Columbus was founded in 1891 as a U.S./Mexico border station but eventually coalesced around the railroad station three miles to the north in 1903. The area’s history is tied to a March 9, 1916, raid on Columbus by Mexican revolutionary leader Francisco “Pancho" Villa. President Woodrow Wilson dispatched General John J. Pershing and 10,000 troops into Mexico to pursue Villa. This punitive expedition ultimately failed.