This image was taken on what is now the Library Quad. Visible in the background are the Administration Building (Benton Hall) and the Library (Kidder Hall).
The Mexican revolutionary Pancho Villa crossed into United States territory and attacked the town of Columbus, New Mexico on March 9, 1916. In response, the United States sent a detachment of 4,800 troops under General John Pershing into Mexico to chase and capture Villa in retribution. Pershing and his troops spent the next few months tracking Villa, to no avail. Toward the end of Pershing’s campaign in June 1916, President Woodrow Wilson ordered several National Guard units from around the country to protect the border and as a show of force. The 3rd Oregon Infantry was one of the units that made up the 110,000-soldier National Guard contingent on the border.
