Chasing Pancho Villa (28 page)
“I must travel to Palomas on personal business,” Harrison told him. “It's important.”
Juan smiled.
“If you cross the border, you must post a thousand dollar bond, Señor James,” the deputy replied.
“I will wire my bank in Chicago immediately. But I can assure you, I'm good for it,”
*
Later that evening, after receiving his reply from Chicago, Harrison promptly posted his bond. A short time later, he stood in the wide doorway to the stables with the old man and Mr. Jones.
“The horses are ready, Señor Harry,” the old man said simply.
“Thank you,” Harrison answered, handing him two hundred-dollar bills. “For your troubles, señor.” He stepped into the saddle and, with the silent old black man beside him, headed south again toward the border. Riding down Broadway, they rode toward the Last Chance Saloon.
Harrison pulled up on the reins as they passed the saloon. Surprised, Mr. Jones also stopped. A blond woman out front was painting on the window. They watched her write “Sal's” in front of “Last” in large black letters.
“Looks good, Sal,” Harrison called. “Damn good.”
The woman turned, still holding the large paint brush, and smiled back at the riders. “Thanks, Harry. The place'll be all mine someday.”
*
Riding the stallion through the open wood gates, Harrison saw the only person in the world who mattered to him. Maria stood on the veranda, waving. Before his mount had stopped, he was out of the saddle and racing toward her. “Maria, Maria,” he called. They embraced.
“Oh Harry, my love,” she laughed through her tears, “I was so worried that I would have to go to London and Paris alone.”
Then they both began laughing.
*
Later that evening, in the solitude of Maria's great study, James wrote:
Mother, I have reached the end of my investigation. I proved Bartlett's integrity, dedication to duty, and his love for the United States Army. I learned that he was a man highly respected by his friends and his enemies. He was a man of great courage and loyalty, and a man who believed in justice. I found his murderer, and attended to the situation. My mission is now completed.
Goodbye,
Harrison
Defeated again, his few remaining soldiers demoralized, Pancho Villa finally was forced to make peace with the Mexican Government in 1920. He retired to his Rancho Canutillo in Durango State. The political violence in Mexico, however, continued. On July 20, 1923, Francisco “Pancho” Villa died in a bloody assassination. The identity of his killer was never discovered, although most people suspected that General Obregón was behind it.
The 24th Infantry's colored battalion stayed in Camp Furlong for the duration of the war. Major Kneeland Snow resigned as its commanding officer and returned to civilian life. Private Jeremiah Peck, arrested for theft of government property, never went to trial. On the morning he was to be shipped out to Fort Sam Houston, Private Peck was found dead in his cell, hanging by a knotted bed sheet from the bars of his narrow window. The coroner immediately ruled it a suicide. Harrison, who heard about it sometime later, knew the “suicide” was very convenient. Peck never had an opportunity to implicate any others in his crimes.
Captain Blaine was court-martialed. He pled innocent to both charges against him. But, after considerable deliberation, the panel of presiding officers determined that there was sufficient evidence to convict him of espionage in wartime and murder. The earlier ruling that Captain Bartlett James had committed suicide was overturned.
Having attended the court martial proceedings, James returned six months later from Las Palomas for the hanging. The evening before Blaine was scheduled to be executed for spying, he asked for James to see him in his cell.
James stood in front of the dark steel door looking through the small opening at the condemned man. Blaine stood and walked slowly to the door. “I killed your brother,” he confessed without remorse. “I had no choice.” Blaine looked blankly through the small opening at James. He then turned to slowly walk back to the cot.
“I look forward to tomorrow, Blaine,” was all Harrison said, his voice cold as ice. Then he left. Blaine was hanged at Fort Sam Houston on December 6, 1918, after all appeals had been exhausted. The execution took place on the same gallows as that used to hang the Negro mutineers a year earlier.
Harrison asked himself if Blaine's execution was a measure of justice for Bart. He was troubled by the question, until he saw that Blaine was also dead. That would have to be enough.
*
Eventually, the white cavalry units at Camp Furlong were ordered to France. Both Charlie and Jonesy, now transferred to the infantry, saw action during the Allies' 1918 summer offensive spearheaded by General Blackjack Pershing's American Expeditionary Force Americans' long-awaited offensive succeeded in driving the Germans back, accomplishing the first major breakthrough on the Western Front since 1914.
For his courage in killing and capturing several enemy soldiers on the Marne River, Charlie was decorated. One week after receiving his medal for valor, he fell to a German mustard gas attack. The poison severely damaged his lungs. He spent the remainder of his life in a veterans' home in Lexington, Kentucky.
Jonesy fought on through the long summer and into the late fall of 1918. Four days before the Armistice was signed, he was killed by a sniper's bullet to the head.
Juan Parilla never left Camp Furlong, finally retiring from the United States Army on January 1, 1919. With the horrible destruction of the Revolution finally drawing to a close, he took his family to Mexico. Joining with Daniel, Mr. Jones, and Grover, they bought more land and became cattle ranchers. By 1922 the Washington rancho had grown to become one of the largest in Chihuahua State.
Not content to live the less exciting and more sedentary lifestyle of a rancher, Daniel left in 1920 for New Orleans. Several years after Daniel's departure, receiving no word of his whereabouts, Juan went to look for him. He searched the gaming halls and pleasure establishments of black and white New Orleans. He engaged the efforts of the city police, but still found nothing. Daniel had simply disappeared. Finally, in late 1923, Juan returned home. Daniel was never heard from again.
Jackson Smith attempted to flee to Mexico, but he did not leave quickly enough. Bureau of Investigation agents intercepted him at the border. The charge of murdering Constable Amos Arnold was dropped. There were no witnesses or evidence to prove he had hired Carlos. Smith, real name Andrew Cobb, agreed to testify that he saw Blaine meeting with a German agent in El Paso on three separate occasions. In July 1918, Smith was convicted of violating the American embargo against selling weapons to the Mexican belligerents. Throughout his trial, he refused to reveal who he worked for. After serving six months of a five year sentence, Smith was released from prison.
But justice often works in its own way and time. In October 1929, Smith took his own life by jumping from the 15th floor window of the Chrysler Building in New York City, having lost everything in the stock market crash.
Harrison's mother died rich but alone in Miami Beach in 1934. She refused to speak with her son, and saw him only once more before her death. Her faithful servant, Jonathan, had died quietly in his sleep in 1920. Harrison returned from Europe alone to attend both funerals.
With the coming of 1919 and peace, Harrison and Maria left the Washington hacienda, first for New York, and then Paris. They avoided Chicago. Even before leaving the hacienda, Harrison ordered that his mother be removed in all capacity from Randolph James. He then turned over his duties as President to a trusted aide, one who believed in the law. Content to travel the world with his bride, he never again involved himself in the business. Following the stock market crash of 1929, the two, with their small children, returned to Las Palomas to live.
Every year at Christmas while traveling, Harrison and Maria sent a special gift to Juan. The accompanying note always read simply: “Still searching for Pancho Villa.” Juan understood.
The End