El Paso del Norte

El Paso del Norte (The Pass of the North), commonly called EL PASO, a town of Mexico, including a line of settlements extending along a narrow valley of 9 or 10 miles in length, on the right bank of the Rio Grande (which forms the boundary between Mexico and the United States), in the Mexican state of Chihuahua. The valley is very fertile, yielding considerable quantities of wine and brandy. The town, 1232 miles NNW. of the city of Mexico by rail, is rather a miserable place, and is inhabited chiefly by Indian half-breeds. Pop. 6000.—On the opposite bank of the Rio Grande, which is here crossed by a railway bridge, is El Paso, capital of El Paso county, Texas, at the junction of the Southern Pacific with the Mexican railways. Goods to the value of 3,000,000, besides precious metals to the value of over 10,000,000, have passed outward through its custom-house in one year. There is some silver-smelting and meat-packing. Pop. (1880) 736; (1890) 10,338.