The General and the Jaguar (55 page)

214 “Their entrance into”: “Mayor Tells of Parral Attack,”
EPH,
April 29-30, 1916.

214 “A big Yank grabbed”: Tompkins,
Chasing Villa,
137.

214 Elisa Griensen: The young woman remains a celebrated figure in Parral. See Armando Comacho Griensen,
Elisa Griensen y la nueva Expedición Punitiva en Parral
(Chihuahua, Mexico: privately printed, July 2001).

214 slop jars: “30 Rioters in Parral Held,”
EPH,
April 24, 1916, 2.

215
“Los hijos de”:
Tompkins, “Report No. 3,” NARA, RG 407, AGO, Mexican Expedition, box 2020.

215 fruit and stones: “30 Rioters in Parral Held,”
EPH,
April 24, 1916.

216 Ord: Affidavit, Gordon R. Dillon, February 15, 1918; affidavit, John Thorsen, February 15, 1918; letter, Frank Tompkins
to Adjutant General, March 10, 1917, NARA, RG 200, Papers of General John J. Pershing, box 1.

216 “Ledford begged”: Tompkins,
Chasing Villa,
141.

217 “In a minute or two”: Ibid., 141-142.

217 “I supplicate you”: Ibid., 142.

218 Major Howze: “Operations of 11th Cavalry.”

219 little white dog: Mason,
Great Pursuit,
140; Tompkins,
Chasing Villa,
154.

219 six bodies: “Report of Operations of the Quartermaster Corps,” NARA, RG 407, Mexican Expedition, box 2020. In addition
to Private Herbert Ledford, the remains of the following people were also left in Mexico: Saddler Ralph A. Ray, Seventh Cavalry,
buried at Miñaca; Private Herman Kirby, Eleventh, buried at La Joya; Private Oliver Boushee, Seventh, buried at Miñaca; Saddler
Hudnell, Tenth, buried at Musica; and civilian scout D. H. Holly, buried at El Rubio.

219 “imprudence”: Johnson, “Punitive Expedition,” 490.

219 “Uh,” he grunted: Elser, “Pershing’s Lost Cause,” 46.

219 “Nothing should be”: Mason,
Great Pursuit,
140; Johnson, “Punitive Expedition,” 473.

219 “We now felt”: Tompkins,
Chasing Villa,
156.

220 “On Saturday, April”: Elser, “Pershing’s Lost Cause,” 47.

220 “Whether the halt”: Ibid.

220 was “foolish to chase a single”:
PWW,
36:424; Johnson, “Punitive Expedition,” 485-486.

220 “very brilliant way”: Letter, Hugh Scott to Wilder, July 22, 1916, Scott papers, LC.

221 “My opinion is general”: Telegram, Pershing to Funston, April 16, 1916, Pershing papers, LC.

222 “The tremendous advantage”: Telegram, Pershing to Funston, April 18, 1916, Pershing papers, LC.

222 new expedition: Telegram, Funston to War Department, April 10, 1916, Pershing papers, LC.

223 “political difficulties”: Telegram, McCain to Funston, April 14, 1916, Pershing papers, LC.

223
“something, someplace”:
Johnson, “Punitive Expedition,” 491.

223 “It is also desirable”: Tompkins,
Chasing Villa,
189-190.

224 “It was the closest”: RO, 69.

14. No One to Seek For

225 Villa sympathizers: “Former Villa Officers Arrested by Police; Gen. Banda among Imprisoned,”
EPMT,
March 11, 1916; “Ex-Villla Chiefs Seized by Police,”
EPMT,
March 13, 1916; “Former Villista Allies Arrested,”
EPMT,
March 14, 1916; “Villa Generals Being Detained,”
EPH,
March 14, 1916; “Villa Colonels Released on Writ of Habeas Corpus,”
EPH,
March 25, 1916.

225 nightly dragnets: “Former Villista Allies Arrested,”
EPMT,
March 14, 1916; “Twenty-Five Policemen Released from Duty by Chief of Police Johnson,”
EPMT,
March 21, 1916.

226 “We are not always”: Sybert-Coronado, “Villismo: Terrorism and Response,” seminar paper, UTEP, May 2001, Deming museum.
Interestingly, Sybert-Coronado described Villa’s raid as an act of terror some five months before the September 11, 2001,
airliner attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

226 “We all want to”: Sybert-Coronado, “Villismo: Terrorism and Response.”

226 Spanish-language newspapers: “Mexican Editor Held; Paper Suppressed,”
EPMT,
March 15, 1916.

226 chief of detectives had warned: “Former Villista Officers Released; Taken to Juárez,”
EPMT,
March 18, 1916.

226 “Young revolutions have”: James Hopper, “Browsing on the Border,”
Collier’s,
May 27, 1916, 32.

226 Terrazas: Victor M. Macias-González, “The Exile of the Chihuahuan Upper Classes in El Paso, 1913-1930,”
Password,
Winter 2226, 178-179; Belding de Wetter, “Revolutionary El Paso,” part 2, 117-118.

226 “After breakfasting”: Macias-González, “Exile of Chihuahuan Upper Classes,” 178.

227 Obregón’s entourage: “Juárez Happy with the Military Air Everywhere in the Old Town,”
EPH,
April 29, 1916.

228 “The drummer was”: Ibid.

228 condolences: “Obregón Calls on Scott Here,”
EPH,
April 29, 1916.

229 his left hand sideways: Ibid.

229 detailed instructions: Telegram, McCain to General Scott, April 26, 1916, Scott papers, LC.

229 “removing a menace”: Ibid.

229 “The government of the United States”: Ibid.

229 “so long as the possibility”: Ibid.

229 a “very clean cut”: “Machine Gun Frowns, Seductive Music Floats in on Conference,”
EPH,
May 1, 1916.

229 “The music was”: Ibid.

230 “There is no one”: Telegram, Scott and Funston to Secretary of War, Secretary of State, April 29, 1916, Scott papers,
LC.

230 “It is not a question”: “Obregón Is Here to Meet Scott,”
EPH,
April 28, 1916.

230 “he allowed his”: Scott,
Some Memories of a Soldier,
525.

230 Paso del Norte Hotel: Hopper, “Browsing on the Border,” 6.

230 “A Hearst correspondent”: Scott,
Some Memories of a Soldier,
526.

231 “The closing”: “Scott-Obregón Make History in a Twelve-Hour Conference,”
EPH,
May 3, 1916.

231 “Without his being assaulted”: Scott,
Some Memories of a Soldier,
526.

231 bellboy walked: “Pancho Villa Is Paged in Hotel While Conference Is in Progress; Not Found,”
EPH,
May 3, 1916.

231 “mental struggle”: Scott,
Some Memories of a Soldier,
527.

231 the document: “Memorandum of Conference Between General Álvaro Obregón, Secretary of War of the Republic of Mexico,
Major General Hugh L. Scott, Chief of Staff, U.S.A., and Major General Frederick Funston, to Which They All Subscribe and
Transmit to Their Respective Governments with Their Recommendations for Approval,” May 2, 1916, Scott papers, LC.

231 “So, instead of ending up”: Letter, Scott to Lindley M. Garrison, May 19, 1916, Scott papers, LC.

232 was “not equaled”: Telegram, Scott to Secretary of War, May 3, 1916, Scott papers, box 23, LC.

232 “I could not afford”: Letter, General Scott to R. M. Thomas, August 7, 1916, Scott papers, box 24, LC.

232 “General Obregón”: “Scott-Obregón Make History in a Twelve-Hour Conference,”
EPH,
May 3, 1916.

232 “Dispose your troops”: Telegram, Southern Department, May 1, 1916, Scott papers, LC.

233 “serious loss”: Telegram, Funston to War Department, May 3, 1916, Pershing papers, LC.

233 “War with de facto”: Telegram, Funston to Pershing, May 9, 1916, Pershing papers, LC.

233 “for ostensible purpose”: Telegram, Funston to Pershing, May 19, 1916, Pershing papers, LC.

234 General Luis Herrera: Telegram, Funston to Adjutant General, May 28, 1916, Pershing papers, LC.

234 General José Cavazos: Telegram, Funston to Adjutant General, May 29, 1916, Pershing papers, LC.

234 “We have been”: Blumenson,
Patton Papers,
328-329.

15. Gasoline Baths and Confessions

237 wounded Villistas: Memorandum, “Report of Villistas Brought to Deming, New Mexico, March 15th, 1916, after Raid, March
9th, 1916,” NARA, RG 395, Punitive Expeditions to Mexico, Chief of Staff, box 2-E. This memorandum was included in an October
14, 1916, letter written by J. S. Vaught, Luna County assistant district attorney, to Colonel Charles Farnsworth, commander
at the Columbus base. According to this document, the first batch of Villistas included Jesús Paez, twelve; Juan Sánchez,
sixteen; Elías Miras, twenty-two, an officer who had a gunshot wound over his right ear penetrating his brain; Lino Ruis,
twenty-four, from San Luis Potosí, who had a compound fracture of his right hip caused by his gunshot wound; and Y. Saville,
also twenty-four, from San Andrés, who had a wound in his left hip and over an eye. Though the names are spelled differently,
Elías Miras and Lino Ruis appear to be the same prisoners that E. B. Stone, the federal agent, described in his March 10 report.
The Stone report also lists a prisoner named Isabel Chávez, but that name does not appear on the second list. Instead, there
is Y. Saville. It’s quite possible they are one and the same person but there’s no way to be absolutely sure.

238
“Yo soy un”:
“‘Buen Muchacho’ Wants New Leg,”
EPH,
March 29, 1916; “Villa’s ‘Baby Bandit’ Loses Leg in Raid; Boy, 12, Will Escape Trial for Murder,”
RMN,
March 24, 1916.

238 “The Mexican boy”: The author of this April 9, 1916, letter is unknown. It is written to a man named Archie and consists
of four handwritten pages. There is no signature page, indicating that at least one and possibly more pages are missing. It
is available at the Deming museum in a box containing information on the prisoners and Jesús Paez.

239 Jesús’s story: See Fall hearing, 1616-1622; Crelle K. Vickers, “The Villa Raid and Jesús Paez,” 1918, Deming museum.

239
“De una de esas casas”:
Calzadíaz Barrera, “El Ataque a Columbus,” 33.

239 second group: “List of Villa Wounded Arrested at El Valle 8 April, 1916,” NARA, RG 153, JAG, Mexican Claims Case Files,
box 6. In a story that appeared on April 12 (“Villa Spy Was on Ranch Near Columbus Before Raid,”
EPH,
April 12, 1916), the
Herald
reported that José Martela was one of the six wounded men, but his name is not on the military list.

240 “The Mexicans knew “: “Little Gibraltars on Pershing’s Line,”
NYT,
April 22, 1916.

240 parade of citizens: Trial transcript,
State of New Mexico vs. Rentería et al.
The entire transcript is available at the New Mexico State Records Center and Archives. The actual indictments, arrest warrants,
death sentences, fees and costs, and other records related to these individuals, as well as to Pancho Villa, are available
on microfilm at Luna County Clerk’s Office in Deming, New Mexico, under Nos. 651-666.

240 Pablo Sánchez: The alleged spy, slender and of medium height, was taken to the penitentiary with the others. Prison
records state that he was being held for “safekeeping” while he was awaiting trial. But no records have surfaced indicating
whether he was ever convicted of a crime or when he was released from the state prison.

240 Judge Edward Medler: Medler’s statements are taken from his testimony before the Fall committee (Fall hearing, 1624-1627).

241 “boss madam”: Letter, Medler to Fall, December 13, 1918, Fall microfilm records, UNM.

241 jail “was unsanitary”: The county jail and the “courthouse basement” where the first batch of wounded Villistas were
taken are probably the same place. The comment might be a reference to the three men who had died there.

242 contempt of court: Letter, Medler to Fall, December 13, 1918, Fall microfilm records, UNM.

242 Villistas were clad: Description of prisoners taken from photographs and “Seven Villistas Are Convicted of Murder,”
DG,
April 21, 1916. Although the ceiling has been lowered, the courtroom where the Villistas were tried looks much the same as
it did in 1916. Extensive renovations and additions have been made to the courthouse itself.

242 county physician: Report, P. M. Steed, April 19, 1916, available in trial transcript and LCCO records.

243 Twelve potential jurors: Unless otherwise noted, all quotes and information related to the trial come from the trial
transcript. The transcript is missing punctuation and many of the phrases are garbled. It’s not clear whether the confused
language actually represents what the participants said or whether the court reporter was in error.

247 “The state developed”: “Seven Villistas Are Convicted of Murder,”
DG,
April 21, 1916.

247 “supported the verdict”: “Trying to Save Seven Villistas,”
EPH,
May 2, 1916, Bouilly collection.

247 “practically a confession”: Fall hearing, 1624-1625.

247 six defendants at once: “Villistas Guilty of Murder, Says Jury in Deming Trial,”
EPH,
April 20, 1916, Bouilly collection.

247 “The attention of many”: “Six Hanged for Villa Raid,”
DH,
January 5, 1978, clipping, Deming museum.

248 clean up the jail: “[Illegible] Arrive at State Prison in Bad Condition; Four Go to Hospital,”
SFNM,
April 25, 1916.

248 “It is true that a faint”: “Officers Charge Bad Treatment,”
DH,
April 28, 1916, Dean collection.

16. Jerked to Jesus

249 The title of this chapter is taken from West Gilbreath’s book,
Death on the Gallows: The Story of Legal Hangings in New Mexico, 1847-1923
(Silver City, NM: High-Lonesome Books, 2002), 1.

249 “They are ignorant”: Telegram, Edward Charles Wade to President Wilson, April 28, 1916,
PWW,
36:566-567.

250 “murderous scoundrels,” “Those Seven Mexicans,”
DG,
May 5, 1916, clipping, Deming museum.