January 15, 2019 - Columbus, New Mexico

Day 15 Cross Country Bike Trip – REST DAY!
Today was a well deserved rest day for Tobey – even though I had him help with some chores! We went to the Columbus RV park’s public laundromat this morning and got all of his bike gear cleaned.

Our next stop was the Columbus Library to use their internet. What a great little community this is! They gave us a tour of the library and showed us two different rooms we could use while we used the WIFI and even offered fresh coffee or hot tea! We got caught up a little before heading back to Pancho Villa State Park for lunch. Tobey strung a clothes line in our picnic ramada and we hung all of the bike clothes out to dry.

After lunch we visited the historic sites in the campground and the park’s visitor center museum. The visitor’s center has a great film about the attack on Columbus and Fort Furlong narrated by survivors of the attack and their descendants.

This was the Judge Advocate’s Building at Camp Furlong.
On March 9, 1916, troops led by Pancho Villa raided Camp Furlong and the town of Columbus. Several people were killed, many wounded and numerous buildings in the town, as well as the camp, were burned.

This was the last time the United States was attacked on our own soil. Six days later, the US punitive forces under the leadership of General John J. (Black Jack) Pershing entered Mexico and pursued Pancho Villa and his band without success. It was during this US expedition that military forces gained experience as a “motorized” unit.
Pershing and other military leaders drove cars similar to this into Mexico in pursuit of Pancho Villa. This became the car of choice for the military!This was the Camp’s Headquarters Building.The first military airbase in the United States was established in 1916 here. Most of the planes were cloth-coated biplanes. Unfortunately, none of them were successful in the military’s expedition against Mexican General Francisco (Pancho) Villa and his forces. They could not withstand the elements of rain, wind, or hail – or the mountains! This is a replica of one of the planes in the museum.
This flag was flown here in 1916 and was just recently donated to the museum.
Just across the street on Hwy 11, the Columbus Historic Society has a small museum, also. The inside displays were closed, but we walked around outside.
There is a lot of history in this little community and we enjoyed learning more about the area.