The Battle of Ambos Nogales Centennial and the Forgotten, Painful Origins of the U.S.-Mexico Border Fences

A version of this photo essay appeared as an article in the August 24, 2018, edition of the Nogales International; special thanks to editor Jonathan Clark for allowing me to contribute to the local paper's coverage of the battle's centennial

Boundary Monument 121 watches over Ambos Nogales from a high hilltop next to the U.S.-Mexico border fence.

A century ago on Aug. 27, 1918, Mexicans and Americans fought one another at the Battle of Ambos Nogales, leaving as many as 129 Mexicans and four Americans dead, and approximately 330 wounded.
There was another toll as well: the previously open border between Nogales, Ariz. and Nogales, Sonora.

As a result of the battle, the two Nogaleses became the first cities on the U.S.-Mexico border to be divided by permanent border fences.

The "Monument to the Heroes" (Monumento a los Heroes) in the center of Heroica Nogales, Sonora, commemorates the Mexican citizens who died defending the city from the U.S. Army on August 27, 1918.

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