Name: Fabens, Texas
Address: Fabens, TX

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Fabens, Texas, has a history deeply intertwined with the Southern Pacific Railroad. The town's name itself is a nod to attorney George Wilson Fabens, who worked for the railroad and was the assistant land commissioner for the Southern Pacific Lines in Texas and Louisiana. As the railroad expanded, new towns like Fabens were named after railroad officers. In 1972, Fabens gained a moment in the national spotlight when it served as a location for the filming of the Sam Peckinpah film 'The Getaway.' More recently, in 2005, Fabens was the nearest location to a border incident that made national headlines, involving Border Patrol agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean. Their sentences were eventually commuted by President George W. Bush in 2009, and they were pardoned by President Donald Trump in December 2020.

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In February 2005, Fabens was the nearest location to a border incident that made national headlines. Border Patrol agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean were convicted and sentenced to prison terms for shooting an unarmed undocumented immigrant and alleged drug smuggler. Their sentences were later commuted by President George W. Bush, and in December 2020, President Donald Trump pardoned them for their crimes.

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Fabens, TX RoadyGoat

The city's name, Fabens, is derived from attorney George Wilson Fabens, who was associated with the Southern Pacific Railroad. As the railroad expanded, new towns were named after railroad officers, and Fabens is no exception, honoring this particular attorney who served as the assistant land commissioner for the Southern Pacific Lines in Texas and Louisiana.

Shoemaker, Billie Lee [Bill, Willie]

1931

Bill Shoemaker, also known as “Willie,” was a legendary jockey and winner of the Kentucky Derby, Preakness, and Belmont Stakes multiple times over a forty-year riding career. Shoemaker was born on August 19, 1931, in Fabens, El Paso County, Texas, to B.B. and Ruby (Harris) Shoemaker in their home. When Shoemaker was born prematurely, he was not expected to live through the night; he weighed only 2.5 pounds. He later credited his grandmother for saving him; she put the tiny infant in a shoebox and next to the warmth of the oven. When he was about four years old his parents separated, and he went to live on his grandfather’s ranch in Winters, Texas. On the ranch, Shoemaker took an interest in horses. When he was ten years old, he went to live with his father in El Monte, California. At El Monte High School, he was a standout athlete in wrestling and boxing, in the latter of which he went undefeated and won a Los Angeles boxing championship. While Shoemaker was in high school in 1945, he found work and earned $75 a month at a thoroughbred ranch named the Suzy Q Ranch owned by Thomas Simmons. At the Suzy Q, Shoemaker cleaned stables, fed the horses, and learned the fundamentals of horsemanship. As a boy he had developed a growing interest in thoroughbred racing—he listened to the horse races on the radio at night and admired the big names such as Johnny Longden and Eddie Arcaro who were both doing well at that time. At some point he transferred from El Monte High School to La Puente High School, but he did not attend classes and dropped out in the eleventh grade. After two years at the Suzy Q Ranch, Shoemaker went to San Francisco, where a friend he had worked with at the stables introduced him to Hurst Philpot, a horse trainer who eventually gave Shoemaker a job as an exercise boy. While Shoemaker was working for Philpot, he met a rider named Johnny Adams who taught him how to be a good jockey. Shoemaker then went to work for George Reeves, a racehorse trainer in Del Mar, California. On March 19, 1949, Reeves let Shoemaker, who stood four feet and eleven inches tall and weighed less than 100 pounds, get on a horse and race at Golden Gate Fields, a track near San Francisco. A month later on April 20, 1949, Shoemaker won his first race on a young filly named Shafter V. Bill Shoemaker’s career lasted about forty-one years, from 1949 until 1990. During his career he accomplished many milestones, earned many awards and honors, and set records that as of 2017 had not been broken. His career total of 8,833 wins was a record that went unbroken until 1999. He earned a record-breaking 485 wins in 1953 alone. Over the course of his career, he won more than 20 percent of the 40,000-plus races in which he rode. Shoemaker’s claim to fame rests in the American Classics, which included the Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes, and Belmont Stakes. Shoemaker won four Kentucky Derby races, one shy of tying with Eddie Arcaro and Bill Hartack. His two more memorable rides were both Kentucky Derbies. One was in 1957, when Shoemaker misjudged the finish line and stood up and caused the horse, Gallant Man, to slow down, thereby causing him to lose the race. Shoemaker’s favorite race occurred when he became the oldest jockey, at age fifty-four, to win a Kentucky Derby in 1986 on Ferdinand. He later referred to the feat as the “highlight of my career.” Shoemaker had a legendary career and earned many single-season records, many ‘rider of the year’ awards, and eventual induction into the National Racing Museum and Hall of Fame in 1958. Like all great jockeys, his career included a few injuries. In 1968 when he went down with his horse during a race, Shoemaker fractured his femur; he did not know if he would be able to continue riding. After months of therapy, Shoemaker was back on a horse. Again, he was injured several months later when a horse flipped backwards in the paddock and crushed his pelvis. Shoemaker’s life centered on racing horses, and, unfortunate

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Howard, Charles H.

1877

Charles H. Howard, judge and both instigator and victim of the Salt War of San Elizario , was born on Februrary 3, 1842, in Virginia, the son of William Henry and Sarah Catherine (DuVal) Howard. By 1860 the family had moved to Gonzales County; Charles's sister Susan married William Lewis Davidson there in 1870. Charles served as a private in the Eighth Texas Cavalry , better known as Terry's Texas Rangers, during the Civil War . He settled in Austin, Texas, in 1870 or 1871, then moved to El Paso in 1872. At that time El Paso was a stronghold of Radical Republicanism, but Howard saw an opportunity to establish the Democratic party there, singlehandedly if need be. At least initially, his efforts met with considerable success. He was appointed district attorney in 1873 and allied himself with Louis Cardis and Father Antonio Borrajo, the parish priest of San Elizario, against the Radical Republicans and the "Anti-Salt Ring" led by Albert Jennings Fountain . In February 1873 the three drew up a petition to the state legislature asking for the removal of the El Paso district judge, a political ally of Fountain, and calling Fountain himself, who was then serving in the legislature, "a disgrace to our county and a blemish upon Your Honorable Body." The petition bore more than 350 signatures, and although many were written in the same hand, the legislature decided to take action. The judge was removed in April 1874, and Howard was appointed to replace him. Unfortunately, the alliance between Howard and Cardis was about to rupture. Howard resigned as district judge in 1875 and married Mary Louisa Zimpleman in Austin on December 31 of that year. She died on June 25, 1877. Shortly before her death, her father, George Barnhard Zimpleman, an Austin banker, had moved to El Paso, apparently enlisted in a lucrative scheme by Howard. Howard filed on the salt deposits at the western foot of the Guadalupe Mountains in the name of his father-in-law, thus outraging the salineros , or salt dealers, of the El Paso area, who had regarded the salt deposits as a public commodity. One scholar implies that Howard reneged on a secret deal with Cardis and Borrajo by which the three would split the fees to be charged for collecting salt. Regardless of what actually happened, Howard and Cardis became bitter enemies. Howard assaulted Cardis in Austin and in San Antonio, but Cardis refused to take action. In June 1877, while Howard was en route to survey the salt deposits, he encountered Cardis at Fort Quitman and attacked him again. Meanwhile, he had two salineros arrested for taking salt without paying the required fee. On his way back to El Paso, Howard stopped at Ysleta to talk with the sheriff. An armed group of Mexicans and Mexican Americans seized him there and took him to San Elizario; they might have killed him then and there but for the intercession of Cardis, who wanted to avoid a major conflagration. They made Howard promise to renounce his ownership of the salt deposits and leave El Paso County immediately. The outraged judge went to Mesilla, New Mexico, where he took refuge at the home of his old opponent, Fountain, and wired the governor of Texas that an invasion from Mexico was imminent. Howard blamed Cardis for his humiliation in San Elizario; he returned to El Paso on October 7, 1877, and three days later shot Cardis to death. He was arraigned for the murder on November 17 but was freed on $4,000 bail. On December 12 Howard bravely or foolishly went to San Elizario, intending to make good on his threats to prosecute those who refused to pay the fee for collecting salt. He and his escort of Texas Rangers were surrounded and besieged by an angry mob for several days before Howard gave himself up. On December 17 he was taken out and shot by a firing squad of five men, all from the Mexican side of the river. After they fired, Jesús Telles ran up and attempted to slash Howard's face with a machete. He swung his weapon, but Howard twisted away, and

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Onate, Juan de, Expedition - 1598

1598

Spanish interest in the territory known as New Mexico increased during the 1580s and 1590s. Although reports of mining and missionary possibilities were significant, King Philip II of Spain was also concerned about New World explorations of rival England. As a result, Don Juan de Onate was commissioned in 1595 to lead an expedition to claim and colonize the New Mexico region in the name of the king. After many delays, Onate and his party of 400 men and members of their families left Santa Barbara, Mexico in January 1598. Instead of following earlier routes, they crossed the Chihuahua Desert to reach the El Paso area. In a formal ceremony at this site on April 30, 1598, Onate issued a proclamation, known as La Toma, taking possession of the region for Spain. Included was all land drained by the Rio Del Norte, the Rio Grande. Proceeding north, Onate established headquarters near present Santa Fe and founded the province of New Mexico. As Governor, he directed exploration of the area until he resigned in 1607. Onate's expedition and La Toma brought Spanish rule to the American Southwest and preceded colonization efforts of other European nations on the North American continent. (1981)

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Espejo - Beltran Expedition - 1582-1583

1582

Following the Rodriguez - Chamuscado Expedition of 1581 there was increased interest in the area now known as New Mexico and Texas. There was also concern for the safety of Fray Rodriguez and Fray Lopez, who had stayed in the area. In 1582 a Franciscan priest from Santa Barbara, Mexico, Fray Bernadino Beltran, formed an expedition to find the missionaries. His military escort was led by Antonio De Espejo, a former Santa Barbara merchant and rancher living in voluntary exile over a legal dispute with the Spanish authorities. The expedition departed the mining outpost of San Bartolome in November 1582. By the following January they had reached the El Paso area. In present New Mexico they learned that Fray Rodriguez and Fray Lopez had been killed by Indians. Fray Beltran led a small party back to Mexico, but Espejo and several companions stayed to check the Indian stories of silver mines and wealthy pueblos. On their journey the Spaniards became the first explorers in the region from the Pecos River Valley to the Junta de Los Rios, the junction of the Concho River and the Rio Grande. The reports of their explorations further heightened the interest in the area. 1981

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Rodriguez - Chamuscado Expedition - 1581

1581

Inspired by Indian stories of settlements in present New Mexico and authorized by the Spanish Viceroy, Fray Agustin Rodriguez, a Franciscan priest, led a missionary expedition to the area. Accompanied by Fray Juan de Santa Maria, Fray Francisco Lopez, nine soldiers, and nineteen Indian servants, he left Santa Barbara, Mexico, on June 5, 1581. The military escort was led by Francisco Sanchez, who, because of his red beard, was known as El Chamuscado, "The Singed." Following the Rio Grande, the expedition reached El Paso Del Norte. Proceeding through the pass, they spent the remainder of 1581 exploring the vast region from present western New Mexico to the Texas Panhandle. After Indians killed Fray Santa Maria in September 1581, plans were made to return for a report to the Spanish authorities. Despite the hostile environment, the two remaining missionaries chose to stay. Chamuscado led the others back through the Pass of the North, but died before reaching Santa Barbara. Believed to have been the first Spanish expedition to use the Pass of the North, the Rodriguez-Chamuscado Expedition marked the beginning of Spanish influence in the area. Their exploration opened the region, now the American Southwest, to later colonization. (1981)

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Fabens, Texas

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Shoemaker, Billie Lee [Bill, Willie]

Howard, Charles H.

Onate, Juan de, Expedition - 1598

Espejo - Beltran Expedition - 1582-1583

Rodriguez - Chamuscado Expedition - 1581

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