Government.

PRIVATE PLANES REPORTED GROUNDED

Jerome Martin, operator of El Paso Flying Services at Municipal Airport, received orders from the Civil Aeronautics Authority not to allow Japanese to leave the airport as passengers or as pilots.

El Paso pilots awaited orders, reported by the Associated Press in Washington, grounding all private airplanes in the Unite States and its possessions, except commercial airlines. The order was announced in Washington by the CAA.

“We have received no orders a s yet in connection with grounding private planes.” Mr. Martin said.

The Associated Press reported that the CAA suspended temporarily all pilot licenses except those held by pilots of regular air lines.

BOUNDARY COMMISSION PREPARED – LAWSON

The International Boundary commission is prepared to meet any emergency that may arise, L.M. Lawson, commissioner here, said.

“We have guards stationed up and down the border guarding government structures,” Mr. Lawson said, “and they have been on the alert for some time.”

Working with the boundary commission in protecting American property on the border is the federal Bureau of Investigation, Texas Highway Patrol, U.S. Customs and the U.S. Border Patrol.

Heavily-armed guards were keeping a 24-hour watch over Elephant Butte Dam in New Mexico and the vital Hydro-electric plant there.

Supt. L.R. Flock of the U.S. Reclamation Bureau here said that 12 guards were on duty at Elephant Butte and four men were watching the Caballo Dam.

All guards have been warned to maintain a strict watch over the big project.

No person will be allowed to stop at the dam or to loiter nearby, Mr. Flock said.

The precautionary measures taken at Elephant Butte were in line with a general “alert” sounded at power plants throughout the nation.

To guard against the possibility of air attack approximately 800 air raid warning posts manned by civilians, have been organized in Texas.

More than 12,000 persons were assigned to stations which are under jurisdiction of the Third interceptor Command of the U.S. Army Air Forces.

The governor’s defense committee is continuing to organize observation stations. Each of the state’s 254 counties had a council to coordinate organization of the posts which would report the flight of hostile aircraft.

SELECTIVE SERVICE ORDERS AWAITED

Orders increasing El Paso’s draft quota for the months to come are expected here soon, Joseph G. Bennis, chairman of the county selective service board, said Sunday.

He orders would be issued from Austin by Brig. Gen. J. Watt Page, state draft director, Mr. Bennis said.

Governor Coke R. Stevenson declared Sunday in Austin that the time had come for the United States to lay aside differences and unite, according to Associated Press, denounce the “cowardly” Japan attack on the United States.

1965: Merchant Recalls Years Of Business in 'Good Town’

April 22, 1965

Because El Paso gave him both business and personal success, 80-year-o'd Adolph J. Blaugrund is glad he chose the Southwest as his home.

Today. Mr. Blaugrund still puts in a few hours a day keeping a eye on the business he built and the building he owns at 215 East Overland avenue, the Columbia Furniture Co. Active management is in the hands of his sons, Seymour and Leonard.

"EL PASO is a good town and I've enjoyed it here' says Mr. Blaugrund, who got his first look at his new home on Oct. 14 1908. "It has good people, good climate and good banks, willing to help you."

 

Like all old-timers. Mr. Blaugrund enjoys talking about the changes in El Paso over the years. He recalled that when he first arrived, there was only one building of any height, and the population was a bit over 27,000.

When he first came, most of the city's business firms were located on El Paso street and Overland avenue had a monopoly on gambling, bars and hotels.

"The town had an air of a place on the move,  and I decided it was right for me," Mr. Blaugrund said,

HE HAD COME to the U.S. after a family friend visited his parents in Austria-Hungary and told him: "Come to America! There's more opportunity for young man there than anywhere else."

The old Austria – Hungary where Mr. Blaugrund was born in December, 1884, has long had its outlines and name changed on the map. In those days his father was a landowner and bought and sold cattle. "So I was lucky enough to come to America with a little money," he says with a smile.

Mr. Blaugrund arrived in New York in 1903 and shortly after, moved on to Scranton, Pa. He worked as a salesman there until I908 when he headed west.

In El Paso he went into business with his cousin, Sam Schwartz, who had a store at El Paso and Overland streets carrying a line of "gent's furnishings and clothing."

HE STAYED there until 1912 when both men sold out and went to Eagle Pass, Texas, where they opened a movie theater.

"He stayed and kept on with it," Mr. Blaugrund said. "But I didn't like the heat or the altitude, so pretty soon I came back to El Paso and worked awhile at the Popular."

In 1914 he started another business venture with J. Amstater in another dry goods and clothing store. It was located at Overland and Oregon street. During his years there Mr. Blaugrund married Miss Annette Berger of New York City. The wedding was held in February of 1917.

He kept the store until 1922, when he sold out and opened his first furniture store on South Stanton street. The store is still in operation under new ownership.

THE FIRST Columbia Furniture Co. opened at 305 South Stanton in 1825 and was moved to Overland and Stanton later. It remained there 12 years, moving to the present location in 13-14. Mr. Blaugrund bought the building which houses it. A dry goods company had formerly been located there.

All of Mr. Blaugrund's children live in EI Paso. His daughter is Mrs. Jake Katz and he has two grandchildren.

Mr. Blaugrund is a member of the Masonic and Scottish Rite Bodies, El Maida Shrine, and Congregation B'nai Zion.

 

1966: $7.5 Million Section Of Trans-Mountain Road Approved By State Highway Commission

December 1, 1966

The Texas Highway Commission Wednesday approved initial construction of the 7.4 mile center section of the Trans-Mountain Road across the Franklin Mountains. The action was taken in Austin.

The commission authorized construction of grading and structures on the section between War Highway and the completed portion 3.2 miles east of Interstate 10 near Canutillo interchange. Estimated cost is $7.5 million for the initial work.

Officials and civic leaders from a dozen Texas, New Mexico and Oklahoma cities will be in El Paso Thursday to meet with the commission that is holding its December Session in Hotel Paso del Norte.

Commission Chairman Herbert C. Petry Jr. and commissioners Hall Woodward and H.H. Kultgen arrived at International Airport late Wednesday for the meeting in which seven highway projects will be presented for state approval. New Mexico Highway Commission Chairman john Sudderth will also attend the two-day meeting.

TO ASK FUNDS

Perhaps of most important immediate concert to El Paso will be a request that the State of Texas enter into an agreement with federal officials for construction of the Chamizal Memorial Highway between Downtown El Paso and the Zaragosa Bridge, paralleling the relocated border. Estimated cost of the multi-lane project is $12 million, with Congress allocating $8 million in federal funds for right of way acquisition and partial construction.

The Texas Highway Commission will be asked to pay the difference for construction of the 12.5 mile arterial highway.

Of more widespread interest is request for a proposed controlled access super-highway between El Paso and Oklahoma City, Okla., a scenic highway along the Rio Grande from El Paso to Big Bend National Park and continuous signing of the Tumbleweed Turnpike extending the full width of Texas from el Paso to the Louisiana border.

Also on the agenda will be a request for extending designation of Interstate 25 from Las Cruces, N.M., to the international border crossing at Cordova Island and paving of the road to Hueco Tanks County Park 5.8 miles north of U.S. 62.

The Oklahoma delegation supporting the interstate highway will include Alderman Charles Hill and Jim White of the Oklahoma City Chamber of commerce and Aldermen T.R. Stephans and Jerry Brandon of Lawton Okla. Others include City Clerk James Know, Construction Engineer Wyatt Hendrick. Road and Transportation Director J.C. Kennedy and E.G. Hahney of the Lawton Chamber of Commerce.

Lubbock Mayor W.D. Rogers and County judge Roderick Shaw will be supporting witnesses. Mayor R.C. Rancier will head a delegation from Wichita Falls, County Judge Charles Lawrence will lead a delegation fro Seminole and civic leaders from Carlsbad, Hobbs and Loving, N.M. will attend the hearing.

SUPPORT HIGHWAY

Supporting the scenic river highway will be Mayor C.E. McFarland, County Judge W.B. Johnson, Chamber of Commerce officials E.K. Beauland and Herbert Harlow, of Marfa; County Judge Tom Neely and Commissioner Louis Lutich, of Sierra Blanca, and commissioners from Hudspeth, Presidio and Jeff Davis Counties, and the mayor and two councilmen from Ojinaga, Mexico.

Mayor G.L. McGuire and other Kermit, Tex., officials will be present to support the continuous singing of the Tumbleweed Turnpike along with Nacogdoches Chamber of Commerce President John J. Rudisill and other city officials along the highway.

The commission will hold a closed door business session during Thursday morning, followed by a luncheon in the Paso del Norte ballroom sponsored by the Downtown Rotary club, El Paso Chamber of Commerce, and the Road Hands Association.

The open hearing will be hold during the afternoon in the hotel mezzanine ballroom starting at 2 p.m.

Participating in the luncheon will be Mayor Judson Williams, Chamber of commerce President Fred Hervey, county judge Travis Johnson, State Representative John E. (Ned) Blaine, State Senator Joe Christi, Rotary President Robert B. Price Jr. and Vice President George Chrysler, C of C Highway Committee Chairman Tom Diamond, Road Hands President George W. Brown, District Highway Engineer Joseph Battle and a host of officials from other communities.

The commissioners will be accompanied by Asst. state Highway Engineer James c. Dingwall and all will be taken on a tour of El Paso highway and street projects Friday morning after a breakfast sponsored by El Paso Road Hand. A cocktail party will be held Thursday in El Paso Club and the commissioners will attend the dog races in Juarez Thursday evening and horse races at Sunland Park Friday afternoon.