TRAVEL

Arizona’s Military History: Pancho Villa

Roger Naylor

Special for The Republic

Pancho Villa (center right) and his staff, circa between 1910-1915.

Long before anyone had dreamed up “Survivor,” “Dancing With the Stars” or anything starring a Kardashian, one of the first reality stars was Pancho Villa.

The most charismatic — and controversial — personality to emerge from the Mexican Revolution, Francisco “Pancho” Villa was a bandit with political savvy and a craving for publicity. He seemed invincible, winning many decisive victories. He loved being photographed and even signed a contract with Hollywood’s Mutual Film Co. to have several of his battles filmed.

“Villa was darn good at using the media for promotional purposes,” says Cindy Hayostek, vice president of the Douglas Historical Society. “He was a violent man with a terrible temper but he knew how to publicize himself to achieve his aims on both sides of the border.”

For many crucial moments of the Mexican Revolution, residents of Douglas had front-row seats.

The fraudulent election of 1910 initiated by Mexican President Porfirio Diaz spurred opposition leader Francisco Madero to call for revolution. During the decades-long rule of Diaz, Mexico had modernized, but the vast majority of the country’s wealth rested in the hands of a powerful few, creating extreme economic and social inequality.

The uprising began Nov. 20, 1910, with Madero’s call to arms and swept across the country. One of the early battles took place on Douglas’ doorstep.

In April 1911, fighting broke out in Agua Prieta, Sonora, just across the border from Douglas. Madero sympathizers attacked Diaz troops as Douglas residents gathered, despite whizzing bullets, to watch. The rebels defeated the federal troops, a crushing blow to Diaz, who was deposed and fled the country a few weeks later.

Madero was elected president and had a loyal general in Villa. Unfortunately, Madero had made other enemies, and when promised reforms were not delivered, he was assassinated in 1913. Civil war broke out across Mexico.

Early on, the United States supported Villa and supplied him with weapons. But that era was short-lived. After military setbacks for Villa and the threat of continued instability, President Woodrow Wilson decided to recognize Venustiano Carranza as Mexico’s president. Carranza was determined to eliminate Villa.

The second battle of Agua Prieta occurred in autumn 1915 as Villa and his men advanced on the border town defended by one of Carranza’s generals, Plutarco Elias Calles, another future president of Mexico.

“Villa was on a bit of a downhill slide,” Hayostek says. “He needed a victory to recover his former glory. And he needed to gain control of a border town so he’d have a U.S. supply point.”

But it was not to be. Villa, considered a brilliant tactician and commanding an elite cavalry, was caught on the wrong side of history. His 19th-century-style warfare was suddenly outdated against the technological advancements imported from the battlefields of World War I in Europe.

Villa arrived to find Agua Prieta fortified with deep trenches, barbed wire, machine-gun nests and land mines. He waited until after midnight Nov. 1 to attack. But as he made his nighttime charge, huge searchlights clicked on, illuminating the battlefield. Villa’s cavalry was ravaged by machine-gun fire. He was forced to retreat, leaving behind thousands of dead.

In Douglas, separated from Agua Prieta only by a wire fence, bullets and shells flew through town, scarring buildings and wounding U.S. soldiers who had been deployed to border towns since the revolution began, tasked with safeguarding Americans and keeping the fighting from spilling across the line. Camp Douglas was formed after hostilities broke out in 1910. During the fighting in Agua Prieta, Pvt. Harry J. Jones was killed by a bullet. Soon after, the base was renamed Camp Harry J. Jones and remained so until it was closed in 1933.

“Once Villa lost in Agua Prieta, he was never a power again,” Hayostek says. “Calles, who won the battle, would go on to become president and would form the PRI party that dominated Mexican politics until 2000. Everything changed for Mexico after that battle.”

Villa felt betrayed by the United States, and he staged a raid on Columbus, N.M., in 1916. Several civilians were killed and buildings were burned before he was driven off. In response, President Wilson unleashed the Punitive Expedition, a column of troops led by Gen. John Joseph “Black Jack” Pershing, who pursued Villa across the Mexican countryside until 1917.

Pershing never caught the wily Villa, but his ceaseless hounding took a toll. Left with just a handful of men, Villa finally made peace with the Mexican government and retired to a large hacienda until he was gunned down in 1923. He was 45.

Yet the story of Pancho Villa and Douglas had just begun.

In one of Arizona’s best tales of the paranormal, a tall, headless ghost roams the basement and halls of the historical Gadsden Hotel in downtown Douglas. It’s said to be the ghost of Pancho Villa.

Several sources report that someone dug up Villa’s body in 1926 and chopped off his head. Where the head ended up is the subject of intense speculation. Oft-named destinations include the Skull and Bones Crypt at Yale University, a Chicago phrenology laboratory and under the foundation of the Gadsden Hotel.

According to the Gadsden tale, Villa had a map to hidden treasure tattooed on his head. Villa loyalists took the head from his grave and buried it beneath the ashes of the Gadsden Hotel, which had recently burned down. The hotel was rebuilt in 1929, and through the years, hotel workers and guests have reported ghostly sightings of the headless spirit.

The Gadsden, built in 1907, was designed by renowned architect Henry Trost. The magnificent lobby features a Tiffany stained-glass mural, a grand staircase of white Italian marble and four soaring marble columns. Sunshine floods the lobby through a stunning stained-glass skylight.

One of the oldest manually operated elevators west of the Mississippi is still in use. The El Conquistador dining room is in the Gadsden, as is the Saddle & Spur Tavern, where actor Lee Marvin once got into a barroom brawl.

The Gadsden Hotel was featured on the Travel Channel’s “Hotel: Impossible” show, which offers help to struggling properties, in 2013. Since then, Peak Hospitality assumed management responsibilities and has initiated renovations and upgrades. (You can catch a rerun of the show at 10 a.m. Sept. 1.)

Legend has it that the chip on the seventh step of the marble staircase in the lobby was made by Pancho Villa, who rode into the hotel on horseback. However, many historians — including Cindy Hayostek — doubt the bandit did any such thing.

Hayostek and the Douglas Historical Society operate the Douglas-Williams House as a museum and time capsule of early life in town. The society is working with the Mexican Consulate in Douglas to stage events commemorating the 100th anniversary of the Battle of Agua Prieta beginning in October.

Reach the reporter at rogernaylor.com.

Arizona’s Military History

Conflict has shaped the Southwest since colonizers arrived in the late 1600s. From the earliest presidios to a modern-day Army base, fighting near and far has caused communities to thrive and fall.

Each month this year in Explore Arizona, Roger Naylor will feature a destination or episode in which military events shaped the state.

In September: The Barry M. Goldwater Air Force Range in western Arizona.

Douglas

Douglas is in Cochise County, about 220 miles southeast of Phoenix. Take Interstate 10 east past Tucson to Benson (Exit 303). Go south on State Route 80 past Tombstone and Bisbee to Douglas.

Douglas Visitor Center: 345 16th St. 520-417-7344, www.visitdouglas.com.

Douglas-Williams House: This lovely museum in a historical home has period furnishings and exhibits on Douglas’s copper-smelting past and development into a thriving border community. Starting in October there will be displays, presentations and re-enactments commemorating the 100-year anniversary of the Battle of Agua Prieta. Open noon-4 p.m. Wednesdays, noon-2 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays and by appointment. Free; donations are welcome. 1001 D Avenue. 520-364-7370, www.douglasazhistoricalsociety.net.

Gadsden Hotel: 1046 G Avenue. 520-364-4481, www.thegadsdenhotel.com.

Slaughter Ranch

Fifteen miles east of Douglas, Slaughter Ranch is a little-known gem. The 300-acre property serves as a living museum. Everything has been restored to a late19th-century appearance. The adobe ranch house has been carefully refurbished, as have numerous outbuildings. A white picket fence frames the wide lawn, gnarled trees drape the spring-fed pond and livestock graze the meadows.

John Horton “Texas John” Slaughter was a Confederate soldier, Texas Ranger and Cochise County sheriff credited with cleaning up crime in the Arizona Territory. He was fearless in any kind of gunfight.

During the Mexican Revolution, Pancho Villa and his army rode onto Slaughter’s ranch. After the forced march, the famished soldiers began killing cattle for food. Slaughter, in his 70s, strapped on his gun and rode out alone to confront Villa and his men. When he returned, he carried a sack of 20-dollar gold pieces. Even near the end of his days, Slaughter was not a man to be trifled with.

Slaughter Ranch is at 6153 Geronimo Trail. From Douglas, go east on 15th Street, which turns into Geronimo Trail. Continue about 15 miles to a signed turnoff on the right. Look for a white gate with a Z above it. Much of the road is graded dirt suitable for all vehicles.

Details: 9:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m. Wednesdays-Sundays. $5 per adult. 520-678-7935, www.slaughterranch.com.