Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1916-04-01
CAPTURE NOW
ONLY QUESTION
Of FEW HOURS
Bandit Chief Carried to Hid
ing Place in
Carriage
-...7
THIRTY MEXICAN DEAD
WERE LEFT ON FIELD
Leaders Prestige Over Poems Is
Said to Have Been
Shattered

Ell Paso, March 31.-Four hundred
American cavalrymen under the COM
mand of COL George A. Dodd, whirl-
ing down from the granite slopes OF
the great Continental divide, have
fallen like thunderbolt on the main
body of Francisco Villas bandits at
the Santa Geronimo ranch, scatter.
ing them like chaff in the driving
winds and wounding the bandit
chief. He, was left crippled to seek
hiding place in the mountains over
which he has roamed.
Hurried in Carriage.
Villa was hurried from danger In q
carriage. The battle opened at s
O'Clock in the morning Of March 20.
For seventeen hours, the veteran
Col, Dodd and his picked riders OF
the Seventh and Tenth cavalry, drove
valley of the Santa Maria river. At
the end Of fifty-five mile ride.
they burst upon the unsuspecting
Villa camp, where 500 Mexican ban
dts we're celebrating the massacre
of 172 Carranzaistas, two days pre-
viously at Guerro Villa was shot
through the leg and with one hip
shattered, was hurried from the
scene barely in time to escape the
onslaught of the American soldiers.
Helpless Stand.
The bandits made brief, but
helpless, stand before the troopers Of
Col. Dodd. Then they broke and
fed, leaving 81 dead on the field, in.
Guiding their commander, General
Eliso Hernandez. Two machine guns,
a number Of horses, rifles. ammun-
tion and equipment, fell into the
hands of the victors.
Lopez Wounded.
Among the known wounded, is
Pablo Lopez, Villas lieutenant in the
Columbus raid. The American cas-.
ualties were four privates wounded.
Villas career has ended, his power
has been broken. His death or cap.
ture is only a question of days, per.
haps only hours.
Such is the inevitable conclusion
here, as little by little, comes news
Of Dodd's ride across the border.
Scene Of Victory.
The scene of Col Dodd's victory
is a broad valley, lying at the head
of the Santa Maria. On the west.
rise the barren foothills of the Con.
tinental divide, and to the east is a
trail made famous by Villa, which
leads through the Laguna de Castillo
district. to the ill-famed Santa Ysa.
bel. 1t was at the latter place that
Villa killed IS American mining men,
a crime which sent thrill Of horror
throughout the United States and
marked the beginning of what may
be the end of his blood stained ca
reer. 1t was toward Santa YSable
that he was believed to be heading
when the troops swept down from
the north on his camp.
Took Villa by Surprise.
From the meagre details which
have reached here from Mexican and
American military sources, Col. Dodd
and his men made their way unno.
ticed through the arroyes, or deep
gulches, which split the foothills in
all directions, and were almost in the
camp before the alarm was given.
W is reported to have been in
small tent nursing his injuries
when the crash of the American vol.
leys awakened the Mexicans to panic
stricken action.
The extraordinary hold the bandit
chief has over his followers is shown
by the fact that their first thought
was to save him.
Carried IA CAcra$ 0leAA
Unable to walk or ride. he was
hurriedly placed in q light wagon
and driven over the rough mountain
trails to some secret place.
The one great factor that is re-
lied upon to bring about his end. is
the practical certainty that his prest.
ige is shattered. The Ignorance OF
the poems who clung to villa a. their
leader and hero is said to have been
his strongest card. It, is certain that
the majority of them were satisfied
that their hero had won 3 tremen.
CONTINUED on Pags Stx)