El Paso History - an American History?

David Romo's book, Ringside Seat to a Revolution, paints a vivid and at times disturbing portrait of the state of affairs of El Paso and Ciudad Juarez between the late 19^th century and early 20^th century. While there is no doubt from looking at a map of the United States that El Paso is definitely part of this country, studying American history shows no true mentions of history of the El Paso area as part of that history. Romo himself wonders if "Maybe the history of the border has never been considered a truly American history. Some might even need to be reminded that El Paso is..in the United States" (Romo, 11). If that mindset is indeed true, then a certain blindness pervades the study of history. The stamp of the United States is written all over the history of El Paso, whether it is for better or worse.

The stamp of Americana is definitely everywhere in El Paso if one chooses to look for it. Take for example, "..El Paso Mayor Joseph Sweeney..had given the keys to the city to U.S. President Howard Taft and Mexican President Porfirio Diaz during their visit in 1909" (Romo, 96). The location of El Paso seems to be a prime spot in which American presidents could conduct business with Mexican leaders and could also survey the conditions of American citizens along the U.S./Mexico border. If El Paso, were not an American city, why then would there be Ft. Bliss with all of its soldiers? In 1916 there were "40,000 American soldiers stationed at Fort Bliss for the Punitive Expedition" (Romo, 162). These soldiers were an integral part of life on the border and played a part both in the life of El Pasoans and in the Mexican Revolution as well. During the final battle in Juarez, reports were given that Pancho Villa's snipers were shooting at American soldiers, and so "American troops poured into Juarez" (Romo, 256). The response of the American soldiers during the battle seems to imply a deep importance of this area in American affairs, especially with the presence of such a large force here.