Oklahoma Journeys

Week of February 28, 2009

Oklahoma Guard Returns from Mexico

Woodrow Wilson’s refusal to recognize the new government in Mexico in 1913 resulted in bandit-turned-revolutionary Poncho Villa raiding across the border, and it was on March 2, 1913, that they attacked an army camp near Douglas, Arizona. The Oklahoma National Guard came to the rescue, and that’s our story on Oklahoma Journeys this week from the Oklahoma History Center.

From the Oklahoma History Center, this is Oklahoma Journeys. I’m Michael Dean.

From the fall of 1910 to the summer of 1916, Mexico had been embroiled in a violent revolution, with opposing political and military forces struggling for control of the country. In 1913, President William Howard Taft sent a large military force into Texas and stationed them along the Rio Grande to protect Americans in the region. This show of American military force caused Mexican militants to redirect their violence from their own countrymen to Americans. In 1913, when Woodrow Wilson became president, he denounced the new revolutionary government in Mexico and refused to recognize it as the legitimate government. As a result of his position, violence toward Americans intensified, and there were incidents of murder, robbery, kidnapping for ransom, and property destruction. In 1915 Mexico elected a new government and a new president, Venustiano Carranza. Carranza had one major opponent, a bandit-turned-revolutionary named Francisco “Pancho” Villa. President Wilson's recognition of Carranza’s constitutional government created an enemy in “Pancho” Villa.

On June 18, 1916, President Wilson mobilized the National Guard. That mobilization included the 1st Oklahoma Infantry. Who was the 1st Oklahoma Infantry? One of the first actions taken by the Oklahoma Territorial Council when it convened in August 1890 was creation of territorial militia. Although formation of two infantry regiments, two cavalry battalions, and one artillery battery was allowed, little funding was provided. In 1895 the militia was reorganized as the Oklahoma National Guard. The Oklahoma National Guard was not federalized during the Spanish-American War, but most officers and enlisted men served with the Rough Riders and with the 1st Territorial Volunteer Infantry Regiment.

In 1899 the Oklahoma National Guard was reorganized again, this time as the First Oklahoma Infantry Regiment. The Oklahoma National Guard was reorganized under the National Defense Act passed in June 1916 and fifteen days later called into federal service for duty along the Mexican border. Mobilized in Oklahoma City, the guardsmen were stationed at San Benito and Donna, Texas. They returned home and were mustered out in this week of March 1917. Before the end of the month, on March 31, 1917, the guard was again mobilized this time for service in the Great War in France.

You can learn more about our military history by visiting the Oklahoma History Center on NE 23rd just east of the state capitol in Oklahoma City. Oklahoma Journeys is a production of the Oklahoma History Center, dedicated to collecting, preserving and sharing our state’s past. I’m Michael Dean.