On the Road is a weekday feature spotlighting reader photo submissions.
From the exotic to the familiar, whether you’re traveling or in your own backyard, we would love to see the world through your eyes.
cope
Here a few more of the pictures belonging to my maternal grandfather from when he was part of the Mexican Expedition chasing Pancho Villa in 1916-17. I don’t know exactly where he was stationed but when I can finally get a copy of his military records, I should be able to find out. He was born on July 4th, 1895 so he was barely in his twenties when he set out on this adventure.
Here’s my grandfather kitted out for a trek out into the field.
Here, others are getting ready as well. There’s a big container labelled “oats” in the center of the group.
Like most military bases, they had to rely on locals for certain services. The size of that river is probably a good tell as to where this is. More research is in order.
This might be my grandfather writing a letter home from the field.
I’m guessing they supplemented their diet with some local protein sources.
Sometimes, they were successful. That’s my grandfather with the tasty looking possum.
This fellow is in several pictures including the two previous. I never spent much time with my grandfather but when I did, he had some stories.
This picture is motion blurred and probably not of my grandfather but I feel that it gives a great sense of the dust and heat and physical drudgery that these troops had to deal with. From here, he ended up in Belgium fighting in the trenches. After the war, he was part of the occupying forces in Germany. My next submission will include pictures from his time in Germany.
Winston
Hah! #1
Winston
@Winston: Watching the Ultimate Civil War Series on Prime Video. Don’t let your children watch it, RePukes. The South lost the right to slavery.
Hah. Suck it people. #1 and #2.
Benw
I’d rather the dust and heat of Mexico then the trenches in Belgium
Winston
@Benw: I’d rather no more war in my lifetime. Been my wish for the last 60 years, much to my dismay.
Laura Too
Wow, these are really cool. I appreciate the pictures and would love to hear some stories if you ever have time. It is so important to have some record of them and it is such a gift to the family.
SiubhanDuinne
Mmm, possum!
Such interesting pictures, cope. I would also love to hear some of your grandfather’s stories.
debbie
@Benw:
I’d rather neither, or none at all.
OzarkHillbilly
Pretty damned cool Cope. Much better photos than I would have expected too.
debbie
There’s a FB group named Historia Obscurum that focuses on the small stories found in wars illustrated by photographs. Yesterday they highlighted Vera Brittain. If you can stand FB, it’s a group worth joining.
delk
Great photos!
J R in WV
Great pics from long ago. I have a ton of old family pictures from my only remaining maternal side cousin, I volunteered to scan them into digital format, which surprisingly allows much improvement in many of them. We were lucky, he had a major house fire not long after I picked up the three totes full of photos. But then the plague started, and I lost a lot of initiative.
Anyway, there are WW I pictures of my grandfather, who never went out of country. He was a blacksmith -> mechanic, which is how all mechanics got into that line back then, and was set to shoeing mules before they were shipped over to the French fronts for freight hauling behind the trenches. He also worked on for the day big old-fashioned trucks, so there are lots of pics of trucks broke down, in the ditch, etc.
I hope to get back into scanning as the weather sucks, and will submit some photo sets from long ago, both military and rural.
slybrarian
Wow, these are some great photos. ‘Drudgery’ doesn’t begin to encompass the staggering clown show that was the US army during the Mexican Expedition. The Lions Led By Donkeys podcast did a couple episodes about it months ago that you should check out.
arrieve
These pictures are amazing. Thank you for sharing and I’m looking forward to the next set!
Subsole
I am always amazed at just how much stuff these guys had to carry. That field pack looks like it could carry me!
cope
@OzarkHillbilly: All these pictures are on acetate negatives that are about 2 1/2” by 3 1/4” and in pretty good shape. The scanning software is pretty powerful in terms of resolution. His Germany negatives are a mix of acetate in a couple of different formats and glass negatives, also in a couple of different sizes. Some of them are in very rough shape and had to be massaged both with the scanning software (Silverfast) and again after the fact in Lightroom.
It’s a shame that the details aren’t apparent when I post them here. Some of his Germany glass plates have shatteringly amazing detail. One of them we had printed as a 20” x 30” photo and mounted and framed. It’s possible to see people’s shoelaces in that one.
stinger
What great photos! And what adventures for a young person! Join the Army and see the world!
feebog
I highly recommend “The Friends of Pancho Villa” by James Carlos Blake if you are interested in this era of Mexican history.
VeniceRiley
My grandfather was part of that operation as well! Sadly, he passed before I was born.
And he bore a strong resemblance to the fellow on the left in the “protein” pic.
That’s 2 jackals with whom I may have a close military connection.
way2blue
These are astonishiing photos. And a glimpse of your family’s history. I have so few photos from 100 years ago. And none are action shots. Thanks for posting.
Origuy
I have an ancestry.com account if you would like for me to look in its records. Send me an email with all the info you have on your grandfather at jefflanam at gmail.com.
cope
@Origuy: Thank you for the kind offer but I will take a pass for now. My dealings with Ancestry have caused some headaches in the past. I’m hopeful to go right to the source with the National Archives when they staff back up and can handle military (and other) requests for records. I have a lead on the logs of a freighter/passenger ship we crossed the Atlantic on back in 1958.