"follow in Villa's footsteps. " a Columbus Travel Page by caffeine_induced78

Columbus is a small town with a big history. During the Mexican Revolution several generals vied for power over Mexico. One, Pancho Villa, was from the Northern State of Chihuahua. Due to his early sucess he had the backing of America. When his losses began to mount the U.S. quickly changed its tune and backed another general.

Pancho Villa and his men did continue to do business with American Merchants. One current theory holds that a Russian immigrant Merchant in Columbus entered into a contract to sell ammunition to Villa's Men. When the ammunition was delivered it was found that the merchant had shortchanged Villa. On March 9, 1916 Villa and his men rode horseback on a raid into America. At 4 in the morning they rounded a small hill and surprised the town and small military outpost of Camp Furlong.

The ensuing gunbattle lasted several hours and took the lives of 18 Americans and over 100 Mexicans. You can still see a couple of buildings left from the attack. The United States counterattack included a large military force with airplanes and motorized vehicles (first time both were used by the U.S. military). This expedition led by Gen. Pershing penetrated deep into Mexico, failing to capture the elusive Villa.