James A Zabriskie

Zabriskie was a graduate of the U. S. Military Academy and a Civil War Union colonel. He was a member of the “California Column” during the Civil War that recaptured Ft. Bliss in 1862. He was appointed district attorney for the El Paso area as a Democrat in 1866.

He was a strong believer that railroad would come to El Paso, and he owned a significant amount of land hoping to prosper after its arrival. Col. S. H. Newman wrote in his memoir, Reminiscences, “I remember how the same Col. Zabriskie pointed out the exact spot where the railroad would cross the Rio Grande, and I smiled and accused him of drawing upon his imagination. Years afterward when the Southern Pacific railroad company built its bridge above the city . . . I smiled again and in imagination took off my hat to Col. Zabriskie. It was on the exact spot he had pointed out.”

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