Editing Luna County, New Mexico (section)

==History==
Luna County was formed from parts of [[Grant County, New Mexico|Grant County]] and [[Doña Ana County, New Mexico|Doña Ana County]] by the [[New Mexico Legislature]] on March 16, 1901. It was named for [[Solomon Luna]], a politician who advocated for independence of the county, following a strong rivalry between the cities of [[Deming, New Mexico|Deming]] and [[Silver City, New Mexico|Silver City]], both of which were at the time in Grant County.<ref>{{cite web |title=History |url=https://demingchamber.net/history/ |website=Deming-Luna County Chamber of Commerce |access-date=September 16, 2021}}</ref><!--surely there is a better source for this, but better than nothing-->

Before dawn on March 16, 1916, [[Mexico|Mexican]] revolutionary [[Pancho Villa]] led several hundred of his [[Rebellion|rebel]] soldiers across the Mexican border into the village of [[Columbus, New Mexico|Columbus]] in the southern part of the county. The invaders raided and burned much of the town, causing many residents to flee to the desert. Although the raid took the town by surprise, it also awakened 350 [[United States Army]] soldiers stationed at Camp Furlong at the edge of town. These soldiers defended Columbus with two [[machine gun]]s. The fighting continued until dawn, when Villa fled back across the Mexican border, five hours after the initial invasion and approximately ninety minutes after attacking the town. Despite the [[U.S. Army]]'s subsequent "[[Pancho Villa Expedition|Mexican Expedition]]" into Mexico, Villa was never captured. The United States' involvement in World War I soon diverted attention away from the pursuit of Villa. He was assassinated seven years later. The raid resulted in the deaths of eighteen Columbus residents and U.S. soldiers, while approximately seventy-five of Villa's soldiers were killed.

In 1917 striking copper miners from [[Bisbee, Arizona]] were [[Bisbee Deportation|forcibly deported]] to this county.

Construction of an improved [[Mexico–United States barrier|barrier on the border]] with Mexico was expedited in 2019 with [[Environmental issues along the Mexico–United States border|waivers of environmental and other laws]]. The waivers are for 27 laws including protection of [[endangered species]], [[archaeological sites]], and [[Historic site|historic places]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.abqjournal.com/1307848/homeland-security-expedites-border-wall-project.html|title=Homeland Security expedites border wall project|last=Kocherga|first=Angela|date=April 28, 2019|website=Albuquerque Journal|language=en-US|access-date=April 28, 2019}}</ref>

Today, Pancho Villa State Park is located in the village of Columbus. It features [[cacti]] and the ruins of "the U.S. Army's first greaserack".