Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1916-04-30
OFFICER OF "FARTT1EST SOUTH"
FORCES RELATES EXPERIENCES
Tells How Picked Squadron of Maj. Howe
Repeatedly Evaded Ambuscades Set by
Villistas and Dispersed Many Bands.

shot took effect. killing the soldier.
who proved to be Capt. Silva. prom
inent Villa leader. The Americans
found just one man in La Joya when
they arrived. He was in charge of the
church.
Half an hour out of La Joya the
American pack train was fired into
by the men who had fed the place.
Two mules were killed. The assail-
ants were heard running through the
brushes to get away when the Ameri-
cans opened fire. At $40 pm, enter
ing canyon fanked by two hills, each
the height of twenty-story building.
the column ran into it's first serious
yon a few seconds in advance of the
main force.
Trees along rocky streams at the
canyons mouth had been marked for
range finders in advance by the ban
dts. White rags tied to the branches
indicated the height of the men on
horseback as they trotted in. OF the
men who rode into the canyon first,
five were hit. one being killed. He
was Private Kirby of the 18th. whose
bullet had entered one ear and emerg-
ing from the other. leaving SO little
trace that the surgeon at first was puz-
zled to know why he was dead. The
In less than a minute reinforcements
dashed through the marked range,
their fire, assisted by rifles from the
American guard, which was still back
on the hills before the canyons mouth.
putting the Villa men to flight A de-
tachment pursued the bandits until
darkness ended the chase
Halted to Bury Their Dead.
The Americans halted for a few
hours. but took up night ride. hoping
to surprise the Villa forces in the next
town, Santa Cruz "a different place
from the town of that name occupied
by Maj. Tompkins after the Parral
fght). During the bivouac they buried
Kfrby's body under a tree.
Santa Cruz was reached soon after
midnight. where a running fight in the
darkness occurred. There the score of
the Americans fight was evened. One
Villa soldier was killed. A nephew of
Gen. Beltran. the Villa leader. was cap
tured. The white horse. belonging to
his father, also Gen" Beltran and jefe
de armas of the Villa. was killed
The trail in this region was so pre-
Santa Cruz went up the side of the
ravine afoot. clinging with one hand to
the tail of his horse. Another solder,
an orderly, became so absorbed in the
fighting that he rushed up to "a lieuten-
ant exclaiming, Here. lieutenant, hold
my horse so I can shoot" The lieuten-
ant, at that moment kept stationary by
other duties, held the horse until the
orderly could take a few shots.
The column proceeded after this fight
to beyond Casita until it was on a
hill from where the men could look
into the state of Durango. From this
hill the men saw an aviator circle
southwark and land in Durango. He
was Lieut.. ]. A. RAIDER, the man who
went farthest south in the pursuit.
The aviator rose. returning to Casita,
where he delivered Gen. Pershings
orders to Maj. Howe after the Parral
fight The column turned northwest to
join Tompkins.
RAIDERS aeroplane was left at Casita,
near the railroad embankment. The
machine could not fly farther, and its
skeleton. stripped of valuable parts by
the Americans. lies near the Durango
line. monument marking the apex of
the American dash.