Camp Llano Grande

Duane's take

The official marker is what I'm going on here, folks, so let's see what it has to say. Somewhere out in Hidalgo County, the land still holds a memory most folks drive right past without a second thought. The memory of Camp Llano Grande.

Now picture this. The year is 1916. Down along the Rio Grande, Mexican bandit raids are pushing into U.S. territory, and the response is soldiers.

Lots of soldiers. The Army strings a whole line of encampments along the river, and one of them, sitting on more than two hundred acres of South Texas ground, is Camp Llano Grande. National Guard units come pouring in.

Indiana. Nebraska. Minnesota.

North Dakota. Four states worth of young men, planted down in a land that probably felt like the far end of the earth to a boy from the northern plains. South of the railroad tracks you'd find the parade grounds, the tent encampments, the stock pens.

And on the other side, a proper headquarters building, a commissary, recreational facilities. This wasn't just a huddle of tents thrown up in a hurry. This was a camp built to function.

They occupied that ground through 1916 and into 1917. And then, in March of 1917, it was over. The camp was abandoned.

Now here's where the story takes a turn that ought to sit with you a little while. One month after those soldiers packed up and walked away from Llano Grande, the United States entered World War I. One month.

The men who had been guarding the Rio Grande were called again, and this time the road led all the way to France. Two hundred acres of South Texas. Four states worth of soldiers.

One month between the end of one duty and the beginning of something far larger and far darker. Camp Llano Grande didn't last long, but the men who passed through it sure weren't done yet.

What the marker says

Occupied in 1916-17 by Indiana, Nebraska, Minnesota and North Dakota National Guard units, Camp Llano Grande was one of a line of encampments established along the Rio Grande in response to Mexican bandit raids into the U.S. Covering over 200 acres, it included a headquarters building, commissary, and recreational facilities. South of the railroad tracks were parade grounds, tent encampments, and stock pens. The camp was abandoned in March 1917, one month before the U.S. entered World War I, and former Llano Grande troops were called for war service in France. Texas Sesquicentennial 1836 - 1986