Photo of Pancho Villa.

Mel Smith was my uncle, my grandfather Oscar Lee Smith's brother.
He lived in Muleshoe, Texas. His name was Walter Melville Smith or Uncle Mel when we were kids. Muleshoe is a small town between Lubbock, Texas and Clovis, New Mexico in the Panhandle region of north west Texas. I have very few details about Mel and his family. I stayed with them one summer in Muleshoe, Texas back in the late 50s I think, can't remember for sure what year it was, between 1957 and 1959. Mel and Kate Smith had married after he got out of the army. She had four or five kids by previous marriage before they got married. My cousins Don and Fred Smith are the only names I remember from their kids. Mel got out of the army and married Kate and settled down in Muleshoe. "Just read your piece about Mel and need to correct some of it for you. Mel was working on a farm ( wheat ) in Kansas when he came to Stillwell where Grandpa and Grandma had settled. He was not retired from the Army-did not stay that long in the Army. He farmed Grandpa's wheat farm in Kansas and in Colorado and when Grandpa moved he stayed in Kansas working for another large farmer. He bought that 40 acres in Watts and Grandma and Grandpa lived there until they moved to Stillwell in a rent house where they both were when first Grandma and a year later Grandpa died. The place in Watts had a spring and the water was piped into the house( rock house)and there was a little country store at the bottom of the steep hill up to their place. I tried to find the place when I went to a funeral in Siloam Springs but my memory was not that good. It was off a gravel road ( us 59 I think at that time ) and I know you have been there also but were too small to remember it." Mel had served in the Army in Texas or New Mexico or both.

Mel died of a heart attack a year or two after the Summer I spent with them near Muleshoe. I remember him telling a story at the breakfast table about when he was in the Army. Mel had served around the border with Mexico trying to chase Pancho Villa down. Mel didn't mention any year but I got the background photo of Pancho from the encyclopedia and found out that it was between Mar 1916 to Jan 1917 that Mel was speaking about. My cousin Wayne M Smith took a photo of his grave stone and it shows that he was in Btry D of the 4th Field Arty. That is when the punitive expedition was launched into Mexico by Gen Pershing after Pancho Villa had raided Columbus NM in Mar 1916. General Pershing's expeditionary force had the Mexican Governments approval for the purpose of catching and punishing Pancho. I think the President of Mexico, Carranza, had grown nervous about granting permission for them to enter Mexico and withdrew that permission after they were there. From research I did on the internet. I guess he was lucky in a very peculiar way as I think he managed to get out of the Army before WWI started for America troops. At the time he told the story I'd never heard of Pancho Villa. I'd gather from the summer I spent on their farm that Mel led a rugged life but seemed to enjoy it. Mel didn't own the land or house, he was a Farm/Ranch hand. He and the family did the farm chores for a place to live and food and a small salary. I think they kept the 20 to 30 head of cattle, chicken, pigs and did farm work for the owner in exchange for the house and food for family. It was a spartan lifestyle but they never lacked the basic necessities. They lived on a section of land a few miles from Muleshoe.

Pancho Villa had raided a settlement in New Mexico in the United States in 1916 and the U.S. Army was sent on a punitive mission against Panco Villa into Mexico on the border for a short period of time after that 1916 raid by Pancho Villa. Pancho Villa was born Doroteo Arango, Francisco, Villa or "Pancho". He had fled to the U.S. from about 1911 to 1913. Mel never said if his unit saw Pancho's revolutionaries, but surmise the Mexican Federalies saw more of Pancho's band than they really wanted to. I also suspect Pancho and his revolutionaries were good at vanishing into thin air whenever they needed to or wanted to. I've read stories about his revolutionaries hiding all their weapons and dressing up like farmers and workers and sitting down in the cantina or bar with Gen Pershings men to gather intelligence on the US and hide from both them and the Federalies.

Dad wrote and filled me in on Mel and most of it is included. Thanks for the info you sent me. As regards Mel--you might want to know some of the facts you did not have. Long after he left the Army-he went back and actually took care of Grandma and Grandpa J.F. Smith until they both passed away. Then he married Kate who had the 4 boys and moved to Muleshoe. He had a small farm in Eastern Oklahoma ( Watts ) where Grandpa and Grandma lived ( used to kid Mel about his cows falling out of the pasture as there was a steep cliff at the rear of his property.) When he married he came by and stayed with me for a few days prior to that and in fact asked my advice-I told him to go ahead and took him with me on my rounds and he got the job on the farm out from Muleshoe through a customer of mine . He got a salary ( about $300.00 month as I remember ) in adddition to the other benefits you mention and did attend a small country Christian Church and taught Sunday School in that church. He was only 60 or 61 when he died-Kate was much younger but last I heard she was living in Eastland Tex. The place Mel worked in Muleshoe was owned by a man who also had land in Arizona and in Nebraska and he raised cattle and in the other two states they were range fed, but brought them into Muleshoe to feed them out for market. Delvin and my mom were dead set against him marrying Kate (why I never knew ) but it was good for him and Kate also).

My great grandpa J.F. Smith's father ( Andrew ) went back to Tenn. ( Eastern close to Greenville-little place called Chucky )and married again and had other children one of whom was John ( he had the old place until he died ) who was about the age of my dad and he inherited the old Andrew Smith farm ( had been in our family since before the revolutionary war) and a sister Cordie who married but had no children-there was also another brother Bob who came to oujr 1977 family reunion from his home in Kansas. Another brother of my grandpa Smith went West from Tenn. ( can't remember his first name ) and was in South Dakota and then Arizona. Started the first motorized stage coach line in the west and later married a lady with several kids and 10000 acres of land. Sold the freight line and the land and moved to Oregon and dropped completely out of site. Uncle John made several trips and spent much time and money trying to find him with no success. Back to Mel-after the Army-he worked for a large wheat growing farmer but was close to Grandpa and Grandma so he could get to them rapidly. After Grandma died Grandpa came and stayed with your mom and I for about 3 weeks when we were in Bethany, Okla-you would not be able to remember that as you were too young.

Mel was buried in the Bailey County, Cemetery near Muleshoe, Texas and is listed as, "Smith, Walter Manville born 05 - 27 - 1900 and died 09 - 23 - 1960, (Mel) VA Stone Served in Army as a PFC." The listing was from the internet done by volunteers and was in error concerning his middle name. It is Melville (Mel) on his TOMBSTONE. The section of land that Uncle Mel and family farmed and fed cattle on for the owner was likely on land that at one time was a part of the XIT Ranch that was 200 miles by an average of 27 miles across and at one spot 55 miles across before it was sold off in pieces. I think it ran from Amarillo to Lubbock along the Texas, New Mexico border. It was twice the size of the State of Rhode Island.

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