T HE DESERT NIGHT WAS DARK, and the small town seemed asleep. In the pre-dawn hours of March 9, 1916, however, at least one man remained awake Private Fred Griffin, 13th Cavalry, on sentry duty, who was making his usual rounds. On turning the corner of the headquarters building, he saw three riders emerge from the blackness. As was his duty, Private Griffin challenged the horsemen. His greeting was returned with gunshots. He fired back, and all three toppled from their horses, dead. The signal had been given. Villa and his men converged upon the town of Columbus, New Mexico, and the raid began.' For over half a century scholars and laymen alike have quarreled over the particulars of the raid. The focal points in the debate have been the motives behind Villa's assault, the strength of his band, and Villa's whereabouts at the time of the attack. Historiographically Villa's raid upon Columbus and the earlier outrage at Santa Isabel have been glossed over in order to provide room for more significant events. One factor which has hitherto received too little attention is the influence of German intrigues in deciding Villa to invade the United States.2 A brief analysis of the historical antecedents and events leading to *The author is Instructor in History, Fresno State College. 1 The foregoing is based on the following sources: Frank Tompkins, Chasing Villa: The Story Behind the Story of Pershing's Expedition into Mexico (Harrisburg, 1943), 48-49. Haldeen Braddy, Pancho Villa at Columbus: The Raid of 1916, Southwestern Studies, III (Spring 1965), 16-17. James Hopper, What Happened in Columbus? Colliers, 57 (April 15, 1916), 11. 2 Friedrich Katz, in his article Alemania y Francisco Villa, Historia Mexicana (July/September 1962), 88-103, and in his book, Deutschland, Diaz und die mexikanische Revolution: Die deutsche Politik in Mexiko, 1870-1920 (Berlin, 1964), 342-348, raises the question of German complicity in the Columbus raid. Katz also introduces the possible role that Felix A. Sommerfeld may have played in this incident. Because of Katz' inability to utilize sources in the National Archives and the Library of Congress, however, his discussion of German involvement in the raid is limited.