Explore the raid’s legacy
Pancho Villa State Park
Excellent bilingual displays explaining events in Mexico that led to the raid and the fierce U.S. reaction. Hanging overhead is a full-sized replica of a “Jenny” — the airplane first used by the U.S. in the hunt for Pancho Villa. The name of the park, dedicated in 1961, was approved unanimously by the New Mexico Legislature. The park includes Coote’s Hill, near where Villa was spotted observing the raid; a 1902 customs house and a barracks that the troops used as a recreation hall. Info: 400 W. Highway 9, Columbus, N.M.; (575) 531-2711, www.nm
parks.com. The exhibit hall is open daily from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., year-round; 9 a.m.noon on certain holidays. Park admission is $5 per car.
Columbus Historical Museum
This two-story frame building was the original depot for the El Paso & Southwestern Railroad, which made it possible for the U.S. Army to dispatch thousands of soldiers to Columbus within a week of Villa’s raid. Displays include a scale model of the town as it looked afterward, dozens of period photos, and medals and equipment used by U.S. soldiers. Info: (575) 531-2620, www.cnmhs.org. Open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. in winter, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. in summer; 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on weekends, year-round. The depot museum and the state park lie within the Village of Columbus and Ft. Furlong National Historic Landmark park, www.lat.ms/1Qlnrdr.
Annual memorial service
Held on the grounds of the depot museum every March 9, the date of Pancho Villa’s raid, to honor 18 Americans who were killed.
Fiesta de Amistad
Held annually on the second Saturday of March, the Festival of Friendship features the Remembrance Ride, also called the Cabalgata Binacional. Horsemen and women from Mexico and the U.S. meet at the international border crossing at Palomas, Mexico, then ride together three miles north to Columbus.
Deming, N.M.
Deming’s county museum includes a collection of pre-European-contact Mimbres pottery, along with antiques from every period of regional history that followed. Open 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday-Saturdays in summer, Free. (575) 5462382, www.lunacountyhistoricalsociety.com.