When “Pancho Villa” Attacked Columbus

Francisco "Pancho Villa" may have had other intentions than just burglarizing a quiet town

Last January 2020, a border point of entry in Columbus, New Mexico, won national and state awards for its architecture, safety and “welcoming feel.” Every morning, crowds of merry kids cross the border to attend school, and modern facilities with well-mannered police officers handle hundreds of visitors each day.

But it wasn’t always like that. The town of Columbus was once the site of the most violent clash between Mexicans and Americans on American soil.

Columbus, New Mexico Under Attack

On March 9th, 1916, at three o’clock in the morning, Francisco “Pancho Villa” —the famous bandit, freedom fighter, victorious revolutionary general and then again a fugitive— stormed into the U.S. with 480 soldiers to attack the town of Columbus, New Mexico.

At the time, Columbus was a settlement struggling to survive in the middle of the desert. There was a hotel, a bank, a drugstore, a clothing store, a church, and a railroad track which was its only contact with the outside world.

While the families were sleeping, three columns of Villistas penetrated the town, shouting, “Viva México!” and “Viva Villa!”

According to some witnesses, they also shouted, “Let’s kill the gringos!”

The villagers began shooting into the houses, breaking the doors of the stores, and looting. At the hotel, which was on the second floor of a building, the attackers forced the male guests down the stairs and executed them one by one, while their women watched corpses form a pile on the street. The fire of machine guns was so intense that a ghostly glow flew from one place to another.

Several accounts survive. Archibald Frost and his wife Alice, who owned a furniture store, hid in their basement, and then hurried to their car. When Archibald tried to turn on the engine, the Villistas came and shot him, but he managed to get up and escape.