Pancho Villa State Park

Pancho Villa State Park (PVSP) in Columbus, NM is about 30 miles from Deming. It was even better than advertised, thanks to the docent who greeted us at the magnificent new visitors center. The center is actually a first-class museum established to explain Pancho Villa’s 1916 attack on Columbus, General John Pershing’s response, and the building of the first operational military airfield in the US. This was the last attack on our country by a foriegn military force. General George Patton devoted some of his early career days trying to chase down Pancho Villa in Mexico. He would be more successful later during WW II.

After touring the museum and grounds, with their fascinating vehicles, old Army structures and historical accounts, we drove two miles to the border and parked on the US side. We walked through security to the “Pink House,” per the docent's recommendation, for a delicious lunch. Shopping was not great in Mexico, so after lunch we returned to Columbus to tour the town's train station museum. We also did a driving tour of the desolate village searching for original structures of the Villa era. Only a former hotel and the old jail are still standing. The other sites are basically foundations only.