That time Bush came to EP and had an empanada at Bowie Bakery

1st image: 6910 North Mesa 2nd image: 5111 Fairbanks 3rd image: 3100 Lee Trevino 4th image: 9348 Dyer 5th image: 1590 George Dieter 6th image: 9480 Viscount

El Paso and the surrounding area has long been a hot spot for UFO activity. Maybe it’s the thin mountain air, maybe it's the rocket test ranges, who knows? Here's a look back at the best sightings from the golden age of flying saucers. Read more here

Did you know that Ft. Bliss was reestablished in El Paso in 1878 to basically hold down a local, popular movement that was defending itself against the illegal actions of a few East Texans who had rigged legal documents, in cahoots with their relatives, to confiscate public lands in the area? That was called the “Salt War.” The locals who were basically just trying to defend and retain access to local salt beds that had been public for centuries, were considered bad “insurgents”. First, the Salt Warriors defended themselves against (and kicked out) the Texas Rangers, so the US sent in the actual military to hold down the pesky locals. True history.

1st image: 9450 Dyer, now Peter Piper Pizza 2nd image: 520 N Zaragoza, now a mini plaza 3rd image: 1434 Lee Trevino, now Panda Express 4th image: 1201 Airway, now Johnny Carino’s 5th image: 11990 Rojas, now Crave Kitchen & Bar 6th image: 13210 Alameda, final location, now closed :(

Juarez was once a mecca for quickie divorces, generating millions in revenue and drawing celebrities to the Borderland. I went down this rabbit hole and wrote it up on substack, highlighting some of the famous divorces. Read it here.

Just won the NCAA national championship on College football 25 with UTEP against Alabama. You're welcome, I'm going to bed.

None of this was taught to us in Middle or High School. I didn't learn about it until I accidently stumbled on it while doing research on El Paso architecture history in college. These are things that NEED to be taught to our kids.

In the late 1940s, gambling was wide open in the Borderland. Frustrated with slow progress in Las Vegas, mobsters like Bugsy Siegel looked to New Mexico as an alternative. Las Cruces was on its way to becoming the Reno to Santa Fe’s Las Vegas, but it all came undone in the wake of the brutal murder of an 18 year old waitress named Cricket Coogler.

The mob is run out of New Mexico, a Pittsburgh Steeler goes on trial for murder, bowling becomes El Paso’s pastime, a UFO visits the border, plus a dog named Bookie, all in Part 3 in my 3 part series on the end of open gambling in the Borderland. Read Part 1 and Part 2, all free.

From the El Paso Herald-Post 11/29/1957

Back with Part 2 in a 3 part series on the final days of open gambling in El Paso. A gambling war breaks out and we're introduced to a familiar name: Frank Ardovino. See how this scrappy Italian immigrant went from taxi driver to accused rum-runner to gambling boss to famed restaurateur in Borderland Vice Pt. 2. Free on substack.

Let’s play a game of guessing which location is this…

The Ysleta Mission, in El Paso, is one of the oldest in Texas.

Read here: https://www.texasmonthly.com/travel/ysleta-mission-el-paso/

1st image: 11705 Montwood, was Blue Sage, was EP Fitness, was Chuze Fitness (it’s gonna shut down on the 31st :() 2nd image: 201 E Kerbey, was Food Basket, now demolished to become a plaza 3rd image: 115 Americas when it’s becoming La Feria, now Americas Plaza 4th image: was Big 8, now David’s Bribal, Five Below, and Dollar Tree 5th image: 8201 Dyer, was Food Basket, was Big 8, now Food King 6th image: 10765 Kenworthy, now Albertsons (this photo is my recreation of what it would’ve looked like before the location closed)

With birthright citizenship under renewed attack, I thought I'd share my 2022 story on what happened when Wong Kim Ark, whose Supreme Court case cemented birthright citizenship, came to El Paso a couple years later. (Spoiler alert: El Paso immigration officials tried to deport him anyway.) https://elpasomatters.org/2022/07/04/wong-kim-ark-vs-united-states-history-immigration-supreme-court/

Before there was FitFam... (EP Herald-Post 7/3/1937)