Pancho Villa At Columbus, NM

Our three Texas grandchildren are home schooled, so every day we make a special effort to include educational content in their tour. Today, Grandma took a day off from traveling from our campsite at City of Rocks State Park. Jerry drove the kids 60 miles south to the Mexican Border in Columbus, NM. There they toured Pancho Villa State Park (PVSP) and the town museum. The historical focus was on the Mexican outlaw, Pancho Villa, who invaded Columbus and U.S. Army Camp Furlong in March 1916. Villa was out of favor with his own country and made a quick enemy of our country when he committed the only invasion of U.S. soil during the 20th Century. His band of nearly 1000 terrorists lost 200 men, while 15 of our soldiers and townspeople were killed. General John “Black Jack” Pershing arrived on the scene and chased Villa into Mexico for several months, but they never caught him (some things never change). Pershing would later gain fame as commander of our troops in Europe during WW I.

Military enthusiasts will learn at PVSP that Columbus was the site of our first Army airfield. An old bi-wing plane hangs from the ceiling of the visitor center. There is also a bullet-ridden old roadster which was hit by Villa’s raiders as the owner was escaping with his family. A couple of the original adobe buildings belonging to Fort Furlong still stand, as does an armored vehicle. Of tactical significance is the fact that this skirmish proved once and for all that mechanization would forever replace our famous horse cavalry. GEN Pershing would ride into Mexico in a Dodge touring car rather than sit in the saddle.

The kids and Jerry enjoyed a wonderful picnic prepared in advance by Grandma at PVSP and then returned to Deming to tour the recently restored Luna Membres Museum. The latter is one of the finest small-city museums we have seen. If you are driving through Deming on I-10, the museum and three, picturesque, unique state parks within 30 miles make it worthwhile to stay for a few days. There is an Escapees RV park just outside town next to the Holiday Inn. Regrettably, most travelers use Deming only as a stopover point.