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Columbus, New Mexico
editThe following about the History is for this course. I copied it from Columbus, New Mexico.
History
editEarly 1891
editThe Columbus, New Mexico's town was established in 1891, just across the Mexican border form Palomas, Chihuahua, Mexico. In 1902, the village was moved three miles north when the El Paso and Southwestern Railroad built its Columbus Station. This Station is now a extraordinary museum which is running by the Columbus Historical Society.[1]
Around 1905 Columbus, New Mexico was a very small town with a community of a hundred residents, two of those early settlers were Colonel Andrew o. Bailey, and Louis Heller. By this time, Columbus had only one general store, a saloon, and a society inspector. With the pass of the time, Columbus was extending and a high school was built, and Perrow G. Mosely established the Columbus News, which later was called the Columbus Courier. By 1915 the Columbus town was changing; there were seven hundred residents living there; the Columbus State Bank was built, four hotels were constructed, several stores and a Baptist church were also established. On the same year, 1915, Columbus possessed to rich silver, copper, lead, and zinc deposits.[2]
1916 Pancho Villa raid
editOn March 9, 1916, on the orders of Mexican revolutionary leader Francisco "Pancho" Villa, (Colonel) Francisco Beltrán, (Colonel) Candelario Cervantes, (General) Nicolás Fernández, (General) Pablo López and others led five hundred men in an attack against the town, which was garrisoned by a detachment of the 13th Cavalry Regiment.[3] Villa's army burned a part of the town and killed seven or eight soldiers and 10 residents before retreating back into Mexico. At least 67 of Villa's army was killed in action and 13 more who died from wounds.
United States President Woodrow Wilson responded to the Columbus raid by sending 10,000 troops under Brigadier General John J. Pershing to Mexico to pursue Villa. This was known as the Punitive Mexican Expedition or Pancho Villa Expedition. The expedition was eventually called off after failing to find Villa, who had successfully escaped.[4]
2011 gun smuggling scandal
editIn July 2011, Columbus dissolved its police force, due to a gun smuggling scandal that involved its village officials and others.[5] The Mayor, a village trustee, a former police chief, and nine other people were indicted in the scandal.[5] The case was prosecuted by the United States Attorney from El Paso, Texas, before United States District Court Judge Robert Brack in Las Cruces, New Mexico. Of the 11 people charged, 10 pleaded guilty, with one person still at large. Sentences ranged from five years in federal prison to two years on probation.[6]
Reference
edit- ^ Reynolds, Joyce. Pancho Villa & Columbus, NM. JReynolds Photo & Computer Works, Deming NM. p. 1.
- ^ Sherman, James E. (1975). Ghost towns and mining camps of New Mexico. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press. Publishing Divisinon. pp. 51–54. ISBN 0-8061-1106-2. Retrieved 11 February 2014.
{{cite book}}: Unknown parameter|coauthors=ignored (|author=suggested) (help) - ^ Page, Walter Hines; Page, Arthur Wilson (April 1916). "The March Of Events: Making Mexico Understand". The World's Work: A History of Our Time. XXXI: 584–593. Retrieved 2009-08-04.
{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link) - ^ "U.S. Army Campaigns: Mexican Expedition". United States Army Center of Military History.
- ^ a b Liz Goodwin (July 12, 2011). "New Mexico town dissolves police dept after gun smuggling scandal". Yahoo. Retrieved July 12, 2011.
- ^ Brian Fraga. Former Columbus, N.M., mayor was sentenced in the gun-smuggling case. Las Cruces Sun-News. Posted: June 14, 2012