While World War I was occurring in trenches of Europe, most people do not realize that the United States had its Soldiers dug-in in Douglas, Arizona. Douglas, Arizona was and remain a border town between the U. S. and Mexico. During the early 1900s, there were many questions about how long the peace between the two countries could continue. Therefore, the United States began to build defensive trenches to protect Douglas, and I assume other towns as well.
The thought of American Soldiers digging in to secure our national borders is somewhat surprising, but that is how wars were fought during this time. The photo describes the Soldiers watching the forces of Poncho Villa attach the forces of Mexican President Carranza. Poncho Villa, of course, is known to have attacked across the United States border for supplies and a brief reading of Douglas, Arizona history states that Villa actually targeted Douglas after his “defeat at the Second Battle of Agua Prieta.” It is interesting to me that the Soldiers were close enough to the fighting between the two armies that our Soldiers were able to observe them from their trenches.
Trench life in the United States probably resembled the trenches of Europe, in that the Soldiers spent their days in the trench—thankfully, the United States trenches did not include heavy fighting day after day.
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Image: Omaha Daily Bee. (Omaha [Neb.]), 11 Nov. 1915. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress. <http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn99021999/1915-11-11/ed-1/seq-1/>