First Clovis man to die in country's service remembered

Sometime around Thanksgiving Day in 1916, Everett Fitzhugh of Clovis climbed on a wagon with members of the New Mexico National Guard.

Their mission was to deliver supplies to other soldiers in the region around Columbus in southwest New Mexico.

During that trip, the mules pulling the supply wagon became frightened of something and ran out of control across rough terrain.

Pvt. Fitzhugh, 18, was thrown from the wagon and crushed by its wheels.

He died on or around Dec. 3, 1916.

He was the first of about 175 Curry County men who have died in service to their country during wartime.

The war — which began 100 years ago this month — was with Mexican revolutionary Pancho Villa.

While he never explained his reasons, Villa and troops vying for control of Mexico raided Columbus on March 9, 1916. They burned the village and killed 18 U.S. citizens. About 80 of Villa’s men were killed in that attack.

Fitzhugh, the son of a Clovis attorney, was an apprentice with the Santa Fe railroad shops when the attack took place on Columbus.

He joined the guard soon after that.

By November of that year, The Clovis News reported Everett Fitzhugh was a member of the guard in Columbus when he became ill and was hospitalized.

The newspaper reported Fitzhugh was entitled to spend five additional days recovering from his unspecified illness, but chose instead to return to duty and help deliver supplies.

Two news accounts suggest Fitzhugh was well liked by his fellow guardsmen.

The Clovis newspaper reported he underwent an operation following the wagon accident that required a blood transfusion.

“So well was this young man loved by his comrades that a half a dozen volunteered to furnish blood,” The Clovis News reported.

Following his funeral services, the Santa Fe New Mexican, on Dec. 8, 1916, reported Fitzhugh’s body was “accompanied to the train by the entire third battalion.”

His body was returned to Clovis where is buried at Mission Garden of Memories.

In response to Villa’s raid on Columbus, President Wilson sent about 5,000 troops to pursue Villa across Mexico, but they never captured him.

He was assassinated in 1923, probably by political adversaries.

Did you know

In addition to Everett Fitzhugh, at least two other area men had ties to Villa and the Mexican revolutionary war.

• Gabriel Olmos rode with Villa as a captain in the Mexican Army in 1911, according to “Eastern New Mexico High Plains History.”

By 1916, however, Olmos had left Mexico and settled in El Paso, Texas, before moving to Portales and then Clovis.

He was hired by the Santa Fe railroad in Clovis on Aug. 16, 1917, and retired from the railroad in 1953.

The history book reports Olmos “was the first Mexican to build a house in Clovis. He bought a piece of land on First Street ... for $250. He obtained lumber and built a four-room home.”

Olmos died in 1979 at age 91.

• Forrest Lee Long, who died in 1975 at age 80, was a stenographer who also worked at a bank in Texico before joining the guard and fighting against Villa and in World War I, according to the historical reference book “Curry County New Mexico.”