Klan park's role in El Paso's July 4th celebrations revealed: Trish Long

In preparing this article about El Paso’s Fourth of July celebration a hundred years ago, as usual, I learned a few things I didn’t know about our history.

While I knew the Ku Klux Klan was active in El Paso in the early 1920s, I had not heard of Klan Park. A search of the archives revealed very few mentions of the park. I found two mentions of the 1924 Independence Day event below and one for the same event in 1925.

I did find a June 13, 1984 edition of the UTEP Prospector that reports that in 1923, the Klan bought 160 acres of land near Highway 54 and used it as a park for barbeques.

More: DUDLEY BEATS K.K.K. BY 2,120

El Paso fights the Klan

This April 29, 2006 article, El Paso fights the Klan, gives a brief history of the Klan’s presence here:

By the summer of 1921, the Ku Klux Klan had organized a local chapter in El Paso. By September, Frontier Klan No. 100 boasted 300 members, many prominent El Pasoans.

In January 1922, a three-man ticket of well-known El Pasoans, headed by local lawyer S.J. Isaacks, ran for seats on the school board. What was not so well-known was that the three were all members of the Klan. A second three-man ticket emerged in March, headed by William H. Burges. A bitter contest ensued, with city officials and the Times supporting the Burges ticket and powerful community organization the Good Government League and the Herald supporting Isaacks.

The Isaacks ticket won, and a resignation in September was able to wrest control of the school board completely.

Klan members ran in several other small local races, and its clout built. But so did its opposition. By 1923, the Democratic primary for mayor was clear-cut: pro-Klan or anti-Klan. The anti-Klan candidate won handily, crippling the group. The Times called it "a victory for the old El Paso spirit."

Joe Queensberry post, American Legion, Las Cruces

A new name for me was Joe Queensberry, whose name was attached to the then-new American Legion post in Las Cruces.

A March 30, 1921, article, Military Funeral for Capt. Joe Queensberry, reported that Queensberry’s body was to be returned to Las Cruces for burial with full military honors:

Capt. Joe Queensberry died from a shell wound in Picardy, France, April 27, 1918. He was born in Las Cruces and was 23 years old at the time of his death.

Queensberry was cited for bravery on March 15 in the attack, which resulted in the capture of the first German gun and the first German prisoners by American forces.

More: To not be confused with an Arkansas town, Hot Springs, N.M., became Truth or Consequences

Elephant Butte Lake, Hot Springs, N.M.

I had not heard of Lake B.M. Hall, the proposed name for Elephant Butte Lake, to be after Bureau of Reclamation engineer Benjamin Mortimer Hall, who championed the project.

That brings me to something I did know: In 1950, radio show host Ralph Edwards suggested that Hot Springs, N.M., change the town's name to Truth or Consequences for a day. The idea stuck.

More: El Paso realizes it has no city flag, unveils its 1st flag on 75th anniversary: Trish Long

El Pasoans, Old and Young, Ready to Celebrate Fourth

July 4, 1924, El Paso Times

Fun, feasts and fireworks will again, as usual, feature a familiar and fadeless fourth. Safe and sane or festive and fevered, El Pasos Greeks, Mexicans, Italians, Frenchmen, Chinese, Americans and Britons will celebrate the day that marks the cutting of ties that bound us to Britain.

Many programs and events have been planned, but the old, reliable firecracker with a voice of its own remains the main and most noticeable phase of the day. They started going off days ago and seemed to reach a climax last night. Some hope was expressed that the supply would run out by tonight. Chief of Police Jay D. Reeder bans the torpedo cane and the cannon rocket in the downtown district. “The Firecracker, It Is Excellent,” reads a sign on South Oregon Street. But though the noise seems greater this year than ever, the Chinese inside the store say business in fireworks is poorer than ever this year. One firm, a dealer said, sold $600 worth last Fourth, but will not go over $175 this year.

At Washington Park, the city’s playground, the seven lifeguards will stage a life-saving exhibition. Swimming races, dashes, and freaks, together with a diving contest open to all, will start at 2 o’clock. From 4 to 7, there will be a band concert, and fireworks will hold the center of attention from 7:30 to 9 o’clock in the evening.

Open House at Center

Something new is on the program at Community Center, Stanton and River streets. It’s an open house all day, but it starts with breakfast! A sunrise swim! Come and eat and swim and dance, and then swim some more, the announcement says.

Starting at 4:30 p.m. at the Klan park on Newman Road, the Klan will put on a varied program. “Cyclone” Davis, former U.S. congressman, will deliver the patriotic address. Athletic events, magnificent fireworks display and a band concert will be attractions and a picnic supper will be spread at 6 o’clock.

The public is invited to attend a citizenship day program starting in Cleveland Square under the auspices of the League of Women Voters at 8 p.m. The evening will be a welcome to all who have been naturalized during the year. Mayor Dudley will deliver an address of welcome to the new citizens. Community singing and a boy scout drill will be features.

The Joe Queensberry post, American Legion, Las Cruces, is planning to entertain 5,000 people at Mesilla dam. An amateur rodeo, beginning at 10 a.m., will start things. Dancing will commence at 11 a.m. and continue until 2 the next morning, it is expected. A free barbecue at noon, professional horse races, a baseball game between Las Cruces and La Mesa and an open fireworks display will enliven the day. Proceeds will go to the new legion home in Las Cruces.

Rodeo at Cloudcroft

The reclamation service has arranged for boating and swimming at Lake B.M. Hall at Elephant Butte dam and for a dance at Hot Springs . Railroads have reduced fares for the occasions and passenger traffic out of the city grew unusually heavy yesterday and last night. Baseball, music and the rodeo drew crowds to Cloudcroft. Dancing, speeches, and giving away free cabin sites proved an attraction at Golondrina Park, a forty-minute automobile drive from Carrizozo, N.M. Country clubs and lower and upper valley points drew crowds of celebrants and pleasure seekers.

Practically every store in the city will be closed. Each one seen by the American Legion readily acceded to their request. The legion appeals to all they did not see to observe the day by keeping their doors locked. The post office will be closed and there will be no deliveries. The El Paso Electric Railway Company is giving holidays to its employees throughout the weekend and will run on reduced forces today and tomorrow.

Blaze of lights and a fever of holiday spirit

July 5, 1924, El Paso Times

The Independence Day celebration here came to an end with a crescendo of noise, a blaze of lights and a fever of enthusiastic holiday spirit that threatening clouds could not dispel. Explosives were more in evidence this year than ever before. The salute to the flag last night was so general that it sounded as if an army was battling for possession of the city.

Hundreds made pilgrimages to nearby amusement places and parks were thronged.

Trish Long may be reached at tlong@elpasotimes.com or 915-546-6179.

This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: Klan park's role in El Paso's July 4th celebrations revealed: Trish Long