Hugh Stephenson was born in Kentucky. His parents died when he was young and he moved with a cousin to Concordia, Missouri, where he grew up. He came west as a trapper and in August 1824 became possibly the first Anglo-American in the El Paso area, passing through with a wagontrain. He left the wagon train at Old Mesilla, New Mexico, acquiring land and building
a home on the site of present Las Cruces. Shortly thereafter he settled in El Paso del Norte ( present Juarez, Mexico and later acquired a grant 900 acres, south of the land belonging to Juan Maria;a Ponce de Leon, the site of present El
Paso.
Stephenson married Juana Maria Ascarate, the daughter of a wealthy El Paso del orte merchant, in August 1828. By 1835 he had opened a store, in
1843 Stephenson moved to Corralitos to manage the silver mine belonging to his wife's family; he also managed the family business at Janos. In 1844 he
moved to his property south of Ponce de Leon's and established a community that he called Concordia, after his child-hood home.
Juana Ascarate de Stephenson died on February 6, 1856, when she was fatally gored by a deer she had raised from a fawn. She was buried on a part of the
ranch now known as Concordia Cemetery. In November 1867, after the Rio Grande flooded the old garrison at Magoffinsville, Fort Bliss was moved to Concordia
and known as Camp Concordia until March 1869, when it resumed its previous name. Over 65,000 people are buried in Concordia. |