Beschreibung:

Lot of 2 albums containing photographs, letters, and clippings. Spencer Trask Mitchell (1888-1938) joined the New York 7th Regiment of Infantry in 1916, when the government needed men to go to the Mexican Border. When he lost his bid for the Mexican Presidency in 1915, Francisco "Pancho" Villa began raiding towns along the Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas borders, hoping to goad President Wilson into intervening in Mexico (and supporting Villa's claim to the office). When Wilson did not respond, Villa stepped up his raids. Wilson called for National Guard and militia units to go to the border. This did slow Villa down on this side of the Rio Grande, but he continued to kill Americans unfortunate enough to gain his attention in Mexico. One of the most egregious events was Jan. 1916 murder of 17 mining engineers who had been invited by the Mexican government to help reopen mines below Chihuahua City. This atrocity helped fuel enlistments in el Norte, apparently including Spencer Mitchell. Mitchell's photo album is 7 x 10 in. with a semi-soft green cloth cover. He mounted 3 or 4 photos per black construction-paper page. There are 237 - 2.75 x 4.5 in. silver print photos mounted, plus 5 loose images of Mitchell in uniform and one large studio portrait. Some have been folded and cracked in the spine of the album. These images document Mitchell's enlistment and training, beginning with a page of train images - presumably the one he boarded when he left home, then rows of tents, with roads being leveled, trenches dug around tents, lines of wagons, cars, mules, etc. Some show men hiking through scrub vegetation, presumably at Camp McAllen, Texas. He mentions such hikes in some of his letters. There are images of men training with machine guns, another event mentioned. The second item is a scrapbook that also documents the progress of the 7th New York (possibly kept by his mother). From one direction, when opened there are pages upon pages of news clippings, entire sections of newspapers, and loose clippings. The New York Times of June 24, 1916 screams: Gen. Wood ordered to Hurry Militia / War Department Directs That Units be Sent to Border as Soon as Fit. Many of the photos show the 7th New York parading down 5th Street, as they prepare to depart. One photo spread includes several images of motorcycle patrols along the border, with the partner in a sidecar, mule transports, the field artillery, with caissons lined up for some distance, as well as the rows of tents. Still another shows the contents of a soldier's knapsack and his weapons and ammunition. When the scrapbook is turned over, starting from the back, Mitchell's letters and postcards, and even telegrams have been inserted, most with paper clips, so they can be removed and read. There are at least 33 letters, 15 postcards, and 6 telegrams (many saying "letter sent, should arrive soon"). Mitchell was a company clerk, and occasionally had access to a typewriter. Those letters are much more easily read than his close hand. One of the early items is a copy of a phone message: Please send eyeglasses which I left either in my room or in sitting room. Ah, children! Of course, mother knows where everything is! Most letters are of the personal variety. He mentions camp life, but does not seem to mind it, even enjoying the experience. He says that he learns something every day and that he loves that aspect of service. He notes that the food is good, but he is tired of the same menu. He describes learning signal flags, machine gun use, the mules (they arrived without halters, so these New York City boys had to try to fashion temporary halters from rope - not entirely successfully). After they reached Texas, they encountered the desert weather. Some days it was so hot that they worked from 5:10 AM until about 10AM, then rested until 4 PM when they began drills. Other times they had sandstorms, then rain on top of sandstorms. One of the newspapers mentions the fact that Camp McAllen had gott