Established in 1849 by U.S. troops led by Maj. Jefferson Van Horne in what is now downtown El Paso to secure territory gained in the U.S.-Mexico War, 1846-48, the post later known as Fort Bliss moved to Magoffinsville in 1854, to Camp Concordia in 1868, back downtown in 1878, to Hart’s Mill in the 1880s, and finally to Lanoria Mesa in 1893 on land donated by El Paso citizens. Its name changed in 1854 to honor Lt. Col. William Wallace Smith Bliss, a veteran of the U.S.-Mexico War. In 1911, during revolution in Mexico, the government reinforced the infantry there with artillery and cavalry units, and in 1916 the U.S. used Fort Bliss as headquarters for the Punitive Expedition led by Gen. John J. Pershing into northern Mexico after revolutionaries attacked Columbus, New Mexico, in pursuit of Francisco “Pancho” Villa. That expedition involved more than 100,000 U.S. troops and provided vital field training for soldiers and commanders who would soon serve in World War I. By 1941, Fort Bliss was the nation’s largest cavalry post, and during World War II it expanded to more than a million acres across part of Texas and much of the Tularosa Basin in New Mexico, where eighty battalions of anti-aircraft artillerymen trained. After the war, German scientists brought to the fort began the U.S. Army’s missile program, and Fort Bliss has since deployed troops worldwide and served as a training center for U.S. and allied forces, making it a key strategic asset for the nation.