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About The nugget. (Sisters, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (March 16, 2016)
2 Wednesday,March16,2016The Nugget Newspaper,Sisters,Oregon O P I N I O N Commentary... Pancho Villa legacy continues in Sisters By Robin Holm Guest Columnist Letters to the Editor… The Nugget welcomes contributions from its readers, which must include the writer’s name, address and phone number. Let- ters to the Editor is an open forum for the community and contains unsolicited opinions not necessarily shared by the Editor. The Nugget reserves the right to edit, omit, respond or ask for a response to letters submitted to the Editor. Letters should be no longer than 300 words. Unpublished items are not acknowledged or returned. The deadline for all letters is noon Monday. TotheEditor: benefits of this medicinal plant will not Until the semantics of canna- reachthosewhotrulyneedrelieffrommany bis replaces the stigma “marijuana” ailments. brings to people’s minds, the curative MarjorieCarmen Sisters Weather Forecast Courtesy of the National Weather Service, Pendleton, Oregon Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday Monday Mostly sunny Sunny Sunny Mostly cloudy Cloudy Mostly cloudy 46/23 47/21 51/29 54/36 54/34 53/na The Nugget Newspaper, Inc. Website: www.nuggetnews.com 442 E. Main Ave., P.O. Box 698, Sisters, Oregon 97759 Tel: 541-549-9941 | Fax: 541-549-9940 | editor@nuggetnews.com Postmaster: Send address changes to The Nugget Newspaper, P.O. Box 698, Sisters, OR 97759. Third Class Postage Paid at Sisters, Oregon. Publisher - Editor: Kiki Dolson News Editor: Jim Cornelius Production Manager: Leith Williver Classifieds & Circulation: Teresa Mahnken Advertising: Karen Kassy Graphic Design: Jess Draper Proofreader: Pete Rathbun Accounting: Erin Bordonaro The Nugget is mailed to residents within the Sisters School District; subscriptions are available outside delivery area. Third-class postage: one year, $45; six months (or less), $25. First-class postage: one year, $85; six months, $55. Published Weekly. ©2016 The Nugget Newspaper, Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission is prohibited. All advertising which appears in The Nugget is the property of The Nugget and may not be used without explicit permission. The Nugget Newspaper, Inc. assumes no liability or responsibility for information contained in advertisements, articles, stories, lists, calendar etc. within this publication. All submissions to The Nugget Newspaper will be treated as uncondition- ally assigned for publication and copyrighting purposes and subject to The Nugget Newspaper’s unrestricted right to edit and comment editorially, that all rights are currently available, and that the material in no way infringes upon the rights of any person. The publisher assumes no responsibility for return or safety of artwork, photos, or manuscripts. were some of his students. Afterretiringfromthemili- tary Col. Chilton came to teachEnglishatwhatisnow called New Mexico State University.Ina2008article intheQuay County Sunby LynnMoncus,shedescribes theexperienceofattending hisclasseswhileshewasa student: “ H i s k n o w l e d g e o f Victorianpoetrywasbound- less,andhecouldrecitehun- dreds of those poems from memory.Iusedtoforgetto take notes in class because I would be watching him recitewithoutabookinsight andlisteningtohisresound- ing voice as he punctuated theworks.” Col.Chiltonlivedtothe ageof99.Whenhepassed away three decades ago he had become the oldest liv- ing graduate of West Point foraperiodoftwomonths. Thatachievementappeared to be a major goal rather thanhangingontoreachhis 100thbirthday. Col.Chiltonleftanexten- siveaudiolibraryofcassette tapes behind. My father had them for a while with thegoaloftranscribingthe tapes.Tomyknowledgethe tapeshaveneverbeentran- scribed.FiveyearsagoIsent the tapes on to a family in LasCruces,NewMexico,a familythatnowlivesinmy grandfather’soldhome,the “ChiltonHouse.”Thehome has now been extensively remodeledandexpanded. Thosetapescanprobably shed light on some to the intriguingmysteriesandcon- troversies that still remain regardingPanchoVilla. Fascinating story by JimCorneliusintheMarch 9 edition of The Nugget aboutPanchoVilla’sraidon Columbus,NewMexico100 yearsago. It brought fond memo- ries back to me about my grandfather,Col.Alexander W.Chilton,andhistalesof chasingPanchoVillaacross theU.S.borderintoMexico inhotpursuit.Sowhatper- suadedVillatostagehisraid acrosstheborderintoNew Mexico? There had been shifting alliances between VillaandtheAmericangov- ernment,andduringthe1916 raid into the United States Villa was supposedly on theoutswiththeAmerican government. Accordingtomygrandfa- ther,theraidnorthacrossthe borderwaspartofanagree- mentbetweenVillaandthe U.S.military.Theraidwas to give theAmerican gov- ernmentanexcusetochase Villa in hot pursuit into Mexico. “Hot pursuit” was anacceptedactioninthose days,andtheAmericangov- ernmentwantedtoseehow far into Mexico American troopscouldadvancebefore the Federales would resist. Eventually the American troops did come to blows with troops of Mexico’s Carranza government, and the U.S. Cavalry never “quite caught up” with PanchoVilla. Interestingly, mygrandfathertoldmethat as he and his troops, under thecommandofU.S.Army General John J. Pershing, came in close prox- imityofVilla,ascout would be sent out aheadtowarnhim. The raid by Villa on Columbus, New Mexico was a bloody conflict,andVillalost manyofhismen.Was Villa paid off by the Americangovernment tostagehisraidacross the border and then double-crossed? That explanation seems plausibletome. My grandfa- ther later became head of the English Department at West NatioNal Photo ComPaNy glass Negative library of CoNgress Point, and Dwight D. Eisenhower and Lt. Alexander W. Chilton, 15th Cavalry in WilliamWestmoreland or around Washington, 1911. Opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the writer and are not necessarily shared by the Editor or The Nugget Newspaper.