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HISTORY
In late 1910, the U.S. Army established a permanent camp (later
dedicated to fallen soldier Stephen D. Little) in Nogales, Arizona.
Six years later, Pancho Villa’s raids into the U.S. and the
ensuing tensions between the American and Mexican governments galvanized
the borderlands. By late June of 1916, militia from across the country
had mustered and mobilized towards the region. As many as 10,000
troops from Utah, California, Connecticut, and Idaho amassed in
the Nogales area within a two-week period. The speed with which
this massive mobilization occurred obscured training and equipment
problems that were soon apparent. Troops not only faced difficulties
with outdated equipment and insufficient training, but many also
arrived in wool uniforms in the heat of the Southwestern summer!
Infantry, cavalry, signal corps, machine gun corps, ambulance corps,
and field hospital units joined the 2000-strong force already stationed
at Camp Little, which included the 12th U.S. Infantry, some of the
1st U.S. Cavalry, and some of the 6th U.S. Field Artillery. Incoming
troops set up temporary encampments near the main camp. Three California
units (the 2nd, 5th, and 7th Infantries) camped to the east were
forced to relocate after monsoon flooding in late July; they moved
to their new camp—AZ EE:9:109(ASM)—in mid-August.
Terracing and other modifications to the landscape indicate that
the California regiments prepared their new campsite prior to relocating.
It also seems likely that they were supervised or aided by a company
of Pennsylvania National Guard Engineers who were present in Nogales
that summer and early fall. A 1916 panoramic photo of the camp is
labeled with the locations of each unit: the 5th California occupied
the western portion, the 2nd California settled immediately to the
east of them, and the 7th inhabited the easternmost area.
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| Site map of AZ EE:9:109(ASM),
National Guard/U.S. Army camp. »Enlarge
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The image also shows a portion of AZ EE:9:108(ASM) in use as a
subsidiary encampment. According to a September 2, 1916 newspaper
account, members of the 7th Infantry uncovered prehistoric artifacts
while excavating an incinerator in their section of the camp; as
a result, researchers concluded that AZ EE:9:107(ASM), El Macayo,
extended beneath the eastern part of the military camp, AZ EE:9:109(ASM).
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| 1916
photograph of the U.S. Army Camp. Courtesy of the Arizona Historical
Society. »Enlarge
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Interestingly—or perhaps agonizingly—units from all
of the Nogales encampments were required to march to Fort Huachuca
for training in turn. The complete trip took about two weeks; the
actual march lasted five or six days in either direction. (Recall
that at least some regiments would have made this trek in the summer
and early fall of 1916 in WOOL uniforms!)
The 5th Infantry returned to California on September first, and
the 2nd and 7th Infantries followed in late October. The 4th Alabama
regiment, which arrived in late October, occupied the westernmost
area previously inhabited by the 5th Infantry. The 1st and 2nd Alabama
Infantries replaced the other California units.
Archival research painted a sad picture of the Alabama guardsmen’s
stay at AZ EE:9:109(ASM), which lasted until mid-March of 1917.
The Alabama regiments had been in their state camp for four months
before coming to the border to replace troops that were returning
home, and morale was low. An exceptionally bad winter exacerbated
the health problems normally associated with close quarters: there
were several deaths from pneumonia as well as an outbreak of German
measles. Because of these epidemics, the camp remained under quarantine
for long periods of time.
About a week after the Alabama units left—undoubtedly to their
own great relief—the U.S. 35th Infantry arrived from Douglas. They
occupied AZ EE:9:109(ASM) for at least two months while preparing their
quarters at Camp Little. Some units may have remained at the site until
September or October of 1917. The 35th Infantry left Nogales in late August
of 1918, bound for the battlefields of France.
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