Forty Years at El Paso, 1858-1898

In Short

This memoir acts as a candid, often stark, ledger of life on the Texas frontier from 1858 to 1898. Through the eyes of a man deeply entangled in the region’s legal, political, and commercial evolution, it maps the transition from a remote, dusty hamlet to a center of regional power. The book survives not for its polish, but for its unvarnished intimacy; it is a collection of eyewitness accounts regarding civil war, blood feuds, and the personal cost of survival in a lawless territory.

The Story

The narrative begins in 1858, when the author arrives in a small El Paso that feels, to him, like a "Deserted Village." It is a place of immense isolation, where supplies from St. Louis take months to arrive, guarded by armed men against the constant threat of Indians. The author quickly establishes himself as a Union man in a region where secessionist sentiment runs deep. As the Civil War looms, his loyalty places him in immediate peril. He recounts the surrender of federal posts to Confederate forces with palpable frustration, eventually finding himself acting as a spy and a target in a landscape dominated by shifting alliances.

The post-war years bring no peace. The author serves as a Customs Collector, a position that puts him at the center of international intrigue and local power struggles. He describes the occupation of the border by the forces of Benito Juarez, his personal visits with the Mexican president, and the volatile Reconstruction-era politics of Texas. His life becomes a series of narrow escapes—from assassination attempts, mob violence, and the "rough riding" of state police. He details the legal battles over land, the rise and fall of various political figures, and the constant, often deadly, feuds between rival factions.

The narrative arc is punctuated by the recurring, violent deaths of those around him. He chronicles the killing of friends and enemies alike, from the "bloody reign" of marshals like Studemeier to the brutal assassination of Louis Cardis. The author survives these decades of lawlessness, often by luck or by the sheer persistence of his convictions. By the final pages, the El Paso he once knew has vanished, replaced by a new, modernized world. The memoir concludes with the author in his twilight years, reflecting on the fact that his most bitter adversaries have all met violent ends, leaving him as one of the few remaining witnesses to a vanished, savage era.

How It Unfolds

The arrival in a frontier outpost The author sets the scene in the late 1850s, describing a village connected to the rest of the world only by mule-drawn freight wagons. He captures the daily reality of high prices, the necessity of constant self-defense, and the strange, magnetic appeal the isolated settlement held for those who visited.

The looming shadow of civil conflict The narrative tracks the author’s refusal to support the rebellion, detailing his attempts to alert Washington to the precarious situation in West Texas. He moves through the tension of the war years, operating in the shadows to maintain his allegiance while his neighbors flee or organize for the Confederacy.

A decade of political maneuvering The author describes his role in the post-war bureaucracy and his involvement in state constitutional conventions. He details the intense, often bitter, rivalries between prominent men, showing how personal disputes and political ambitions fueled the chaos of Reconstruction.

The era of blood feuds The final chapters focus on the relentless violence that defined the 1870s and 1880s. He recounts the rise of vigilante justice, the assassination of associates, and the street-corner killings that characterized the era, ultimately observing how quickly the social order collapsed into total lawlessness.

The People

The author, W. W. Mills, is a man of fierce, unyielding loyalties. He views his life through the lens of duty to the Union and a commitment to the rule of law, which consistently places him in opposition to those he considers "bad men." His brother, Emmet Mills, serves as his constant companion and fellow traveler through the perils of the frontier.

Opposing them is A. J. Fountain, whom the author labels his "worst enemy," embodying the political and personal animosities that defined the era. Figures like Benjamin S. Dowell start as antagonists, representing the Confederate cause, but undergo complex personal shifts, eventually seeking reconciliation with the author as their own fortunes turn. Judge Charles H. Howard and the volatile Marshal Studemeier represent the dangerous instability of the region, men whose actions transform the streets of El Paso into a graveyard. The author’s wife, Mary Hamilton Mills, provides a grounding presence, often witnessing the dangers her husband faces and participating in their narrow escapes.

In Its Own Voice

"This was my El Paso. To me it was like the Deserted Village to Goldsmith."

The author describes the profound connection he felt to the quiet, isolated village he first encountered in 1858, before the expansion and violence of the later decades.

"I do not know that my enemies are all reconciled to me, but they are all dead, and that is better, or at least safer."

In the concluding section, the author reflects with a grim, final clarity on the cost of the conflicts that defined his forty years on the border.

What It's Really About

At its heart, the book is an examination of how civilization is forged in a vacuum of authority. The author grapples with the question of whether law is a natural byproduct of society or a fragile construct that must be defended with constant, often violent, vigilance. He argues that individual character—defined by which side of a struggle one chooses—determines the trajectory of a community. The book serves as a meditation on the permanence of change; the author watches his home transform from a place where one could make a fortune in wine and salt into a bustling, unrecognizable modern city, leaving him to wonder why he alone was spared to tell the tale.

Why Read It Today

Readers who appreciate raw, unfiltered history will find this volume compelling. It is not a polished, academic history, but a personal diary of survival that moves at a breathless, sometimes disorienting pace. You will encounter the casual brutality of the frontier, where a man might be shot for a perceived slight or a political disagreement, and where the author’s own survival feels miraculous.

The book is honest about its own limitations; the author warns that he is "rambling and egotistical," and the reader should expect a perspective that is unapologetically biased. It does not shy away from the prejudices of the era or the starkness of his personal feuds. However, those who value the "truth of the witness" will find it rewarding. It captures the smell of the sagebrush, the weight of a pistol, and the isolation of a borderland that has long since vanished. If you want to understand the visceral, unsettling reality of life in early El Paso—far from the romanticized myths of the Old West—this book provides a window into the grit, the blood, and the unexpected philosophy of a man who lived through it all.