Pine Bluff daily graphic. (Pine Bluff, Ark.) 1893-1942, 1916-03-31
COLUMBUS raid
DESCRIBED BY
one SURVIVOR

New York, March 29.-In a letter to
his father here, Marcus Nj. Marshall
describes the Villa, raid of Columbus
n. NJ, severely criticising the Amer
can troops for allowing themselves to
be surprised. No troops we're patrol
ling the border, he says, although
warning that Villa was approaching
had been received. Al
Villa hanged two of the mek en-
ployed on the two-million acre ranch
of the elder Marshall, at Palomas,
Mexico, below Columbus, and ordered
his outlaws to ride their horses over
"a third man. q: 1.7i;IiE
The letter, which has been forward
ed to General Hugh l.. Scott, chieS
OF staff of the army, is, in part, as
follows: f...sf4
Dear Father:-In pursuance of your
Geographic instructions l left Los An
geles, reaching here the 18th.
found foreman Jim Fondilla, who had
been for three days endeavoring to
get trace of Foreman Mckinney and
the branding outfit.
Fondille reported that he could see
where a very large troop of horses
had passed only short time before,
about 500 to 1000, but he could not
Judge the number accurately, never
having seen trail made by just one
passage of troop. Fondille claims
having seen Villas outfit just at dusk
son Tuesday. Y4gfas
Antonio, one of the Mexican boys
whom our company has raised and
who was with Foreman Mckinney at
the time of Villas capture of McKin-
sney's outfit, gives the following re-
port. .t,e
cat about o'clock on the morning
of Tuesday we were coming down the
Boca Grande river when Mckinney
and. myself sighted about 800 men
beginning to make camp. They were
unsaddling and starting to cook cot
fee. Mckinney wanted to so up to
their camp and talk to them, but l
for they may be Villistas' l told him
this several times, but finally he turn
ed to me and said, Well, Pm going
to talk to them; are you such a cow
ard that you don't want to go with
me?' I told him that if they were
Villistas they would certainly kill us,
so what was the use of taking such
a crazy risk; that it would be bet
ter to stay where we we're and wait
to see what they intended doing. He
went away, taking one of the other
Mexican boys with him.
81 then went down toward the river
to head off the other boys, who were
dragging upstream. met Corbett
and Juan and showed them the camp
of horsemen. Corbett said he would
join Mckinney. for to him it looked
as though Arthur was all right: but
I warned Corbett also and told him
to wait and see what would develop.
He rode directly into the camp, how
ever, notwithstanding just at that
time we saw troop of about twenty
horsemen coming in our direction.
"These men had sighted us, and we
started north for the line. They gave
us a close chase, but we gave them
the slip in canyon. and came
straight into Columbus, arriving here
the same night. Upon reaching here
notified the colonel of the United
States troops of the happenings dur
ing the day, and he sent me back next
day to locate the band and report to
him. / reported that night, Wednes-
day, that Villa. with about 500 or 700
men, was on the Boca Grande river
and was headed this way. The fol-
lowing morning the villa outfit attack
ed Columbus.
Bunk. the negro water foreman of
the Oihitas ranch. who was cap;
tive with Villa at the time VILLA took
Foremen Mckinney and Corbett, to-
eether with tina balance Of the brand
ing outfit. makes the Following report
on the death of those tow men: i
Mckinney rode right into the
camp of v la, and as he rode through
inspected the horses quite thoroughly.
The sMexicaps took hiWs captive, and
son after took Corbett. who came into
Camp Of his own accord. .Theirvcap-
ture was reported to villa who at
the time. was not in, the camp. villa
ordered them ] hung Mckinney
laughed and joked with the men as
they were making preparations, and
shook hands with me and some of the