Today in Writing History June 24, 1842: Ambrose Bierce, American short story writer, essayist, and journalist was born. The American Revolution Bicentennial Administration named his book, “The Devil’s Dictionary,” one of the top 100 masterpieces of American literature. Many consider his horror writing on par with Poe and Lovecraft. As a satirist, he has been compared with Voltaire and Swift. His war stories influenced Hemingway. In 1913, at age 71, he traveled to Mexico to cover the revolution. He joined Pancho Villa’s army and witnessed the Battle of Tierra Blanca. He never returned from Mexico. No one knows what happened to him and his body was never found. However, a priest named James Lienert, claimed that Bierce was executed by firing squad in the town cemetery there.
Today in Labor History March 15, 1916: President Woodrow Wilson sent 4,800 U.S. troops across the U.S.–Mexico border to hunt down Pancho Villa. He launched expedition in retaliation for Villa’s attack on the U.S. border town of Columbus, New Mexico. The expedition lasted nearly a year and they still failed to capture him. 65 U.S. soldiers and over 250 Mexican troops died in the fighting associated with the expedition.