Welcome to the exclusive newsletter for the El Paso Mission Trail Association. The Trail Blazer provides unique historical content, information about upcoming events, and much more. In our inaugural issue, we explore Moritz Lowenstein's connection to El Paso County.

Moritz Lowenstein died on the crisp Fall Friday morning of October 15, 1925. He died in Ysleta, Texas -- a historic and venerable town resting in cottonwoods, grape vineyards, and fruit orchards, on the banks of the Rio Grande and the Camino Real Tierra del Adentro.

His passing was marked by great mourning. Mr. Lowenstein was one of El Paso County’s great pioneers, but more than that he was a builder of community and commerce, and El Paso County still feels his legacy today.

Born in Prussia in 1836, his full name was Meier Moritz Lowenstein. As a young man of 15 years, he heard America calling, and so left his hometown of Gartow and caught a ship to New York. His story is our story, an American story.

He made his way to Philadelphia from New York and worked as a store clerk. It was there that he heard another voice -- the voice of the Southwest and Santa Fe, New Mexico. Moving west by stagecoach in 1857, he found a job with a general merchant in old Santa Fe, and began a career in commerce.

It wasn’t until 1870 that he traveled South down the Rio Grande and entered the El Paso Valley. What a world he discovered! The railroads would not arrive for another 11 years, and the city we know as El Paso did not yet have its official moniker, but Paso del Norte (Juarez) and the bell tower of Guadalupe Mission could be seen from the Franklin Mountains. Coming South, Moritz must have been keenly aware of a possible Apache attack.

Three towns existed in the valley in 1870, and all three remain to this day -- San Elizario (an old Spanish presidio), Socorro, and Ysleta.

While working and living in Santa Fe, Moritz had met and formed a partnership with a Santa Fe trader, James Buchanan. Buchanan made his home in Paso del Norte (Juarez), which may explain why Moritz moved South to the El Paso Valley.

By all accounts, Buchanan and Lowenstein had a good partnership and were prosperous merchants, selling goods and merchandise to military forts and to local communities in the Southwest.

Fate would continue to knock on Moritz’s door. He heard yet another voice, and it was the voice of Miss Juana Buchanan Diaz, his partner’s daughter. Juana was born in 1857 on the Buchanan ranch near Ft Bliss. Moritz and Juana fell in love, but true love does not always run smooth.

Despite the fact that Moritz was of the Jewish faith and the Buchanans were devout Catholics, love conquered all. Moritz converted to Catholicism and the couple married on May 10, 1873. Although the couple lived for a short time in Ft. Davis, they returned to Ysleta and there made a home for themselves, and ultimately for their 15 children. It was known through the valley that Juana loved children and she was known as The Little Mother of Ysleta.

If Moritz Lowenstein had been content to be a “captain of commerce” his story might have ended there. That is not the end of his contributions to the Lower Valley or El Paso County. His devotion to family was matched by his devotion to the community of Ysleta. It has been said that “to whom much is given, much is expected.” Moritz met all expectations; he was a leader of his family and his community. What follows is a summary of his community achievements in the Lower Valley:

There is long-living evidence of the love and devotion that the community had for Lowenstein and his family. On May 11, 1923, the El Paso Herald-Post ran a wonderful article commemorating the Lowenstein’s 50th wedding anniversary, which was celebrated in the Lowenstein home at 9065 Alameda Ave.

The event included a reception and a dance after their marriage had been re-solemnized in the old Ysleta Mission. The home was decorated with yellow roses and the drawing-room was filled to capacity with family and friends.

Among the guests, too numerous to mention, were the pioneer families of Ysleta and El Paso County. What a wonderful celebration it was of the life and times of a Jewish man from Prussia, and his Hispanic wife from Paso del Norte, who together created a lasting and truly memorable legacy in Ysleta and our beloved El Paso County.