Alligators on the Mind

courtesy Aultman Collection, El Paso Public Library

I attended the meeting at the convention center Tuesday on the overhaul of San Jacinto Plaza.  I missed the presentation of what Foster and his crew envision for the plaza.  I do know that there are a group or two out there that really want the alligators returned downtown.  Personally, I could see it iffn there was an economical, practical way to build a habitat down there.   That or they let me feed any kids caught abusing or molesting the reptiles to the alligator's.  Some how I don't think either one will happen.  People have changed over the years, and the gators would never be safe from us humans, so maybe we are better with the statue now standing in the center of the plaza.  Surprisingly, no one bothered to mention how El Paso came to have alligators in the plaza in the first place.

One of the men I have had the honor to meet and call friend over the years was Jack Blackham.  Jack was a character in of himself, and I could fill a couple of posts just on him.  Today's story though deals with his grandfather, Hamilton Raynor.  Now Ham was one of two brothers that made their way to El Paso.  Brother William, or Will was a deputy under Jim Gillett in 1882.  Ham arrived in 1883.  Fall of 1884, Ham Raynor took a job as Deputy Sheriff up in Hunniwell, Kansas for the cattle season.  In a dispute over a red headed dance hall girl, Ham was seriously wounded, his assistant, Ed Scotten suffered a mortal wound, lasting just long enough to be brought to El Paso.  Anyways, Ham returned to the Dallas area to recover, and he was soon back in El Paso.  Hamilton Raynor became one of the original "Ankle Biters" here in El Paso, and was responsible for getting the American Kennel Club to recognize the Chihuahua as a separate breed of dog.  According to Jack, Ham was also the one responsible for the alligators in the plaza.

Shortly after his return to El Paso, the folks back in east Texas sent him a cigar box.  Inside that box were three baby alligators.  There were fun enough while there were small, but once they had some size on them the gators weren't so much fun anymore.  Like anyone else, Ham hauled the critters out to the plaza and dumped them in the pond.  The novelty of the alligators struck a chord with the community and there they stayed.  At first the swamper from a saloon on the plaza was detailed to haul the critters in at night during the winter, to keep them from freezing.  One night the swamper neglected to police up the gators.  Next morning there they were, showing no ill effects of a night out in the cold.  From then on the alligators were left on their own out in the pond.

The trio became an icon of El Paso.  Generations can remember them basking in the sun, or floating in the pond.  But as times went on, the folks around here changed.  Wasn't unusual for the Dean of  Texas Western Tech/UTEP to arrive to find an alligator lounging in his office.  Kids and hooligans poked and prodded the gators with stick, eventually putting out an eye of one alligator.  So by the 1965 the reptiles were moved to the El Paso Zoo.  For many years there wasn't a reminder of what we once had, until the Art League commissioned  Luis Jiménez to create a tribute to the alligators.


Because my memory is like a sieve, a did a quick search on goggle, and found that Wikipedia actually does have an article on the plaza, and the alligators.  Their version does not quite jive with mine.  But thats the fun of history, agreeing to disagree.


Untill next time, Take Care, God bless, and keep your powder dry!