SOUTHERN PACIFIC LINES 125 
In 1852 a post office, called Franklin, was established here, and 
in 1859 this name was changed to El Paso. There was no town 
development until after the Civil War—in fact, there was no settle- 
ment between Fort Clark and the El Paso region, a distance of 480 
miles. There was continuous traffic, however. Three mail routes 
afforded communication with Santa Fe, San Antonio, and San Diego 
(see p. 97), and San Francisco. From 1858 to 1861 the Butterfield 
Overland Mail transported mail semi-weekly from St. Louis and 
Memphis to San Francisco under contract at $600,000 a year. The 
annual receipts reported from this line in 1859 were $27,230. The 
railroad was used to Tipton, Mo., and stage coaches the rest of the 
way. The time consumed was 21 to 23 days, and the passenger fare 
was $150 and $200, without meals. This mail service was transferred 
to a more northerly route in 1861, and soon after that the Civil War 
cut the seceded States off from the United States postal service. A 
few years after hostilities ceased a triweekly schedule was established 
for this region. The railroad reached El Paso from the east in 1883 
and in the next few years brought many immigrants to the Rio 
Grande Valley. Since that time the city has had a rapid growth. 
El Paso has long been prominent as a headquarters for the mining 
industry, although there are no notable mines in its immediate 
vicinity. For many years it has had the largest custom smelter in 
the United States, usually employing 1,000 men and treating ore from 
New Mexico, Arizona, and Texas. (See pl. 18, A.) In 1930 the 
Nichols copper refinery was completed on the eastern edge of the city. 
Just west of this refinery are the Pasotex and Texas Co. oil refineries, 
which receive crude oil by a long pipe line from the Winkle field in 
Texas. Another pipe line brings gas to El Paso. The large cement 
plant on the western edge of the city furnished the cement for the 
Elephant Butte Dam; it utilizes the limestone of the Comanche 
series." Beaumont Hospital is a large Government establishment 
for tubercular soldiers, and Fort Bliss, 5 miles northeast of the center 
of the city, with 153 officers and 2,362 men (in 1930), is the largest 
cavalry post in the United States. The Texas College of Mines, a 
branch of the University of Texas, and Loretto College or convent 
are also in El Paso. The city water supply is obtained from a group 
of deep wells, which are reported to yield 14,000,000 gallons a day. 
* Cement is made by roasting a mix- | cement manufacture, but there is a 
ture of ground limestone and shale and | limit to the demand, and it is difficult 
grinding the resulting ‘‘clinker” to a | to introduce a new brand of cement in 
fine powder. In some places clay is | competition wit! ts of established 
used instead of shale. Some lime- | reputation which have proved their 
stones contain naturally a suitable | i iabili 
admixture of the clay element for the 
manufacture of hyd ic cement. 
Most limestones could be utilized for 
