No longer having a war to fight, many of these deserters turned to banditry, and like in the decades before, saw the ranches on the American side of the international border as easy targets.

[1] Elmo and Ada Johnson made a living raising livestock and operating a trading post that was open to people from both sides of the river.

Apart from a few Mexican homes on the southern side of the Rio Grande, the Johnson family lived in almost complete isolation; the closest population center was in Alpine, Texas, 150 miles to the north.

This made it the perfect target for Mexican bandits, who could easily cross the river and take whatever they wanted back to Mexico long before the United States Army or the Border Patrol could respond.

Having crossed 160 miles of the sparsely populated Chihuahuan Desert to arrive at their destination, the Mexicans made camp in the mesquite bosque adjacent to the river, near a massive cottonwood tree that was a sort of landmark in the area.

[1] The first thing Johnson did after the Mexicans were gone was to inform the Border Patrolmen George Dennis and Shelly Barnes, who drove to Castolon to report the raid to Chief Patrol Inspector Earl Falis in Marfa.

The next few days were spent patrolling the vast openness of the West Texas desert, but no enemies were spotted and the cavalrymen soon returned to Camp Marfa.

During this time, Smithers brought up the idea of allowing the United States Army Air Corps to establish an airbase on the ranch property, which was located in a remote but highly strategic position in the Big Bend.

Johnson agreed with Smithers, who in turn spoke with his old friend, Colonel Arthur G. Fisher, the 8th Corps Area air officer, who was stationed in San Antonio.

Fisher then consulted with Major Robert J. Haplin, assistant chief of staff of the 8th Corps Area, as well as the senior military intelligence officer in the area, who agreed to support the project, thinking it would be an excellent place to gather intelligence about activities along the Mexican border and also a good staging point for combat operations, in case of another border emergency.

Though they never went into action, the "Border Raid Mission" provided many young American pilots with valuable flight experience that helped prepare them for the rigorous service in World War II ten years later.