The original review stand was built soon after General John J. (Blackjack) Pershing entered Mexico with his Punitive Expedition to capture, kill, or disperse Villa and his army or band. The expedition was able to disperse the Villa faction, rendering it non-effective. While Pershing was in Mexico, the stand was used for many functions, including regular band concerts by several army band units stationed there at the time. On February 5, 1917, as the Punitive Expedition returned from Mexico, General Pershing and his staff stood on the review stand all day as the returning soldiers passed by, while streets lined with townspeople and many people arriving by train welcomed them home after eleven months of hardship in Mexico. After the Punitive Expedition ended, Camp Furlong had two army units stationed there, and they continued to use the stand for band concerts and other functions. Every March 9 they held commemorative ceremonies for those killed in the Villa raid of March 9, 1916. The review stand was dismantled, as was Camp Furlong, in 1925. Commemorative ceremonies continued at different locations until a replica was constructed in 2006, with funds provided by Lynn Rivard, great-granddaughter of Colonel Herbert J. Slocum, commander of the 13th Cavalry stationed there at the time of the Villa raid, and by Richard Dean, great-grandson of James T. Dean, one of Villa's victims in that raid. The review stand and its surrounding Memorial Garden are dedicated to the memory of those Americans who lost their lives on March 9, 1916.