Our “backroads tour” of the Southwest took a slight detour into America’s 19th largest city, El Paso Texas. We came to El Paso to photograph remnants of its colorful history, as well as to visit and photograph its historic Segundo Barrio neighborhood. The Spanish Conquistador Juan de Onate came to the banks of the Rio Grande in the late 16th century, and claimed the area for King Philip II of Spain. We can still see sculpted portraits of conquistadors circling the facade of El Paso’s former Cortez Hotel, which welcomed guests from 1926 to 1970. Today it is an office building.