Emil Ludwig "Lewis" Holmdahl (August 26, 1883– April 8, 1963) was an American soldier of fortune, infantryman, machine gunner, spy, gun runner, and treasure hunter who fought under Frederick Funston and John J. Pershing in the Spanish–American War and subsequent Philippine–American War (Philippine Insurrection), under Lee Christmas in Central America, under Francisco Madero, Pancho Villa, and Venustiano Carranza in the Mexican Revolution, and under John J. Pershing again in World War I. In 1926, Holmdahl was accused of having stolen Francisco "Pancho" Villa's head.
Born to Swedish–American immigrants on August 26, 1883 in Fort Dodge, Iowa, Holmdahl enlisted in the 51st Iowa Volunteers during the Spanish–American War, and subsequent Philippine–American War. When the rest of his regiment returned to the states, the now 16 year old Holmdahl opted to stay, joining the forces of the mercenary leader Edmund F. English to fight in China. Holmdahl reenlisted in the US Army's 20th Infantry Regiment, and spent the next several years learning jungle warfare and sharpshooting. At 22 he was one of the young sergeants in the regiment. Holmdahl returned to the US in 1906, just in time for the infamous earthquake.
Knowledgeable in jungle fighting techniques and soldiering, Holmdahl joined the mercenary troops of Lee Christmas in Honduras and Nicaragua. Christmas supported the Honduran President Manuel Bonilla against an invasion by Nicaragua in 1907 and fought to oust the Nicaraguan dictator Jose Santos Zelaya. Bonilla's counter offensive forced Nicaraguan troops to retreat. The American mercenary army led by Christmas played a major role in this action. In the fall of 1909, Zelaya left Managua. Holmdahl fought alongside, Sam Dreben and Tracy Richardson, two other American soldiers of fortune. They were highly paid and coveted as machine gun experts as the guns had recently become an important tactical weapon in warfare. The weapons were often unreliable and temperamental and those who could operate them well were almost exclusively former American soldiers.
Holmdahl returned to the United States in 1909. A severe recession in the United States that affected the Mexican economy combined with an Porfirio Díaz, an aging dictator who refused to allow free elections, created unrest all over Mexico. Holmdahl took a security job at a railroad company with the task to fight "bandits." Supposedly switching sides when he realized that the "bandits" were Insurrectos, launching the Costa Oeste Campaign against the federalist government. Holmdahl joined Francisco Madero's forces in the spring of 1911. Within months of an armed uprising that started in Chihuahua, Porfirio Díaz went into exile. Now a major, Holmdahl remained a member of the Mexican army through the spring of 1913. His first assignment took him to Morelos where he joined federal troops in a fight against Emiliano Zapata. Holmdahl also joined the Mexican Secret Service under the command of Felix A. Sommerfeld in the same period. As a machine gunner in Pancho Villa's irregulars he decimated Pascual Orozco's rebel forces, while relating important intelligence to Sommerfeld in El Paso. "We knocked the Hell out of him [Orozco] and his troops later while with Villa at San Andres where I earned the Legion of Honor medal."
When President Madero died in a coup d'état in February 1913, Holmdahl immediately joined the Constitutionalist forces under the command of Venustiano Carranza. After fighting in Sonora, the soldier of fortune was seriously injured and spent several months recovering in Douglas, Arizona. Still "thin and pale … but … cheerful," Holmdahl was assigned to Villa's forces around the beginning of November 1913. In the summer of 1914, the combined Constitutionalist forces ousted General Victoriano Huerta, who had usurped the presidency from Madero over a year prior. Not able to reconcile their differences, Pancho Villa and Venustiano Carranza split and started a new civil war in 1915. Holmdahl chose to remain with Carranza and helped smuggle arms and ammunition across the border into Mexico. Holmdahl was promptly caught, indicted, tried, and convicted in El Paso in the fall of 1915 for gunrunning. While free on bond, Holmdahl tried to re-join the US army but was rejected as a result of his felony conviction. Finally, in March 1916, in the aftermath of Pancho Villa's attack on Columbus, New Mexico, his application was approved. Holmdahl joined the Pancho Villa Expedition under the command of John J. Pershing as a scout.
As a prerequisite to join the US military permanently to fight in World War I, Holmdahl had to get his felony conviction overturned. He appealed to former commanders of his, Hugh L. Scott, by 1917 Army Chief of Staff, and John J. Pershing, the designated commander of the expeditionary forces, as well as members of Congress and the Mayor of El Paso Thomas Calloway Lea Jr. for a presidential pardon. Finally, in July 1917 Holmdahl received his pardon, joined the 6th Engineers and shipped out to France. After he returned to the US and worked selling off military surplus, Holmdahl left the US Army permanently in 1920.
In the early 1920s, Holmdahl became obsessed with finding "Pancho Villa's gold." Folklore had it that Villa hid millions of dollars in gold bullion somewhere in the Sierra Madre Mountains. Holmdahl organized several treasure hunting expeditions but did not find the gold. In 1926, while on a treasure hunting expedition, he stopped in Hidalgo del Parral, Chihuahua. There federal police arrested Holmdahl and a companion and charged them with having vandalized Pancho Villa's grave and taken his head. Holmdahl was released after Ben F. Williams utilized his knowledge of Mexican law and his influence with Mayor Antonio Martinez to issue an order for his release. Villa's head was never recovered. While Holmdahl maintained his innocence until his death, the suspicion remains that he stole the head for an American customer. While there are many theories of who vandalized Villa's grave and who took the head, one rumor claims that Villa's skull ended up in the secret Skull and Bones Society at Yale University.
Emil Holmdahl died "on April 8, 1963, while loading his automobile with his prospecting tools..." age at the age of 79.
Early life
Emil Ludwig "Lewis" Holmdahl was born on August 26, 1883, in the Swedetown area of Fort Dodge, Iowa, to Swedish-American parents, Frans "Frank" Emil Holmdahl and his wife Cecelia Andrina Olson, the 6th of 7, or possibly 8, children. His siblings were Amanda Esther Holmdahl (1875–?), Andrew Licerus Holmdahl (1876–?), August Emmanuel Holmdahl (1878–?), Monville A. "Monty" Holmdahl (1879-1956), Hedvig Nathaniel "Edward" Holmdahl (1881–1955), and Minnie A. Holmdahl (1886–1968). Both of his parents were immigrants from Sweden, his father worked for the Fort Dodge Gas and Electric Company as did two of his brothers, although they lived a rural farming lifestyle. Little is known about Holmdahl's early life but he appears to be something of an adventurous but troublesome child, often getting into trouble with his school and authorities. According to Douglas V. Meed, a historian and expert on 19th and early 20th century American history, Holmdahl loved "Rudyard Kipling's stories" and tales of exotic battle. His father left home when Holmdahl was young to start a new family in California, as he had done this previously in St. Paul, Minnesota. His father's escapades may have influenced Holmdahl's extraordinary wanderlust that resulted in the life that he would lead later in life.Nelson- Soldier of fortune: Emil Holmdahl of Fort Dodge fought in wars around the world The young Holmdahl did not get much of a formal education, although he learned to read and to write, and would be known for his "exquisite handwriting and signature".Meed, Soldier of Fortune, p. 1
US military service
Spanish–American War
The Spanish–American War had broken out in 1898 shortly after the USS Maine exploded off the coast of Cuba and US president William McKinley had issued a call for arms requesting 50,000 volunteers to bolster the regular army, however the Army would eventually receive 220,000, vastly higher than the requested 50,000. Holmdahl had a new sense of adventure and patriotism and wanted to take part. Holmdahl's older brother Monty had already enlisted, but Holmdahl was only 15 years old and was 2 years off from being allowed to enlist at the minimum age of 17. Holmdahl desperately wanted to join the war however and went to a recruiting office to enlist, where a grizzled sergeant could tell he was underage and told him to wait a few years. Holmdahl was concerned the war would be over by then and so took his small amount of savings and went to a different recruiting office. He hired a man to act as his father, and had him tell the recruiters that he was of age. The plan worked and he successfully enlisted in the 51st Iowa Volunteer Infantry Regiment as a rifleman.Meed, Soldier of Fortune pg 4
The 51st was mustered at Des Moines, Iowa, under the command of Col. John T. Loper, and began training at Camp McKinley. In May, the regiment had received orders to travel west to San Francisco join the Philippine Campaign, and by May 30 the regiment consisted of fifty officers and 789 enlisted men. The 51st set out towards San Francisco by train in groups, with portions of the regiment leaving Des Moines on June 5, and the entire regiment arriving by 11th.McSherry- A Brief History of the 51st Iowa Volunteer Infantry
Holmdahl and the 51st were first sent to Camp Merritt and shortly afterwards to Camp Merriam at the Presidio, the military base close to the San Francisco harbor, which by now consisted of 50 officers and 1,336 enlisted men. Holmdahl and the 51st spent four and a half months training there and acclimating to life as volunteer soldiers primarily preparing for the Philippines. Morale was high among the 51st as conditions were relatively luxurious as they were able to sleep in tents with rubber blankets on bottom, wool on top, good rations, and even got to participate in football games with other units. The team from the 51st Iowa, which may have contained Holmdahl beat Berkeley, 6–0.Vogt- The Fighting 51st Iowa in the Philippines pg 5 While in California, the regiment received news of the armistice in the Philippines on August 13, 1898, immediately after the Battle of Manila, which was to the great annoyance of Holmdahl who was not happy to miss out on the "action". After months in California, the morale began to fade as disease began to make its way to the 51st, and two soldiers, Private Barton J. Brown, aged 18 and Private Louis Dunn, aged 23, died of disease. The regiment would lose 27 men to disease before even leaving for the Philippines.
Philippine–American War