James and Joseph Magoffin: El Paso Pioneers
By Brenda Maurish
The State National Bank, Fort Bliss, a transporting business, street cars, a trading post, El Paso Water Utilities and two baseball teams. Although this mélange may seem unrelated, a closer look will reveal otherwise.
In the late 1800s when El Paso was being established two men of wealth, influence, responsibility and integrity helped settle this area -- James Wiley Magoffin and his son Joseph.
It was their role in El Paso that brought forth these institutions and businesses.
James Wiley Magoffin was born in 1799 in Harrodsburg, Kentucky. As a little boy he would pretend that he owned his own businesses, traveled extensively, and helped settle uninhabited territories.
He and his friends spent hours creating and taking part in hair-raising adventures such as pretending to explore unconquered territories. Along their imaginary journeys, the boys would triumph over Indian attacks, snow, scorching heat, thirst and near starvation.
These children's games gave him dreams to fulfill later in his life. He wanted to experience for himself the adventures he had only imagined. During his adolescence, those dreams didn't go away but burned brighter and brighter within him.
James Magoffin discussed his goals with his goals with his father, a wealthy merchant who knew that business was also in his son's blood. Although the exact details are sketchy, more than likely the elder Magoffin financed his son's first business ventures.
In his early twenties, James Magoffin left home to start his frontier journey and to establish a transporting and trading business. He began selling books, clothes, medications, printing presses, lumber and wagons along the Santa Fe-Chihuahua Trail. The route ran from independence, Missouri, to Santa Fe, down to El Paso and into Chihuahua, west to Saltillo and ended in Matamoros.
During this time, James was a friend of the Secretary of State, Henry Clay. In 1824 Clay appointed Magoffin the consul to Saltillo. He served as consul to Chihuahua and Saltillo from 1825 until 1832. This appointment proved to be crucial for the course of life.
The people of Mexico loved "Don Santiago," as James was called. He took the time to learn their language and customs and as well known for his quick wit and great sense of humor.
While on one of his trips he met and in 1830 married Maria Gertrudis Valdez de Veramendi, a daughter of a wealthy Coahuila family. This union of love also strengthened his social and financial standing in Mexico.
By 1844 James and Maria sensed that war was inevitable because of the strained relations between Texas and Mexico. They decided that they and their five children would move to Independence, Missouri, to be safe from tension. It was also a good business move because James would be at the head of the Santa Trail.
James and the children arrived in 1845, but sadly Maria died along the way.
The Magoffins bought a farm and lived in Missouri until 1849 when they moved to El Paso, the mid-point of his business route. James purchased 100,000 acres of land and called the territory Magoffinsville. It encompassed all of present-day downtown El Paso and more. Magoffinsville was a small town complete with a general store, livery stable and a spacious residence for his family. Further away, a half mile from the Rio Grande, he built a plaza with adobe buildings surrounding it.
A few years later the local military post, which had been established earlier to protect and defend residents against attacks by Apaches, Mescaleros and Comanches, relocated to Magoffinsville. Because of the structure and location of the adobe buildings, they were chosen for the military post whose name had also been changed -- to Fort Bliss. James Magoffin was given the military contract to feed and supply the troops.
Even though this area was his home, James continued to travel from Missouri to Chihuahua and take care of his businesses. When the San Antonio El Paso road opened up, he frequently visited his daughter in San Antonio, where he died in 1868.
However, Joseph Magoffin, his first-born son, inherited his father's adventurous spirit.
Born in January 7,1837, in Chihuahua, he received his formal education in Lexington, Kentucky. He moved back to the Southwest in 1856 and contributed significantly to the settlement of El Paso. Some of those contributions still affect us today.
He served four terms as mayor, starting in 1881. During his 1882 administration, mule-drawn trollies became a form of transportation in El Paso. A pair of mules traveled the two routes. One route went down San Antonio street and returned on present-day Magoffin Avenue. The other route ran from El Paso street to Seventh Street, to Stanton and cross an international bridge into Juárez. The trollies later evolved into street cars.
Joseph Magoffin also organized the El Paso Water Company. Life for the citizens of El Paso changed drastically. No longer did people have to carry water from the Rio Grande, wait for the mud to settle, then drink it. L Paso's volunteer fire department also took shape during his administration.
Mayor Magoffin, who liked sports, responded to a public demand and started two baseball teams. They played against each other every Sunday afternoon, thus providing entertainment for the people in El Paso.
Besides serving as a mayor, Joseph Magoffin contributed significantly to El Paso in other ways.
He helped organize the State National Bank, holding the position of vice-president for many years. In addition, Magoffin served as Justice of the Peace, Collector of Customs, and District Judge in his lifetime.
El Paso still benefits from the Magoffin father-and-son team of visionaries who worked to develop barren land into an international city. The challenges came from a dream of that little boy in Kentucky, a little boy who pursued his aspirations as a grown man and passed them into his children. James and Joseph Magoffin's contributions to this city live on in street names, a UTEP auditorium and numerous other El Paso traditions.