ElviraVilla Escajeda (1920-2022)
In 1951, Elvira Villa Escajeda (formerly known as Lacarra) and her younger brother, Gilberto Villa, purchased a Chamizal home in Cotton Mill Addition to the City of El Paso. This home was a gift for their mother and father, Manuela and Jose Villa, who had immigrated to U.S. from Chihuahua and who had never previously owned property. On this lot the family would build a home. Elvira was especially proud to have helped her father build the house and often fondly recalled assembling the roof herself in the evenings after she got out of her job as a line-supervisor at Hicks Ponder Manufacturing Company.
In 1956, Elvira purchased another Cotton Mill property at 1232 Algodon Place where she and her husband, Guillermo Lacarra, would live. In 1959, she bought property in Rio Linda—as part of her own estate. In 1961, she sold this property and purchased another in Rio Linda. By 1963, these properties—along with the rest of Cotton Mill and Rio Linda—were condemned as part of the Chamizal Treaty.
Almost immediately, Elvira began organizing her neighborhoods to ensure they had a voice in settlement negotiations. She would become the founder and vice-president of the Chamizal Civic Association, which successfully mobilized many Chamizal residents to renegotiate the terms of their displacement.
In her role as founder and leader of the Chamizal Civic Association, Elvira challenged the government’s terms for displacement. In an early campaign, the association asked residents to fly the U.S. flag outside their homes to emphasize residents’ civic participation and their role as “good Americans.”
As a result of Elvira’s activism the federal government eventually agreed to offer Chamizal residents fair-market value for their homes rather than the government’s initial tax value offer. Although this was a huge win for Chamizal residents, some took their cases to court and others refused to leave their homes and were removed through eminent domain.
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1956: Elvira Purchases Cotton Mill Property
Elvira Villa Lacarra purchases Lot 27 in the Cotton Mill Addition to the City of El Paso in 1956 as part of her own separate estate. She is listed as the only homeowner.
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1965: Elvira & Guillermo sell property to the United States of America
The United States federal government purchased Elvira and Guillermo’s Cotton Mill home on lot 27 for $9,400. The land on which this home once stood is now occupied in part by the Border Highway and the concrete canal that directs the Río Grande between El Paso and Cd. Juárez.
In 1965, John F. Friedkin, the head of the U.S. branch of the International Boundary and Water Commission, wrote Elvira thanking her for her contributions to helping the government more equitably settle the Chamizal Dispute.
Photograph of letter courtesy of Linda Villa and Villa family
Like many Chamizal residents, Elvira’s husband, Guillermo, was a veteran, having served in World War II. With veteran benefits, many Chamizal residents who returned home from war were able to become first-time homeowners.
Elvira attended the bi-national ceremony commemorating the Chamizal Treaty in El Paso on September 25, 1964.
She was a special guest of Mexican president Adolfo Lopez-Mateos. Later, President Lyndon B. Johnson sent her a silver medal in thanks for her role in assisting the U.S. government with the Chamizal Dispute.
Photograph of silver medal courtesy of Villa Family
On January 22, 2022, just a few days after Elvira’s death, the El Paso County Commissioner’s Office also recognized Elvira’s contributions to the Chamizal Treaty through official resolution.
Elvira Villa Escajeda
Photo courtesy of Enrique & Vallarie Enrique, Vantage Point Inc.
Watch “Vila”
A Documentary About the life & legacy of Elvira Villa Escajeda
In this 20-minute documentary, Elvira tells her Chamizal story, including how she helped shape the Chamizal Treaty of 1964.
Produced by Vantage Point Visual Studios, Inc.