Francisco "Pancho" Villa was a Mexican revolutionary and prominent figure in the Mexican Revolution. He was a key figure in the revolutionary movement that forced out President Porfirio Díaz and brought Francisco I. Madero to power in 1911. When Madero was ousted by a coup led by General Victoriano Huerta in February 1913, Villa joined the anti-Huerta forces in the Constitutionalist Army led by Venustiano Carranza. After the defeat and exile of Huerta in July 1914, Villa broke with Carranza. Villa dominated the meeting of revolutionary generals that excluded Carranza and helped create a coalition government. Emiliano Zapata and Villa became formal allies in this period. Like Zapata, Villa was strongly in favor of land reform, but did not implement it when he had power.
Heroica Nogales, more commonly known as Nogales, is a city and the county seat of the Municipality of Nogales in the Mexican state of Sonora. It is located in the north of the state across the U.S.-Mexico border, and is abutted on its north by the city of Nogales, Arizona.
Buffalo Soldiers were United States Army regiments composed exclusively of African American soldiers, formed during the 19th century to serve on the American frontier. On September 21, 1866, the 10th Cavalry Regiment was formed at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. The nickname "Buffalo Soldiers" was purportedly given to the regiments by the American Indian tribes who fought against them during the American Indian Wars, and the term eventually became synonymous with all of the African American regiments that were established in 1866, including the 9th Cavalry Regiment, 10th Cavalry Regiment, 24th Infantry Regiment, 25th Infantry Regiment and 38th Infantry Regiment.
Álvaro Obregón Salido was a Mexican military general, inventor and politician who served as the 46th President of Mexico from 1920 to 1924. Obregón was re-elected to the presidency in 1928 but he was assassinated before he could take office.
Ignacio Bonillas Fraijo was a Mexican diplomat. He was a Mexican ambassador to the United States and held a degree in mine engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He was tapped by President Venustiano Carranza as his successor in the 1920 presidential elections, but the revolt of three Sonoran revolutionary generals overthrew Carranza before those elections took place.
Emilio Ivan Kosterlitzky was a Russian-born Mexican colonel during the Mexican Revolution. He had also served in the Mexican Apache Wars and Yaqui Wars. He is most noted for being the commander of the Mexican Rurales, or border police, during the late 19th century.
Naco is a Mexican town in Naco Municipality located in the northeast part of Sonora state on the border with the United States. It is directly across from the unincorporated town of Naco, Arizona. The name Naco comes from the Opata language and means prickly pear cactus. The town saw fighting during the Mexican Revolution and during a rebellion led by General José Gonzalo Escobar in 1929. During the second conflict, an American pilot by the name of Patrick Murphy volunteered to bomb federal forces for the rebels, but mistakenly bombed Naco, Arizona, instead. Today, the town has been strongly affected by the smuggling of drugs, people and weapons across the international border.
José Inés Salazar was a Mexican revolutionary general who led the Orozquistas during the Mexican Revolution and later fought with Pancho Villa. He was a native of Casas Grandes, Chihuahua.
The Battle of Ambos Nogales was an engagement fought on 27 August 1918 between Mexican forces and United States Army elements from the 35th Infantry Regiment and 10th Cavalry Regiment during the Mexican Border War. The American soldiers and militia forces were stationed in Nogales, Arizona, and the Mexican soldiers and armed Mexican militia were in Nogales, Sonora. This battle was notable for being a significant confrontation between U.S. and Mexican forces during the conflict, which took place during the Mexican Revolution and World War I.
General Jacinto Blas Treviño González was a Mexican military officer, noteworthy for his participation in the Mexican Revolution of 1910 to 1921.
The Battle of Naco, or the First Battle of Naco due to a later siege was a battle of the Mexican Revolution between Constitutionalist forces and Mexican government forces. Rebel forces under General Alvaro Obregon defeated the Mexican Army garrison and captured Naco, Sonora.
The First Battle of Tijuana was an early engagement of the Mexican Revolution and the first significant victory for the Magonistas. Tijuana was captured and held by rebel forces on May 9, 1911 and was used as a haven for recruiting American volunteers from California.
The Second Battle of Tijuana was fought during the Mexican Revolution in June 1911. The opposing sides were rebel Magonistas and federal Mexican troops of President Francisco León de la Barra with American militia volunteers from Los Angeles, California. Tijuana was retaken by federal forces after a short battle just south of the town.
The Mexican Border War, also known as the Border Campaign, refers to a series of military engagements which took place between the United States military and several Mexican factions in the Mexican–American border region of North America during the Mexican Revolution. It was the last major conflict fought on U.S. soil.
Colonel Cornelius Cole Smith was an American officer in the U.S. Army who served with the 6th U.S. Cavalry during the Sioux Wars. On January 1, 1891, he and four other cavalry troopers successfully defended a U.S. Army supply train from a force of 300 Sioux warriors at the White River in South Dakota, for which he received the Medal of Honor. He was the last man to receive the award in battle against the Sioux, and in a major Indian war.
The Yaqui Wars, were a series of armed conflicts between New Spain, and its successor state, the Mexican Republic, against the Yaqui Natives. The period began in 1533 and lasted until 1929. The Yaqui Wars, along with the Caste War against the Maya, were the last conflicts of the centuries long Mexican Indian Wars. Over the course of nearly 400 years, the Spanish and the Mexicans repeatedly launched military campaigns into Yaqui territory which resulted in several serious battles and massacres.
The Yaqui Uprising, also called the Nogales Uprising, was an armed conflict that took place in the Mexican state of Sonora and the American state of Arizona over several days in August 1896. In February, the Mexican revolutionary Lauro Aguirre drafted a plan to overthrow the government of President Porfirio Díaz. Aguirre's cause appealed to the local Native Americans, such as the Yaqui, who organized an expedition to capture the customs house in the border town of Nogales on August 12.
The Second Battle of Nogales was a three-sided military engagement of the Mexican Revolution, fought in November 1915 at the border towns of Nogales, Sonora, and Nogales, Arizona. On the morning of November 26, rebel forces of Pancho Villa, who occupied Nogales, Sonora, began firing on United States Army soldiers in Nogales, Arizona. The Americans responded with counter fire for over two hours before a force of Carrancistas arrived to attack the Villistas. Later that day, the Constitutionalistas accidentally opened fire on American soldiers and another short skirmish was fought. The battle resulted in the deaths of several Mexicans and was the first significant engagement fought between Villistas and the United States military.
The siege of Naco was a major battle fought in the border town of Naco, Sonora, Mexico, between March 31 and April 6, 1929, during the Escobar Rebellion. Following their capture of Cananea in 1928 and the drafting of the "Plan of Hermosillo", rebel forces under the command of General José Gonzalo Escobar occupied Agua Prieta and from there moved to take control of Naco, which at the time was a small, dusty village opposite of Naco, Arizona, occupied by government forces loyal to President Emilio Portes Gil. The rebels hoped to fund the revolution using the revenue generated by Naco and Agua Prieta, where there was a significant amount of public support for their cause.
The Escobar Rebellion was a conflict in northern Mexico in 1929 during the Maximato, between the government forces of President Emilio Portes Gil and rebel forces under the command of General José Gonzalo Escobar. After some initial success in taking over several key cities in the northern half of the country, the Escobar rebels were decisively defeated in a major battle at Jiménez, Chihuahua, and were eventually swept aside by the advancing government forces under the command of General Calles.
Alvaro Obregón 
Emilio Kosterlitzky (POW)
