The Texas Historian, Volume 31, Number 1, September 1970 Page: 3
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The first school in Marfa, 1885
installed at Jim Normand's Penitas Ranch and
Bob E. Ellison's Alamito Ranch south of Marfa,
in 1898. A "high line" was built from the
ranches into Marfa. The Shafter Mine and the
Terlingua Quicksilver Mine were also con-
nected. Soon other ranches joined.
The Marfa National Bank was .founded in
1907 on the same corner where it is located
today. The bank, under the management of
R. K. Colquitt, started with resources of ap-
proximately $300,000. In 1931 the present
building was constructed.
A revolution in Mexico in 1911, headed by
Francisco I. Madero, forced President Diaz
to resign. Many, revolutions followed, and
because of these disorders the United States
War Department ordered 100,000 United
States troopers to the border. Troop M, Third
Cavalry, and Troop H, Fourteenth Cavalry,
were stationed at Marfa. Pancho Villa threat-
ened to attack Chihuahua, and approximately
10,000 people left the city to go to Ojinaga.
Saturday morning, January 10, 1914, the
report reached the Federal Army headquarters
in Ojinaga that Villa was approaching with a
large army and was going to attack. Thousands
of civilians and'federal troops plunged into the
chilled water of the Rio Grande and crossed
to the United States. Fewer than 500 United
States troops were on hand to take care of the
panic-stricken mob. Large fires were built to
enable the shivering refugees to dry their
clothing and prevent them from freezing, as
the night was extremely cold. The War De-
partment .ordered that no Mexican national
would be turned back across the river, as Villa
would probably slaughter them. The people
were grouped together and marched overland
to Marfa, where they camped south of town.
Mexican money was sent to the United
States side of the border in 1913 and 1914 for
safekeeping. Twice a New York banking firm
instructed the Marfa National Bank to pay
large sums of money to the Mexican federal
paymaster of Ojinaga. The second payment, in
small bills totaling $101,000, was placed in a
gunny sack by Mexican officials and taken to
a room in the St. George Hotel. One man was
left to guard the money while'the others wentto eat. The lone guard became alarmed when
he heard a strange sound, threw the sack of
money under the bed, and hid in an adjoining
room. When his companions returned, they
found the guard and money were gone. The
sheriff of Presidio County, Chastain, searched
the premises and found the guard and money.
The officers decided that the money had to
be counted, but no one knew how to do it.
When the rubber bands were taken off, the
$101,000 swelled to confusing proportions
because there were so many loose dollar bills.
The officers had to call for more gunny sacks
and then left for Ojinaga.
The Second Squadron, Fifteenth Cavalry,
was sent to Marfa in 1915 from Fort Bliss,
Texas, because there were many cattle thieves
and Mexican outlaws in the area. One incident
which demonstrated the area's need for cav-
alry protection occurred at the Brite Bar-Cross
Ranch on Christmas Day, 1917. Mexican out-
laws attacked the ranch and raided the ranch
store. Brite was able to telephone Marfa for
help. Colonel Langhorne and his men of the
Eighth Cavalry, Sheriff Ira Cline, the Texas
Rangers, and several citizens of Marfa formed
a posse. They scampered over huge boulders,
scurried along ravines, and edged up to shoot
at the outlaws. The bandits scattered, and
had to drop the loot along the trail.
The Marfa city government was organized
in 1919. J. C. Orgain was elected the first
mayor. He was followed by mayors Hamic,
Casner, Avant, Coffield, De Volin, Jones, and
Mathews. An improved municipal water system
and municipal gas system were installed, and
several creeks were bridged. Coffield also se-
cured a W.P.A. grant to build a swimming
pool. In 1937 the city hall and adjacent build-
ings were destroyed by fire. Modern, comfort-
able buildings were built to replace them.
Paving of the streets of Marfa began in 1929,
and the portion of Highway 90 from Marfa
to Van Horn was completed in 1938, com-
pleting a border route from San Antonio to
El Paso.
The Border Patrol was organized in Marfa
under an act of Congress approved on May
28, 1924. The first patrolmen were mounted
inspectors called "border guards."
During World War I, two battalions of the
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Texas State Historical Association. The Texas Historian, Volume 31, Number 1, September 1970, periodical, September 1970; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth391314/m1/5/?q=%22thurber+%22~1&rotate=90: accessed July 16, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.