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Wednesday,March16,2016The Nugget Newspaper,Sisters,Oregon
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P
I N I O
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Commentary...
Pancho Villa legacy
continues in Sisters
By Robin Holm
Guest Columnist
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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
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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.