March 9, 1916. Horses thundering across the border broke the silence of dawn. A foreign army was invading America, crossing into New Mexico to begin its attack.

More in a moment . . .

During the morning of March 9, 1916, Pancho Villa, the Mexican revolutionary whose exploits became legend, led his army into Columbus, New Mexico as the townspeople slept. By the time Pancho Villa left Columbus, sixteen people lay dead.

Villa was on a rampage. When Mexican President Portrillo Diaz fell from power in 1911, Villa maneuvered to take control of the country. But U.S. President Woodrow Wilson refused to support Villa's bid for power. In retaliation, Villa began killing Americans traveling on Mexican trains.

Villa had gone too far when he raided Columbus, New Mexico. President Wilson ordered General John J. Pershing to capture Villa. Pershing and his soldiers left on their mission equipped with the most sophisticated weapons, including tanks, armored trucks and airplanes. They pursued Villa into Mexico, but Villa familiar with the countryside, outwitted the Americans.

Pershing never did find Villa's hideout. Finally, in 1917, the general withdrew his troops from Mexico. Pancho Villa, weary and disillusioned, retired to his ranch in Mexico. In 1923, he was killed in an ambush by a hired gun.

To learn more about the history of New Mexico, explore the resources of the History Library of the Museum of New Mexico in Santa Fe.