The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 87, July 1983 - April, 1984 Page: 13
468 p. : ill. (some col.), maps (some col.), ports. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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American El Paso, 1848-1854
new administration took steps to help him protect American citizens,
he would have to tender his resignation.29
Because of the prevailing frontier conditions during the 185os, the
lack of an effective civil authority, and the clash of cultural and legal
traditions in this border environment, it was rare indeed when there
was not an incident of some sort, usually featuring mob action and a
generous display of pistols and knives. A considerable number of cases
involved army deserters and criminals from each country attempting
to escape to the other.s0
One of the most serious incidents concerned an American citizen
named James Magee, whose cattle were stolen and taken across the Rio
Grande. While attempting to recover the stolen livestock on the Mexi-
can side of the river, Magee was arrested and thrown in jail. All at-
tempts to secure his release failed, and the jefe politico of El Paso del
Norte, after first promising to free Magee for $1oo, then changed his
mind. With that, an armed band of Americans crossed the river and
laid siege to the jail. They were repulsed and driven back across the
river, having lost one killed and another mortally wounded. Magee
was carried off to Chihuahua, and Diffenderffer came under consid-
erable fire for failing to obtain Magee's release. A Dr. James Tucker
charged the consul with being a weak and "illiterate man, [a] man
destitute of moral worth or character, whose counsel [is] his wife and
whose wife has been a public prostitute in El Paso for 15 or 20 years
past. It is a fine thing indeed that a greaser woman should be consul for
Americans." But Diffenderffer stayed at his post; early in 1855 he
again wrote the Department of State saying that the consulate still had
not received the flag, the coat of arms, or the necessary documents.al
During the Mexican period, 1821-1848, El Paso del Norte had be-
come an important commercial center in the Santa Fe-Chihuahua
trade along the historic Camino Real. The volume of the United
States trade had significantly increased during the period, from $22,000
29Diffenderffer to Daniel Webster, Aug. 1, 1851, Despatches from United States Consuls
in Ciudad Juirez; Diffenderffer to Volney E. Howard, Dec. 8, 1852 (quotations), ibid.;
Diffenderffer to Marcy, July 23, 1853, ibid.; Juan N. ZubirAn to the jefe politico of Can-
ton Bravos, Aug. 2o, 1851 (Juarez Archives, UTEP).
30ZubirAn to the jefe politico of Canton Bravos, November (?), 1851 (Juarez Archives,
UTEP); Diffenderffer to Marcy, Feb. 1, Mar. 1, 1854; Diffenderffer to Edward Everett,
Jan. 18, 1853, Despatches from United States Consuls in Ciudad Juarez.
l3Diffenderffer to Marcy, July 23, 1853, Despatches from United States Consuls in
Ciudad Juirez; James Tucker to Jefferson Davis, Aug. 4, 1853 (quotation), ibid.; Diffen-
derffer to Marcy, Jan. 7, 1855, ibid.; J. Morgan Broaddus, Jr., The Legal Heritage of El
Paso (El Paso, Tex., 1963), 50-51-
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 87, July 1983 - April, 1984, periodical, 1983/1984; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth117150/m1/33/: accessed April 24, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.