Forty Years at El Paso, 1858-1898

Chapter 17: FATE OF MY CUSTOM-HOUSE DEPUTIES.

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About This Book

The author recounts forty years living in a frontier border town, offering personal recollections of daily life, irrigation and commerce, and the social character of a small adobe community. He describes military engagements and wartime experiences, shifting political contests and Reconstruction-era disputes, and complex cross-border relations with the neighboring republic. Episodes of crime, feuds, assassination attempts, and law enforcement recur alongside anecdotes about mail contracts, transportation over the plains, and legal battles over property. Interwoven are portraits of local figures, reflections on enemies and alliances, and practical sketches of travel, governance, and survival in a remote region.

FATE OF MY CUSTOM-HOUSE DEPUTIES.

Of the thirty or more young men who were from time to time employes of mine in this Customs District while I was collector (1863 to 1869), I believe only two are now living (1900), my brother, E. A. Mills of Mexico, and Maximo Aranda of San Elizario. Seven of them met violent deaths, four while in the service. Here is the record: Mills (no relative of mine), killed by Indians near Tucson in 1864; Virgil Marstin, killed by Indians near Silver City in 1865; John F. Stone, killed by Indians near Fort Bowie in 1869; James Taylor, killed by robbers near where the El Paso smelter is now located, in 1866; Judge John Lemon, killed by a mob at Mesilla, N. M., in 1869; Moses Kelly, shot to death at Presidio del Norte, about 1870; Abraham Lyon, shot to death at Tucson; A. J. Fountain was recently murdered on the plains near Las Cruces, N. M., and A. H. French died insane in asylum at Austin.