Once again, dust from hundreds of Mexican horses hooves will mingle with the strains of mariachi music, flashing skirts and stomping heels of folklorico dancers, parading re-enactors in vintage military uniforms, tantalizing smells of barbeque and pizza, and the whirring wheels of an old-time stagecoach and chuck wagon.
This colorful, intercultural extravaganza is the 4th Annual Camp Furlong Day, to be held on Saturday, March 10, at Pancho Villa State Park in Columbus.
Camp Furlong Day is a binational friendship event commemorating the March 9, 1916, early-morning attack on the village of Columbus and the adjacent military camp by Mexican General Francisco "Pancho" Villa and his men. Within days of the raid, General John J. "Black Jack" Pershing was ordered to command US military forces on a "Punitive Expedition" into Mexico to capture Villa and his men.
On March 28, 1916, the Columbus military camp was renamed Camp Furlong in honor of 13th Cavalry Major John W. (Jack) Furlong, a West Point graduate stationed in Columbus from January to February 1915, who died on March 21, 1915. No details of his death have been recorded, but his body was returned to West Point, where it is buried.
Camp Furlong Day will kick off at 9 a.m. with food and craft vendor booths opening, followed by a trio of skydivers descending around 9:30 a.m. Then, at 10 a.m., the 8th Cabalgata Binational Villistas, who will have been on a nine-day friendship ride from the Mexican town of Zaragoza to the US/Mexico border, will arrive in Columbus and parade through the village before ending their long journey at the park.
From then on, the day's events will swing into high gear with a variety of entertainment including Hurley resident Carlos Herrera and his two trick horses, live musical groups, special speakers including award-winning author David Romo and Capt. Mike Lawrence, who will talk about flying adventures and the Curtiss J-N 3 airplane.
For the lunch crowd, there will be food vendors offering hot dogs, pizzas, Mexican food, smoked meats and barbeque, root beer floats, soft drinks and other tasty treats. Craft vendors will be selling a variety of jewelry, Mata Ortiz miniature pots, quilting supplies and an assortment of handcrafted items.
For military enthusiasts, California-based World War I re-enactors in vintage uniforms will be on site while Villasta re-enactors from Parral, Mexico, will be on hand to lend a Pancho Villa-era flavor.
For more information, call the park at 531-2711.