Thursday, November 20, 2008

Pancho Villa

Today we rode the scooter 30 miles south of Deming to Columbus, NM where we visited the Pancho Villa State Park Museum.  Pancho Villa invaded the US back in 1916.  They say it was the last time anyone invaded mainland America, so I guess they don't count the Japanese invasion of the Aleutian Islands in 1942.  Several civilians and soldiers were killed in the battle and President Wilson mounted a major response.  He sent General Pershing here with 10,000 troups to invade Mexico and track down Pancho Villa.  The invasion and search lasted almost a year, and while many of Villa's men were captured or killed, he was not.

The military action was interesting because of several firsts.  It was the first time airplanes were used by the US in combat.  It was the first time gasoline powered vehicles were used, and the first time a vehicle that was a forerunner of what became knows as a tank was used.

The year long expedition was good training and probably saved thousands of lives in the long run, since four months after being recalled from Mexico, Pershing was tasked with leading US troops into WW I as America joined the war.

1 comment:

  1. When I worked in the TB San, we had an old Apache who was a Scout for Poncho Villa. He probably spoke enough Spanish and English to be of value to him. Nathan Classay (I'm not sure of the spelling, and he probably wasn't either) was an old sweetie, even if he did have third stage syphilis, so he was no longer contagious.