Brief Account of the Villistas Trial in Deming in 1916

From accounts in the Deming Headlight, and James W. Hurst, The Villista Prisoners of 1916-1917

Six villista survivors of the attack were hanged in Deming in the wake of the raid. The men were tried as murderers, not as conscripted members of an army. Specifically, they were charged with the murder of Charles D. Miller, one of the eighteen Americans killed during the attack.i In a hasty trial carried out in Deming not long after the raid, seven villistas, Eusebio Rentera, Taurino Garca, Juan Castillo, Jos Rangel, Juan Snchez, Jos Rodrguez, and Francisco Alvarez, were sentenced to hang. The men were found guilty of First Degree Murder in the death of Charles D. Miller, yet the state District Attorney had only proven that they were in Columbus during the raid, not that they had actually murdered Miller.ii The condemned villistas were described as ignorant and misguided by a patronizing Deming Headlight. The paper contrasted the children of the desert with the many Americans who had gathered at the courthouse to hear the verdict. The villistas were all dressed alike in overalls. They were bandaged from the wounds they received during the raid. Jos Rangel was carried into the courtroom on a stretcher because he could not walk. Many of the other defendants supported themselves on crutches. The sandals they wore appeared out of place when compared to the footwear of those who moved noiselessly about the room, including lawyers and spectators.iii The account characterized the villistas as backward Mexicans throughout. When the defendants spoke out, with the aid of interpreter Miguel Marrufo, declaring their innocence on grounds that they had been forced to serve in Villas army and they had no idea that they had crossed into the United States on the night of the raid, the author of the article seemed to pity their childlike ignorance. Rangel broke down in tears when the sentence was issued and the

author could not help but remember another trial when the populace cried out Crucify him! Crucify him! The reference to Christ was made to indicate that the trial resembled a witch hunt, not to infer that the villistas possessed any Christ-like qualities themselves. The article concluded with the question, What does death mean to men who have never lived?iv This final statement attempted to close the matter with the justification that the villistas lives were not worth much in the first place. Although Governor William C. McDonald postponed the executions on two separate occasions, six of the men were put to death in June 1916. Even as a gallows was being erected in May 1916, McDonald granted the villistas a twenty-one-day reprieve in order to investigate the matter more fully. President Woodrow Wilson had also voiced his opinion that the men should not be hastily executed. Following the governors inquiry, Jos Rodrguezs sentence was commuted to life in prison but the others were hanged in Deming. As stated by the editor of the Deming Headlight, their death served to pay their debt to the state of New Mexico for their share in the massacre of American citizens in the little border town three months ago.v Although Laura Ritchie had agreed to be the one to cut the rope to hand the men, at the last minute she could not bring herself to do so.vi The quick execution seemed to satisfy many of the residents of Columbus and Deming, but there were also some who believed that the villistas deaths would do more damage than good. The 19 May 1916 issue of the Deming Headlight included the opinions of several of the towns residents regarding the hanging. Many echoed the sentiments of L. W. Taylor: I do not think there is any other way of punishing these men, for death is about all they fear. On account of the lack of protection and the fact that the Villistas were captured by federal troops on Mexican soil, I do not see why they should not be hung in Deming. But others believed that

hanging the villistas would only make matters worse. G. G. Crichet opined, If we hang those Mexicans we make ourselves worse than they are.vii Columbus and Deming, therefore, were not simply caught up in a vengeful frenzy. The situation was more contentious and complicated than that.

Ten American civilians and eight servicemen were killed during the course of the raid. The civilians: W. A. Davidson, Harry Davis, James T. Dean, Dr. H. M. Hart, Bessie James, C. C. Miller, C. D. Miller, J. J. Moore, William T. Ritchie, and J. W .Walker. The servicemen: Pvt. Thomas F. Butler, Sgt. Mark A. Dobbs, Pvt. Fred A. Griffin, Pvt. Frank T. Kindval, Sgt. John G. Nievergelt, Cpl. Paul Simon, Pvt. Jessie P. Taylor, Cpl. Harry E. Wiswell. The names are all listed on a memorial plaque, erected 9 March 1991 directly to the south of the Columbus Historical Museum at the old E.P. & S.W. Railroad depot. By comparison, between 80 and 100 villistas lost their lives in the raid. See, Katz, Life and Times of Pancho Villa, 566; and White, Muddied Waters of Columbus, 78 -79.
ii

Deming Headlight, 21 April 1916. For a book-length treatment of the case, see James W. Hurst, The Villista Prisoners of 1916-1917 (Las Cruces, N.Mex.: Yucca Tree Press, 2000).
iii

Deming Headlight, 28 April 1916. Ibid.

iv

Deming Headlight, 19 May and 30 June 1916; and Marie Evans, Six Hanged for Villa Raid, Deming Headlight, 5 January 1978.
vi

Interview with Blanche Dorsey, 3, NMSRCA. Deming Headlight, 19 May 1916.

vii