Camp Michie

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and here's how I'm gonna pass it along to you. Out here in Val Verde County, there's a story about a camp that wore two names and stood guard over some of the most critical ground in the American Southwest. It starts in the 1910s, when the military established a post along the U.S.-Mexico border.

They called it Camp Del Rio back then, and its purpose was as serious as the times demanded: securing the border during the Mexican Revolution. Troops stationed there weren't just watching the river. They were guarding railroad bridges, including the High Bridge across the Pecos River, and other strategic points up and down the line.

Now, why did those bridges matter so much? Because those tracks were a vital link, the marker says vital, for moving men and equipment between the Pacific Coast and the Gulf of Mexico during World War I. You take out a bridge, you break a chain that stretched from one coast to the other.

Those soldiers knew it. Then came 1920, and the camp got a new name. It was renamed Camp Michie, in honor of Brigadier General Robert Edward Lee Michie, who died in combat in France in 1918.

A name change like that carries weight. It means somebody looked at this dusty border post and said, this place ought to carry a hero's name. And so it did.

Not for long, though. By 1923, the federal government officially closed the camp and surplused the property. Two names, one mission, and then quiet.

That's Camp Michie.

What the marker says

The military estabilshed Camp Michie, formerly known as Camp Del Rio, during the 1910s to serve forces assigned to secure the U.S.-Mexico border during the Mexican Revolution. As part of that duty, troops guarded railroad bridges along the border, including the High Bridge across the Pecos River and other strategic points. This task was important, as the tracks were a vital link for moving men and equipment between the Pacific Coast and the Gulf of Mexico during World War I. In 1920, the camp was renamed Camp Michie in honor of Brigadier General Robert Edward Lee Michie, who died in combat in France in 1918. The federal government officially closed the camp and surplused the property in 1923. (2006)