Borderlands

For much of this trip we've stayed pretty close to the U.S.-Mexico border. Our stop in Columbus, New Mexico was no exception.

This is the small town that the Mexican revolutionary Francisco "Pancho" Villa attacked in a cross border raid in 1916. This led to a retaliatory "Punitive Expedition" by the U.S. Army that pursued Villa's forces deep into the Mexican state of Chihuahua, although they failed to capture Villa himself. This expedition, led by General John J. "Black Jack" Pershing, turned out to be a dress rehearsal for the United States' entry into World War I the next year. We learned all about this at a fabulous museum in Pancho Villa State Park in Columbus.

If you look carefully in the background of the photo, you can see the present day border fence at Puerto Palomas, about three miles to the south. Dad said he could see it clearly through binoculars.