Editing Fort Bliss (section)

==== Hart's Mill (1878–1893) ====
[[File:Aerial view Fort Bliss 1968.jpg|thumb|An aerial view of Fort Bliss, 1968, with Northeast El Paso in background]]

On New Year's Day 1878, Fort Bliss was established as a permanent post.<ref name=Metz/>{{rp|36}} The Company L [[Buffalo Soldier]]s of the [[9th Cavalry Regiment (United States)|Ninth Cavalry]] and Company C of the [[15th Infantry Regiment (United States)|15th Infantry]], were sent to Fort Bliss to prevent further [[San Elizario Salt War|trouble over the salt beds]] and the usage of Rio Grande water for irrigation purposes.<ref name=Metz/>{{rp|36,39}} Prior to this date, the government had a policy of leasing property for its military installations. A tract of {{convert|135|acre|km2}} was purchased at Hart's Mill on the river's edge in the Pass, near what is today the [[University of Texas at El Paso|UTEP]].<ref name=Metz/>{{rp|50}}

With a $40,000 appropriation, a building program began. The first railroad arrived in 1881, and tracks were laid across the military reservation, solving the supply problems for the fort and the rapidly growing town of El Paso. By 1890, Hart's Mill had outlived its usefulness, and Congress appropriated $150,000 for construction of a military installation on the mesa approximately {{convert|5|mi|km}} east of El Paso's 1890 city limits.<ref name=Metz/>{{rp|50}} Although no money was appropriated for the land, $8,250 was easily raised by the local residents, who realized the economic benefit to the area.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Harris |first=Major Kevin L. |title=Guardian of the Pass: the story of the U.S. Army in El Paso }}</ref>

[[File:PoloField,FtBliss.JPG|thumb|Ruhlen's 1893 buildings, currently offices still stand at Fort Bliss, as do the officers' quarters.]]