Now How Cool is This?

We have yet another milestone in El Paso history coming up. Ironically, it is also a personal one.

November 20^th, 2010 sees the centennial of the beginning o f the Mexican Revolution. Porifiro Diaz had been president of Mexico pretty much since 1874. Under his regime, foreign investors had developed the resources of Mexico, and built miles of railroads. All this came at a price. While the richer got richer, the poor became poorer. There had been rumblings of discontent, even an aborted revolt as early as 1894. In the election of 1908 Diaz actually had a worthy opponent. Francisco Madero was the son of a wealthy family. He actually cared about ALL the people of Mexico, not just the rich. When Madero became too much a threat, Diaz had him jailed. Upon his release, Madero realized that there was not a peaceful way to make changes. He planned and organized. There were skirmishes and fights with Federal forces. Then Madero set the date. The Revolution would begin on November 20^th, 1910.

The Mexican Revolution would have a great impact on El Paso. The city of Juarez sat on the northern terminus of the only north-south railroad running the length of the country. It was a vital embarkation point for arms and supplies. The merchants in El Paso were more than willing to provide those arms and supplies… for a price. To keep the fighting contained in Mexico, the U.S. government set more troops to patrol the border. Overnight FT Bliss went from a sleepy brigade sized post to a facility housing over a division sized force.

The personal milestone? On November 20th,2010, the centennial of the Mexican Revolution, I turn 50 years old. Now how cool is that?