As a token of appreciation, the United States Congress approved the issuing of the Mexican Service Badge, then the Mexican Border Service Medal. Eligibility for the Mexican Service Badge, according to War Department General Order 155, December 1917, was authorized by the president for issue “to all officers and enlisted men who are now, or may hereafter be, in the military service ... in Mexico as members of the Vera Cruz expedition ... in Mexico as members of the punitive or other authorized expeditions ... those who participated in an engagement against Mexicans ... and those who were present as members of the Mexican border patrol.” Individuals not eligible were authorized by Congress to receive the medal on July 9, 1918. Its purpose was to recognize the National Guardsmen and regular army troops mobilized to patrol the Mexican border between 1916 and 1917.
After prolonged struggles, representatives produced the Mexican Constitution of 1917 – though effective implementation of the social provisions of the 1917 Constitution of Mexico and near cessation of revolutionary activity did not occur until the administration of Lázaro Cárdenas (1934–1940). The revolution is generally considered to have lasted until 1920 with the death of Carranza, although the country continued to have sporadic, but comparatively minor, outbreaks of warfare well into the 1920s. The Cristero War of 1926 to 1929 was the most significant relapse of bloodshed. Total “demographic cost” during the Mexican Revolution 1910–1920 was approximately 2.1 million people.
In 1920 Obregón finally reached an agreement with Villa, who retired from armed fighting. Three years later Villa was assassinated by a group of seven riflemen while traveling in his car in Parral. It is presumed that the assassination was ordered by Obregón, who feared a supposed bid for the presidency by Villa.
The numerous border incidents, including the Columbus Raid, throughout the Mexican Revolution and the lack of resources available for adequate border protection became the primary concern for many American government officials. But World War I had strained resources from the border by the diminishing number of troops being transferred to Europe. In 1918, Supervising Inspector Frank W. Berkshire wrote to the Commissioner-General of Immigration expressing his concerns about the lack of a coordinated, adequate effort to enforce immigration and customs laws along the border with Mexico: “If the services of men now being drafted cannot be spared for this work, it may be that the various departments vitally interested would give favorable consideration to the formation of an independent organization, composed of men with out the draft age. The assertion is ventured that such an organization, properly equipped and trained, made up of seasoned men, would guard the border more effectively against all forms of lawlessness than a body of soldiers of several times the same number ...”
The Punitive Expedition was a distant memory as the United States shifted its attention toward World War I in Europe. Pershing’s career continued on in greatness and eventually he was promoted to the rank of General of the Armies. “Pershing’s Crusaders: Following the Flag to France” was an eight-reel picture released by the US Committee on Public Information in 1918 and documented General Pershing and his troops fighting in the trenches of France.
Almost overnight Camp Furlong became a large military installation for protection from other raids and for preparation for a Punitive Expedition into Mexico to be led by General Pershing. First on the scene were elements of the New Mexico National Guard. Various regular units then arrived to provide support to the troops in Mexico. The camp also had supply facilities and repair yards for the early motor trucks used in Mexico. At its peak the camp was headquarters for more than 5,000 troops. Following the withdrawal of the Punitive Expedition, the 24th Infantry Regiment was headquartered at the post. With the conclusion of the Mexican Revolution, the post lost its importance and only 100 men were garrisoned there in 1921. All troops in the area were gone by 1923. (Author’s photo)
The Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, prohibiting the importation, transport, manufacture or sale of alcoholic beverages went into effect at midnight on January 16, 1920. With the passage of this constitutional amendment and the numerical limits placed on immigration to the United States by the Immigration Acts of 1921 and 1924, border enforcement received renewed attention from the government. The numerical limitations resulted in people from around the world trying illegal entry if attempts to enter legally failed. Therefore the mission of the Border Patrol became more important to the US government. These events set the wheels of change into motion. On May 28, 1924 Congress passed the Labor Appropriation Act, officially establishing the US Border Patrol for the purpose of securing the borders between inspection stations. In 1925 its duties were expanded to patrol the sea coast.
Officers were quickly recruited for the new positions and the Border Patrol expanded to 450 officers. Many of the early agents were enlisted from organizations such as the Texas Rangers, local sheriffs and deputies, and appointees from the Civil Service Register of Railroad Mail Clerks. The government initially provided the agents with a badge and revolver; recruits furnished their own horse and saddle, but Washington supplied oats and hay for the horses and a $1,680 annual salary for the agents. The agents did not have uniforms until 1928. Currently at the time of this writing, the United States Border Patrol is a federal law enforcement agency within US Customs and Border Protection (CBP), a component of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
There are still reminders of Pancho Villa’s raid on Columbus to this day. Of the buildings still standing are the El Paso & Southwestern Railroad Depot, the school house, Hoover Hotel, and a few other buildings along Broadway Street. The remains of the concrete vault of the Commercial State Bank where Villistas tried breaking in by shooting at the steel vault door can be seen on the corner of Broadway and East Boundary Streets. The steel vault door is preserved and viewed among other relics from the raid at the Columbus Historical Society Museum housed in the former railroad depot. Coote’s Hill (now known as Villa Hill) and the remaining portion of Camp Furlong have been preserved.
Pancho Villa State Park was established in 1959 “in interest of preservation of the memory of the unique, historical occasion of the last hostile action by foreign troops within the continental United States” and became the only park in the United States to be named after a foreign invader. The creation of the 60-acre park was a gesture of good will between the United States and Mexico. The town of Columbus has been designated a National Historic Site. At Pancho Villa State Park, several buildings remain from the time of Villa’s 1916 raid, and are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. These include the 1902 US customs house, two adobe structures dating from the Camp Furlong-era, the Camp Furlong Recreation Hall and concrete stands for the army truck transports. Pancho Villa State Park’s extensive historical exhibits depicting the raid and the US Army’s subsequent Punitive Expedition into Mexico are housed in the park’s new $1.8 million 7,000-square-foot Exhibit Hall.
Through donations and funds appropriated by the New Mexico Legislature in 1999, Pancho Villa State Park acquired expedition-era examples of the vehicles and technology employed by Pershing and his men. The Exhibit Hall contains a full-size replica Curtiss JN-3 “Jenny” airplane used by the 1st Aero Squadron; a 1916 Dodge touring car, the type used by Pershing for a field office; historic artifacts; military weapons and ribbons. An armored tank stands as a sentinel outside the facility.
On the outskirts of town is the Valley Heights Cemetery where some of the civilian victims of the raid were laid to rest. Among the victims buried there is Bessie (Bain) James and her unborn child. In addition, there is the grave of Henry Arthur McKinney who was killed by Villistas two days before the Columbus raid in Mexico on the ranch of the Palomas Land and Cattle Company. It is the most solemn of the sites related to the raid.