Ysleta High School - Otyokwa Yearbook (El Paso, TX)

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Little known to its citizens, El Paso ' s farming industry is the oldest in the nation, and the Lower Valley area of El Paso Is an important part of the economic well-being of the area. Adjoining the Ysleta Mission was once the oldest farm in the North American continent. It ' s been in constant cultivation since 1682, until recently. Part of it is now a parking lot for the old Ysleta Mission and the Tigua Indian visitors center, with sections of it being replanted. The Tiguas of Ysleta, which is now part of El Paso, came to the Lower Valley from Isleta, New Mexico, at the time of the uprising against the Spaniards by the Pueblo Indians in New Mexico in 1680. The Tigua complex in Ysleta, near the Ysleta Mission, welcomes visitors to see bread- baking, pottery-making, silversmithmg, and weaving. Ysleta, San Elizario, and Socorro Missions are some of the most frequented historic tourist stops in the El Paso area. At San Elizario, the church faces the town plaza, and the marker near the church reveals that the famed explorer Onate reached that spot on April 20, 1 598. The Ysleta Mission contains one of the oldest altars existing in Texas. A state marker in the village of Socorro, just east of El Paso, marks the site of the Socorro Mission, which was established centuries ago in 1682. The name of the Ysleta school system stems from the original settlement of Ysleta, which became the second oldest town in the United States, and the oldest in Texas when the Tiguas established the first mission in the Southwest in 1681. Today, the Ysleta Independent School District is ninth in size in the State of Texas. Ysleta Mission, one of the oldest in Texas, thrives as a strong religious sanction to the Lower Valley. ■ ■W! f ABOVE The Tigua Indian Community dis- plays modern architectural design. BELOW: One of the busiest streets in Ysleta, Zaragosa Road, undergoes city street improvement construction. h n« iiiMUuimi !!% J „ ' J Lower VSlley

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During Ysleta High ' s 50tli Year the community was concerned with space for construction, conservation and history, which put the focus on I OTJR SIDE OF TOWN pf-yj iiW j . 11 eOUNniY OiUl MimTI Swimming, golf, and tennis were offered to interested El Pasoans, as the newly built Vista Hills Country Club began operating. The grazing of cattle and farm animals was a familiar scene common to the Lower Valley. f0f 0n

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Touin •5 -v ' b ' ■ ' M. - -r The first Spanish community in this valley was called El Paso del Norte after the pass cut by the Rio Grande through the lower extremities of the Rocky Mountains. Spanish explorers were camping at the Pass of the North long before the first English- speaking colony was planted at Jamestown. Our 103-year-old city. El Paso, has a population of 367,594, with the county-wide total of 4 1 0,037 for the year 1976. El Paso ' s sister city, Juarez, boasts a population of about 467,056. El Paso is located in the lowest all-weather pass through the Rocky Mountains. Because of the location on a major transcontinental route and at the gateway to Mexico, El Paso always has counted its growth, not only in relationship to the rest of Texas, but in the scope of the Southwestern area and internationally, too. El Paso is among the nation ' s leading cities in apparel manufacture with some 60 plants employing more than 16,000 people. Due to location near mining operations, smelting and refining of metals has been a prominent industry here for many years. Petroleum refineries and a major distributor of natural gas also are important to the economy, providing major payrolls. Manufacture of building materials and food processing are growing with the city. Approximately 500 manufacturing plants are located in the El Paso- Juarez area. Receiving its authorization in 1966 by Congress, El Paso ' s own Border Highway grew out of the Chamizal Settlement that ended an 1 08-year-old dispute between the U.S. and Mexico. As a result. El Paso had to give up tax revenue producing lands in the settlement. In return. Congress agreed to build a border highway along the Rio Grande river. The cost of the Border Freeway at that time was estimated at $1 2 million, but has reached $24 million. Main locations important to El Paso ' s tourism trade are the Tigua Indian Reservation, the Lower Valley Missions, Juarez Pronaf Center and Race Track. Others include the Plaza Monumental, Sunland Park Race Track, just west of El Paso in New Mexico, the University of Texas at El Paso, the fourth ranked state university, and its Sun Bowl, and Ft. Bliss, home of the Army air defense center. The smokestacks belonging to El Paso ' s best-known smelter, ASARCO Inc., are in the area designated as a popular crossing spot for aliens who enter the U.S. illegally. White Sands Missile Range, with a payroll of $ 1 00, 1 00,032, is a major economic factor in the El Paso Southwest. The Rio Grande is the source of all-important irrigation water for farms of the area. Communities also depend on wells for water that is purified for drinking purposes. Color and pageantry of the Sun Bowl Game halftime show has achieved national recognition, and ranks with importance of the delightful Sun Parade on New Year ' s Day. A major attraction during the annual year-end Southwestern Sun Carnival is the big game in the Sun Bowl played by two top college football teams. In recent years, the games have been televised nationwide. Phelps Dodge Refinery Corp. entered the copper mining and refining industry in 1881 and 95 years later refines 25 per cent of the copper used in the U.S. and is processing plant. 362 Closing