FOUR DEAD IN 30 SECONDS - On El Paso Street, April 14, 1881... Canutillo rancher Johnny Hale and former City Marshal George Campbell argued with Constable Gus Krempkau. Hale shot and killed Krempkau. City Marshal Dallas Stoudenmire shot at Hale, accidentally killing a Mexican bystander before slaying Hale...Campbell screamed, "This is not my fight!"... However, Stoudenmire gunned him down too.

After we finished visiting the Museum we decided to follow the mission trail. Between El Paso and the Mexican border there are a number of old missions that you can visit. The trip was a very pleasant one and a couple of the Missions were really well preserved. In fact, they are still being used for services to this day.
The first we went to was: The Socorro Mission La Purisima. This mission was in the process of being refurbished. All of the mission buildings were originally made of adobe brick which was made right at the scene of the buildings rather than made somewhere else and shipped in. This one had a number of the bricks they had already made lying around and you could see holes in the walls of the mission where the stucco covering they put over the bricks was wearing through.
The next mission we went to was Presidio San Elceario. This was one of the missions that still holds services. It was obvious that this mission had been taken well care of. The inside was just beautiful and they had an outside grotto dedicated to Our Lady of Guadelupe.
Last on our list but by no means the least was the Mission Ysleta. This mission has a beautiful dome on the top. All of our travels were on Rt. 20, which runs east and west and parallels I-10. We really enjoyed our Mission Tour. I imagiine it is possible to get brochures showing you exactly where the missions are on the route, but we just went by the signs along the road and most of them were very clear. I think this area had some of the most missions in one area that we have seen other than San Antonio. I think it is always interesting to see how places of worship have been preserved over the many years. While many military forts are erected, they seem to quickly fall into disrepair as their use decreases, but not so with missions. They seem to be some of the last things to be given up by the people in the area. If you get to El Paso, be sure you don't miss the Mission Tour. It provides an interesting look into the people of El Paso and their heritage.

Good Luck! Have Fun! and Stay Safe!

Laura