Maybe this will help.
The park is on land once occupied by Camp Furlong, which was the base for General Pershing's pursuit of Francisco "Pancho" Villa in response to his raid on the town of Columbus right outside the park.
No one is really sure why Pancho led this raid and Pershing's forces never caught up with him to ask why.
Anyway, relations between the two countries warmed up and in 1959 the legislature made the site a state park. In fact, to honor that burgeoning friendship there is now an annual celebration which just happened to occur during my visit. More on that later.
Several buildings from Camp Furlong remain.
You will also find the first oil change station used by the army and across the road the first airstrip.
The Customs House built in 1902 also remains standing.
Much more information can be found in the exhibit hall.
Staffed by friendly volunteers, this place is amazing. Here is a brief tour.
Photos do not do this amazing collection justice. You need to see it for yourself.
Oh, there is also a campground here. The amenities include two spotless bathrooms, two reservable group shelters, and a nifty playground.
62 spots are available for campers. Sites 5 through 10 are reservable. Here are pics of 6, 8, and 10.
There are 5 mini-group sites with multiple electric hookups. 49, 50, and 52 are good examples.
A dedicated tent area provides nice level pitches.
This is what the campground looks like from atop Cootes Hill at dawn.
The hill served as a lookout spot for Camp Furlong. A trail leads up to the top.
Freddy and I stayed in site 44, which I did not realize until three days after we arrived was a camp host site.
Yeah, I thought I was just very popular with the campers. Freddy said it was all about him. He is developing a big ego for a puppy.
Earlier I made mention of a celebration.
On the closest Saturday to March 9th (March 10th this year) there is a procession of 100 horses and riders that begins 15 days earlier in Mexico. They arrive at the border and are met by American horseman (is horsepeople a word?) and ramble into the town of Columbus.
I left Freddy in my trailer and walked over to check it out. He wasn't happy. Crowds were gathering at 10 am.
The horses were not in sight yet so I took a gander at the town square where food and crafts could be found.
Some interesting looking characters arrived.
And then the herd of horses.
The horse on the right above is actually levitating. No hoofs on the ground. It stayed that way until it was out of my sight. Must have special shoes.
The highlight of this years celebration was one of Pancho Villa's grandsons donating a silver death-mask of his grandfather to Christy Tafoya, the Director of NM State Parks.
He talked.
Christy talked.
And the mask was handed over. It will be displayed in the state park exhibit hall.
The gentleman on the left is Ranger John. He knows all the history of the area. Find him. Talk to him. Learn from him.
There was so much going on besides the festivities downtown. The park was offering guest speakers in the exhibit hall providing historical presentations and slideshows. An art show was held in the Customs House on Friday.
Freddy's highlight came when I let him out of my trailer after 3 hours. I asked him if he minded being left alone. He sniffed and said he just caught up on his reading. He is a very smart puppy.
Christy stopped by our campsite just to meet him.
She gave him a scratch behind the ears and he was a happy puppy once again. I told him he was now the Official Camp Dog of New Mexico. He liked that and asked what his duties would entail.
I said just be yourself, smile a lot, and pick up your own poop. He chuckled. Or burped. Sometimes I cannot tell the difference.
The camp host site we stayed in was vacated two days before we arrived. It came with a cat. Freddy didn't know what to do when it took a shine to his food.
So I moved the food a little higher. Didn't matter. They had a talk.
And agreed to share. I need to clean the outside of that bowl.
I would be remiss if I didn't put up a sunset photo. Or three.
On our last night at Pancho Villa the clouds were looking good for something special.
That's the shot. I like it.
Regards,
Greg and (the official camp dog of New Mexico) Freddy
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