At 3 a.m. on April 13, 1919, Mounted Watchman Clarence M. Childress and Mounted Watchman Leroy D. Straw, were on duty near El Paso, Texas. A group of men came to the border line where two held down the barbed wire fence while the others crossed to into America with sacks on their backs. The aliens fired on the officers who returned fire. While pursuing smugglers, Childress indicated he had been shot. Straw proceeded to the point where the smugglers had abandoned their contraband expecting Childress to return. When Childress failed to return to the scene, Straw became concerned and proceeded to a house where a telephone was available. He learned that Childress had been seriously wounded and was being cared for pending the arrival of an ambulance. An emergency operation was performed on Mounted Watchman Childress but failed to recover passing on April 16, 1919.