pancho villa

Pancho Villa

(1878-1923) — Mexican Revolutionary General

By Bob Hilson

Francisco “Pancho” Villa, hero or outlaw?

Villa was known worldwide in the late 1800s and early 1900s as a bandit, cattle thief and prison escapee who later became a military leader during the Mexican Revolution. He was also known – albeit in smaller circles within Mexico --- as a passionate advocate for the poor who gave much of his ill-gotten gains to less fortunate Mexicans, which earned him a “Robin Hood” moniker.

“My sole ambition is to rid Mexico of the class that has oppressed her and give the people a chance to know what real liberty means,” Villa once said. “And if I could bring that about today by giving up my life, I would do it gladly. I am not an educated man. I never had an opportunity to learn anything except how to fight.”

From 1894 to roughly 1910, Villa and his band of marauders routinely stole cattle, robbed shipments of money and committed crimes against wealthy Mexicans, with much of their cache going to poor.

Villa later led uprisings against two Mexican leaders during the Mexican Revolution. His efforts were initially supported by U.S. officials. However, Villa’s U.S. backing began to dwindle, which led him to retaliate and organize a raid on the small town of Columbus, New Mexico, near Mexico’s northern boundary, where his bandits ravaged the area and killed 19 people.

He Was Never Captured

Angered by the boldness of the raid, U.S. President Woodrow Wilson sent thousands of soldiers across the border to track down and arrest Villa during an 11-month manhunt. However, Villa --- beloved and protected in much of northern Mexico as well as highly skilled in its treacherous mountain terrain -- toyed with the U.S. military and was never captured.

Villa’s life, both as a military leader and on the run from U.S. soldiers, became legendary. Villa was the ultimate showman, who thrived on media attention and being photographed. Despite leading the deadly attack on the U.S., Villa basked in the attention of Hollywood movie makers --- even as law officers tried to track him down.

Villa was the subject of many books and he appeared in five Hollywood movies from 1912 to 1916. He brazenly starred as himself in several big screen productions – all while on the run from U.S. officers.

Born Doroteo Arango in San Juan del Rio, Durango, Mexico in 1878, Villa worked on his sharecropper parents’ farm during his early years. He became the head of the household upon his father’s death when he was 15. He was fiercely protective of his family and reportedly shot a man for harassing his sister, causing him to flee to the Mexican mountains.

While on the run, he joined a group of fugitives and became a bandit. To avoid capture, he changed his name to Pancho Villa. He was assassinated in 1923 in Parral, Mexico.
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His ability to avoid capture and his military and leadership skills enthralled not only countless U.S. citizens, but people all over the world. Crowds still flock to his burial site in Mexico City.

 

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