Richard Parker (16)

A sweeping history of El Paso from the earliest times of Spanish exploration, filled with many stories across the centuries. Particularly inspiring were the accomplishments in achieving a multi-cultural society decades before other U.S. cities. Early in the book, there were occasional observations that seemed to me to be reflective of a modern progressive viewpoint that didn't add much in my opinion. The sections on modern-day immigration issues and the Wal-Mart shootings were very show more political, perhaps unavoidably so. The author is an award-winning journalist for his writings on the massacre, and i accept his information as factual, and as he is a native of El Paso, i respect his right to speak his mind on the subject. I did think some conclusions as to underlying causes were steeped in the familiar cries of the left-wing, and wish that he had spent time seeking common ground. All decent people abhor what happened in the El Paso massacre, regardless of their political persuasions. show less

When we think about the origins of the United States and places which witnessed its development, we rarely think about El Paso.

Yet, as Richard Parker has well demonstrated in The Crossing: El Paso, the Southwest, and America’s Forgotten Origin Story (galley received as part of early review program), perhaps we should.

The author began and ended with the 2019 mass shooting event at an El Paso Walmart; the author grew up in El Paso and felt compelled to write to show how the story of El Paso show more is integral to the story of America.

The author began with how Indigenous people have lived in the areas around El Paso for perhaps an incredibly long time. In terms of more modern history, the author began with the Oñate expedition of the late sixteenth century. While they would pass through the El Paso area heading to what is now New Mexico, El Paso would become the territorial capital after the revolts against the Spanish among the Pueblo peoples.

The author then focuses more primarily on El Paso itself: its development on the south side of the river, independence from Spain, early white settlement, the Mexican War and the establishment of the border, and the Gadsden Purchase and how many who had been in Mexico were now in the United States. The story of El Paso as part of Texas and the Confederacy is told with the events of the Civil War which took place in the general area; how El Paso and Juarez would develop through the late 19th and 20th centuries; and the modern story of both towns, the border, migration, economic development, and economic challenges. The author spoke of the challenges El Paso has experienced, but also its multi-cultural nature and how well people actually live among one another there. He very much emphasizes how the 2019 Walmart shooter came from outside of El Paso and was fueled by narratives foreign to the lived experience of El Paso.

This is a great read about the history of El Paso and the southwest in general. show less

Fantastic, fully annotated and most thoughtful history of our origins in the US