DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker at Concordia Cemetery has to say — and it's got more layers than you might expect from a graveyard on the edge of El Paso. Now, before this place was a cemetery, before it was a landmark, before it had a name that anybody argued over, it was simply home. Back in the 1840s, this stretch of ground was the home of Hugh Stephenson, a Chihuahua trader.
That's who was living out here, three miles from what would become El Paso, doing business along the old trade routes. Wide open country, and Hugh Stephenson had claimed his piece of it. Then, in 1856, something happened that quietly changed the character of this land forever.
Hugh's wife, Juana — Juana Ascarate Stephenson — was buried here. That's the moment Concordia became a cemetery. One grave.
One woman. And the ground remembered. The place sat there for a while before the wider world took notice.
But take notice they did. By the 1880s, El Pasoans were making that three-mile drive out to Concordia to bury their dead — and when a town starts driving three miles to lay somebody to rest, you know the place has earned a reputation. By 1890, different groups had purchased their own sections.
The cemetery had been divided and designated: Catholic, Masonic, Jewish, Black, Chinese, Military, Jesuit, city, and county. Nine different communities, nine different corners of El Paso life, all finding their place in the same piece of ground. And among the civic leaders, the pioneers, and the war veterans resting here — well, there's also one John Wesley Hardin.
Gunfighter. The marker doesn't elaborate, and maybe it doesn't need to. Some names carry their own weather.
Concordia Cemetery. Established 1856. Started with one grave, grew into a whole city of the departed — and it's still out there, three miles from downtown, holding all of them.
What the marker says
Known as Concordia during the 1840s, this area was the home of Chihuahua trader Hugh Stephenson. In 1856 his wife, Juana (Ascarate), was buried in what is now part of Concordia Cemetery. The graveyard gained widespread use in the 1880s when El Pasoans drove three miles to Concordia to bury their dead. By 1890 various sections had been purchased by different groups and were designated Catholic, Masonic, Jewish, Black, Chinese, Military, Jesuit, city, and county. Buried here are gunfighter John Wesley Hardin, and numerous civic leaders, pioneers, and war veterans. (1984) Concordia Cemetery Established 1856 Historic Texas Cemetery - 2005