Geronimo & Pancho Villa at the Slaughter Ranch
George Szaszvari
Regarding a posting I recently appended here as descriptions
of JPEGs of the Slaughter Ranch posted in *alt.binaries.pictures*,
I wrote that the site of the old fort was used to negotiate the
surrender of both Geronimo and Pancho Villa, but that needs to
be corrected.
Although Geronimo was at the ranch site where surrender negotiations
happened with JH Slaughter [a witness of the events as an Army scout],
the fort [or *outpost*] on the small plateau to the east of the pond,
was set up by the US Army in 1911 in response to the Mexican Civil
War and garrisoned until 1923. The elevated site gives a good view
of all surrounding country, but very little in the way of ruins
remains of the outpost.
Half of the ranch extended across the border into Mexico until after
Slaughter's passing [1922] when the whole ranch was eventually sold
off [1937], the part south of the border to a Mexican citizen. During
the Mexican Civil War the areas bordering Arizona and New Mexico saw
plenty of action, with Pancho Villa's rebels once passing through
Slaughter's ranch and helping themselves to cattle and crops. Seeing
this from from his ranch house, Slaughter rode out to confront Pancho
Villa and returned with saddlebags full of $20.-- dollar gold pieces.
A tribute to the nerve of Slaughter [and the decency of the Mexican
revolutionary, or was it simply that he could not help having respect
for a man like Slaughter?]. Granted an amnesty after his adventures
[including brushes with Americans in Arizona and New Mexico], Pancho
Villa returned to hacienda life, as an owner instead of a peon, and
settled down to implement social reforms in Durango, but was murdered
by assassins in 1923.
The fascinating book *The Southwest of John Horton Slaughter* by
Allen A Erwin, is available from:
Slaughter Ranch Museum, PO Box 438, Douglas, AZ 85608
Send a check for $35.--, plus $3.-- shipping [in the US].
In 1978 the Nature Coinservancy acquired the US portion of the ranch,
and in 1982 the Nature Conservancy deeded the east portion to the US
to create the San Bernadino National Wildlife Refuge, and the west
portion to the Johnson Foundation to form the Slaughter Ranch Museum.
The Foundation is supported entirely with private donations. No public
money is involved.
Hasta luego
--
George Szaszvari, DCPS Chess Club, 42 Alleyn Park, London SE21 7AA, UK
Blue Moon
>Granted an amnesty after his adventures
>[including brushes with Americans in Arizona and New Mexico], Pancho
>Villa returned to hacienda life, as an owner instead of a peon, and
>settled down to implement social reforms in Durango, but was murdered
>by assassins in 1923.
Pancho Villa's memoirs are extensive and have been published
in several volumes in English translation for anyone interested.
There is also a voluminous recent biography on Villa. I seen it
on the 'new books' shelf in my local library but haven't checked it out
yet.