Wednesday, October 20, 1915. Arms okay for Carranza.

The impact of Woodrow Wilsons' administration recognizing Carranza, whose followers had blown off the Convention of Aguascalientes, and who personally hated the United States, was becoming immediately clear.

Arms to Carranza. . . that would tip the scales for sure.

While Wilson had his hand on the scale of the Mexican Revolution, he was issuing a proclaimation about American Thanksgiving.

President Wilson issued a proclamation regarding Thanksgiving.

Proclamation 1316—Thanksgiving Day, 1915

October 20, 1915

By the President of the United States of America

A Proclamation

It has long been the honoured custom of our people to turn in the fruitful autumn of the year in praise and thanksgiving to Almighty God for His many blessings and mercies to us as a nation. The year that is now drawing to a close since we last observed our day of national thanksgiving has been, while a year of discipline because of the mighty forces of war and of change which have disturbed the world, also a year of special blessing for us.

Another year of peace has been vouchsafed us; another year in which not only to take thought of our duty to ourselves and to mankind but also to adjust ourselves to the many responsibilities thrust upon us by a war which has involved almost the whole of Europe. We have been able to assert our rights and the rights of mankind without breach of friendship with the great nations with whom we have had to deal; and while we have asserted rights we have been able also to perform duties and exercise privileges of succour and helpfulness which should serve to demonstrate our desire to make the offices of friendship the means of truly disinterested and unselfish service. Our ability to serve all who could avail themselves of our services in the midst of crisis has been increased, by a gracious Providence, by more and more abundant crops. our ample financial resources have enabled us to steady the markets of the world and facilitate necessary movements of commerce which the war might otherwise have rendered impossible; and our people have come more and more to a sober realization of the part they have been called upon to play in a time when all the world is shaken by unparalleled distresses and disasters. The extraordinary circumstances of such a time have done much to quicken our national consciousness and deepen and confirm our confidence in the principles of peace and freedom by which we have always sought to be guided. Out of darkness and perplexity have come firmer counsels of policy and clearer perceptions of the essential welfare of the nation. We have prospered while other peoples were at war, but our prosperity has been vouchsafed us, we believe, only that we might the better perform the functions which war rendered it impossible for them to perform.

Now, Therefore, I, Woodrow Wilson, President of the United States of America, do hereby designate Thursday the twenty-fifth of November next as a day of thanksgiving and prayer, and invite the people throughout the land to cease from their wonted occupations and in their several homes and places of worship render thanks to Almighty God.

In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.

Done at the City of Washington this twentieth day of October in the year of our Lord one thousand nine hundred and fifteen and of the independence of the United States the one hundred and fortieth.

Signature of Woodrow Wilson

Louis Botha, once a Boer General, of the South African Party won the 1915 South African general election and retained power.

French forces reached the town of Krivolak on the Vardar river in Vardar Macedonia. The British dug in at a mountain pass near Kosturino and Doiran Like.

The Ottoman Empire brought an end to Armenian resistance at Urfa.

The British Commonwealth recognized women as bus and tram operators for the duration, something that had been going on for some time.

Sweden established the Swedish Infantry Officers College.

Whatever It Is, I’m Against It: Today -100: October 20, 1915: With bleeding heart ...: Headline of the Day -100:  Male voters in New Jersey reject women’s suffrage in the referendum by roughly 133,000 to 184,000. It los...

Last edition:

Tuesday, October 19, 1915. The US extends recognition to Carranza.

Labels: 1910s, 1915, Bulgaria, Constitutionalist Army, Italy, Mexican Border War, Mexican Revolution, Mexico, Russia, Texas, Texas (Brownsville), Venustiano Carranza, World War One

Sunday, August 22, 1915. Hill 60.

The Australian 2nd Division launched a dawn attack in the Battle of Hill 60.  It was unsuccessful.

And. well. . . 

Last edition:

Friday, August 20, 1915. Nicholas II takes command of the Russian Army.

Labels: 1910s, 1915, Art, Battle of Hill 60, Battle of Sari Bair, Battle of Scimitar Hill, British Army, Czar Nicholas II, Gallipoli, Imperial Russian Army, Landing at Suvla Bay, Monarchy, Russia, World War One

Wednesday, January 17, 1917. Joint Mexican American Committee Concludes

 

Mexican refugee entering the United States.  In spite of the caption, his wealth is probably all on this horse.  Part of the tragedy that involved both the United States and Mexico for well over a decade.

The Joint Committee between the US and Mexico concluded its business.  With the agreement of December 24, 1916 having been made, with Carranza having refused to sign it, and with events overcoming the United States that would give Carranza the result he wanted anyway, there was no more work to be done.

 

Porfirio Diaz in full military costume.  The collapse of his rule lead to the long civil war in Mexico.

Some have stated that the mere existence of the Joint Committee was a success in and of itself, and there is some truth to that.  The committee worked for months on an agreement and came to one, and even if Carranza would not execute it as it didn't guaranty the withdraw of American forces, the fact that the country was now hurtling towards war with Germany made it necessary for that to occur without American formal assent to Carranza's demand.  By not agreeing to it, the US was not bound not to intervene again, which was one of the points that it had sought in the first place. Events essentially gave both nations what they had been demanding.

 

 Revolutionary, intellectual, and radical. General Carranza.  His government fought Villa and Zapata successfully, but he'd go down in a coup lead by his own general, Obregon some years later. 

Even if that was the case this step, the first in the beginning of the end of the event we have been tracking since March, has to be seen as a Mexican Constitutionalist victory in the midst of the Mexican Revolution.  At the time the Commission came to the United States it represented only one side in a three way (sometimes more) Mexican civil war that was still raging.  Even as Carranza demanded that the United States withdraw his forces were not uniformly doing well against either Villa or Zapata.  Disdaining the United States in general, in spite of the fact that Wilson treated his government as the de facto government, he also knew that he could not be seen to be achieving victory over Villa through the intervention of the United States, nor could he be seen to be allowing a violation of Mexican sovereignty.  His refusal to acquiesce to allowing American troops to cross the border in pursuit of raiders, something that the Mexican and American governments had allowed for both nations since the mid 19th Century, allowed him to be seen as a legitimate defender of Mexican sovereignty and as the legitimate head of a Mexican government.

 

More typically imagined in a sombrero, General Francisco Villa.  The colorful, erratic, and perhaps somewhat mentally unstable Villa would attempt to retire to a ranch he acquired after his surrender to Obregon and Carranza, but he ended up being assassinated under cloudy circumstances in 1923.  His killer would live into the 1950s and declare at the end of his life that he'd rid the world of a "monster".

 Emiliano Zapata and his staff.  Zapata was an agrarian and looked the part, which we in turn tend to confuse with the look of the Mexican Revolution.  As with many leaders of the Mexican Revolution, Zapata was assassinated, although unlike Villa he still commanded an army in the field at the time of his death.

As will be seen, even though the war in Mexico raged on, events were overtaking the US and Mexico very quickly.  The Constitutionalist government was legitimizing itself as a radical Mexican de jure government and would quickly become just that.  Revolutions against it would go on for years, but it was very quickly moving towards full legitimacy.  And the United States, having failed to capture Villa or even defeat the Villistas, and having accepted an effective passive role in Mexico after nearly getting into a full war with the Constitutionalist, now very much had its eye on Europe and could not strategically afford to be bogged down in Mexico.  A silent desire to get out of Mexico had become fully open.  The rough terms of the agreement arrived upon by the Committee, while never ratified by Carranza, would effectively operate anyway and the United States now very quickly turned to withdrawing from Mexico.

 

Alvaro Obregon, whose competence and study of military tactics lead to the defeat of Pancho Villa and his Division del Norte.  He'd ultimately become present of Mexico following his coup against Carranza.  Obregon would serve one term as president of Mexico, and was elected to a second term to follow his successor Calles, but he was assassinated prior to taking office.

__________________________________________________________________________________

Related threads:  The Mexican Revolution.

Last Edition:

January 16, 1917. Admiral George Dewey dies

Labels: 1910s, 1917, Civil War, Personalities, Politics, Spanish American War, U.S. Navy

Thursday, December 2, 1915. A Villa massacre.

Pancho Villa ordered a mass execution of the male residents of San Pedro de la Cueva, blaming the town for the deaths of five of his troops, He originally was going to have everyone in the small town executed, but an officer in his forces convinced him to spare the women and children.  Villa personally shot the village priest who urged Villa to spare the town.

The village was principally an Indian one, although a few foreigners and a few Chinese residents were amongst the victims.  Seven men survived having been left for dead.

The press reported that Villa lost support of his Yaquis, and that Carranza had ended military control of the railroads.

Last edition:

Tuesday, November 30, 1915. Carranza on the International Bridge.

Labels: 1910s, 1915, Arizona (Flagstaff), Canadian Army, cavalry, Mexico, Personalities, Texas (Brownsville), United States, Venustiano Carranza, Weapons, Woodrow Wilson, World War One

Tuesday, November 30, 1915. Carranza on the International Bridge.

 

Venustiano Carranza met Col. Augustus P. Blocksom on the International Bridge between Matamoros and Brownsville. People were smiling, but all was not well.

Blocksom had been in the Army since 1877. He was a cavalryman and would rise to the rank of Maj. General during World War One, although he would serve in the Great War as a training officer, completing his service as the commander of the Army in the Pacific.  His career had been very distinguished.  He retired in 1918, and died in 1931 at age 76.

 Blocksom i n1918, with the stress of the war, even stateside, very clearly showing on him.

Woodrow Wilson created the Walnut Canyon National Monument near Flagstaff, Arizona.

And for the last day of November:

Interesting that Ross went with a sporting theme. The Canadian Army had adopted a variant of the Ross as a service rifle, where it really hadn't worked out due to being too finely machined to really function well in the dirty conditions of Northern France.  In some ways, that fact would lead to the Ross' demise.

Last edition:

Sunday, November 28, 1915. Going after Zapata.

Labels: 1910s, 1915, Álvaro Obregón, Constitutionalist Army, Emiliano Zapata, Mexican Revolution, Mexico

Monday, November 1, 1915. Villa attacks, and is defeated, at Agua Prieta.

Villa's Division del Norte engaged Constitutionalist under Plutarco Elías Calles at Agua Prieta, Sonora, Mexico and held the city in spite of having a command less than half the size of Villa's 15,000 Conventionist.

Villa in March, 1915.

Villa, who had to cross the Sonoran Desert to attack the city, was not aware that the U.S. had recognized Carranza as the de facto head of Mexico.  Nor did he realize that President Wilson had allowed Carranza's troops to cross through American territory by train in order to strengthen the garrison, a move that amounted to a direct American intervention in the war.  3,500 fresh, veteran troops traveled through Arizona and New Mexico and arrived in the town in early October, bringing the total number of defenders to 6,500.  Villa believed the city was defended by a mere 1,200 men.

Villa's attack featured a daytime artillery bombardment and a nighttime cavalry charge, the latter rendered ineffective by searchlights.

Suffice it to say, Villa did not take the surprises well.  Wilson's action in allowing the Constitutionalist to cross the US to reinforce Agua Prieta would lead directly to the raid on Columbus, New Mexico, the following year.

Ernest Shackleton called off a march to Paulet Island due to deteriorating ice conditions. The men returned to a sinking Endurance.

Last edition:

Sunday, October 31, 1915. Villa advances on the border.

Labels: 1910s, 1915, Arizona (Douglas), Army, Border Patrol, Constitutionalist Army, Conventionists, Mexican Revolution, Pancho Villa, Plutarco Elías Calles, Second Battle of Agua Prieta, Venustiano Carranza, World War One

Sunday, October 31, 1915. Villa advances on the border.

 The U.S. was anticipating trouble near Douglas, Arizona.

It was Villa's troops that were on the offensive.

Last edition:

Saturday, October 30, 1915. On foot.

Labels: 1910s, 1915, boats and ships, French Navy, Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition, World War One

Friday, October 22, 1915. Carranza promises to help.

General Joseph Joffre declared a "moral victory" at Champagne in spite of no French objectives having been reached.

The Bulgarians crossed the South Morava River near Vranje, Serbia.

Carranza promised to help address cross border raids.

Whatever It Is, I’m Against It: Today -100: October 22, 1915: A crime dwarfing eve...: At a Trafalgar Day service in the Church of St. Martin’s in the Fields, the Bishop of London calmly discusses the execution of Edith Cavel..

Last edition:

Thursday, October 21, 1915. Ojo de Agua.

Labels: 1910s, 1915, Army, Battle of Krivolak, Bulgarian Army, cavalry, Constitutionalist Army, Mexican Border War, Ojo de Agua Raid, Sedicionistas, Signal Corps, United Daughters of the Confederacy, World War One

Tuesday, October 19, 1915. The US extends recognition to Carranza.

The U.S. extended de facto recognition of the  Carranza government. This legitimizes arms shipments to the Constitutionalist.

After a break of a couple of weeks a cross border raid from Mexico occured in which Mexican border raiders boarded a train north of Brownsville and killed several passengers dead.

Italy and Russia declared war on Bulgaria.

Last edition:

Monday, October 18, 1915. Suffrage in New Jersey, Shots at border dance, Constitutionalist advance, Fellowship and beer.

Labels: 1910s, 1915, Alcohol, Blog Mirror, Constitutionalist Army, Mexican Border War, New Jersey, Texas, Third Battle of the Isonzo, Women, World War One

Saturday, October 16, 1915. Frosty mornings.

France declared war on Bulgaria.   French forces occupied the Gevgelija and Strumica rail stations in Serbian-controlled Vardar Macedonia..

The British completed the occupation of Bushehr, Iran.

Carranza was approaching widespread recognition as the head of state in Mexico.

There were rumors that Villa was dead.

He wasn't.

And it was beginning to get chilly.

I've often thought about what this advertisement seeks to address, heating up a home in the teens during winter.  It's not like what we do now and just turn up the thermostat.  Most homes burned something, including the urban ones with furnaces, which typically burned coal.

Cities and towns were smokey.

Cheyenne Light, Fuel and Power offered a quick morning alternative. . . 

It was a Saturday.

Last edition:

Friday, October 15, 1915. The Wright Company sold.

Labels: 1910s, 1915, Aircraft, Battle of Krivoliak, Daily Living, Gallipoli, Marriage, Personalities, Sex, The family, World War One, Wright Brothers

Monday, October 11, 1915. Recognizing Carranza.

The US was rushing up on recognizing Carranza, who hated the US and who had sponsored guerilla action against it in Texas, as the de facto leader of Mexico.

Wilson was a terrible President.

The Red Sox took the third game of the world series.

Realizing that the battle had become a hopeless stalemate, area commanders began planning for an Allied withdrawal.

The second Neutral Socialist Conference was held in Copenhagen.

Last edition:

Sunday,Labels: 1910s, 1915, Angolan Civil War, Australia, Australian aborigines, Australian Army, transgenderism, World War One October 10, 1915. Cooee.

Saturday, October 9, 1915. Boosting Casper.

The Central Powers took Belgrade.

The French and British began a second campaign to take Jaunde, German Cameroon.

It was a Saturday.

The Casper Daily Press issued a huge Saturday edition, much of which featured the local economy and opportunities a region that was booming due to World War One, although the paper didn't categorize it that way.  It was too large to run the whole thing, so we'll just put a snippet of it up, with the pages in the original order even though some of that doesn't quite make sense, and although the entire paper was quite interesting, then and now, for what it portrayed.

Of course, it caught Game 2 of the 1915 World Series.

The paper also noted the impending U.S. recognition of Carranza as the de facto head of the Mexican government, even though that was still in contest.

It was 1917 that really saw the apex of the region's Great War oil expansion which made Casper what it is today, but it was starting by 1915.

Agriculture was still acknowledged to be vital to the region's economy, which sadly isn't a focus anymore, even though it's still there.  Agriculture would boom in the US, and the region, during the great war.

The Rhinoceros Hotel was located where a sushi restaurant now is on Center Street.  The building came down at some point and became Sunrise Sporting Goods, and then Dean's Sporting Goods, which is what it was most of the time I was growing up.

The Elkhorn Bar, which was a frequent advertiser, became the Wonder Bar later on, which it was for decades.  It's now Wyoming Rib and Chop, but it still has a full bar.  The bar isn't in the original location within the structure, however, as it was moved some years ago during reconstruction.

The Wonder Bar was where I had my first legal drink, a Budweiser, at age 19, which was the drinking age at the time.

And the paper covered development of the City of Casper, much of which isn't recognizable now, but some of which is.

Only one of the church's noted, St. Mark's, remains in the building depicted, even though the congregations remain.  After the war, and because of it, much more substantial structures were constructed.

Homesteading was of course still ongoing.

A major advertiser at the time wsa Casper Brewing Co., which offered Wyoming Light Lager.  The brewery hasn't been that for many decades, but its building is still there.  When I was a kid, it was a potato chip "factory" for Cooks Potato Chips.  The father of one of my friends owned it, but his parents were divorced and the mother remarried, so I can only recall meeting hom once.

Last edition:

Friday, October 8, 1915. Game One of the 1915 World Series.

Labels: 1910s, 1915, 1915 World Series, Actions of the Hohenzollern Redoubt, baseball, Montana, Sports, World War One