The Tigua (i.e. Tiwa people) of Ysleta were among the most faithful Christian converts in the area and the Spanish were keen to keep the settlement healthy and vibrant.

The neighboring community and county seat of San Elizario was a center of Hispanic influence in an increasing Anglo-dominated post-Civil War period.

In 1873, Ysleta made a bid to become the county seat, but the elections were ignored or inconclusive until 1878, after the Salt War period.

The railroad did not come to Ysleta, and in a strongly disputed election in which counted votes were nearly three times the number of voters, the county seat was moved to El Paso in 1883.

The resulting rise in the water table brought salt to the surface and the land became suitable for only salt-tolerant crops such as cotton.

[citation needed] In the 1960s, Tom Diamond sued on the behalf of the Tiwa (known as the Tigua tribe in Spanish).

The state of Texas was reluctant to recognize any Native American tribes, but in 1967 the Tiguas were formed legally as the Ysleta Del Sur Pueblo.