Comprehensive information and links about Pancho Villa

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Biography

Doroteo Arango was born in San Juan del Río, Durango, in 1877. One theory claims he was the illegitimate son of Luis Férman Gurrola, a wealthy hacendado or rancher whose own father was an immigrant of Austrian-Jewish origin, and Micaela Arámbula de Arango, a maid. When Villa was 15, his father died, so Villa began to work as a sharecropper to help support his mother and four siblings.

One day in 1894, Villa came home from the fields to find that the owner of the hacienda raped Villa's 12-year old sister. Villa grabbed a pistol, shot the owner of the hacienda, and left to the mountains.

From 1894 to 1910, Villa spent most of his time in the mountains running from the law. At first he did what he could to survive by himself, but by 1896 he had joined some other bandits and soon became their leader. During this time he changed his name to Pancho Villa, perhaps naming himself after another bandit he met. Villa and his group of bandits would steal cattle, rob shipments of money, and commit additional crimes against the wealthy. By stealing from the rich and often giving to the poor, some saw Villa as a modern-day Robin Hood.

Villa underwent a transformation after meeting Abraham González, the political representative of Francisco Madero. González opened Villa's eyes to the political world. Villa then believed that he was fighting for the people.

In 1910, the Mexican Revolution began to overthrow the dictatorship of Porfirio Diaz. With U.S. support, Villa helped defeat the federal army of Díaz in favour of Madero in 1911. Madero became president of Mexico. On May 29, 1911, Villa married Maria Luz Corral and tried to settle down to a quiet life.

A rebellion started against Madero, so Villa gathered troops and worked with General Victoriano Huerta to support Madero. Huerta later accused Villa of stealing a horse and sentenced him to execution, but that sentence was later suspended. Villa was instead imprisoned but later escaped. He rebelled against Huerta, who had killed Madero for the presidency, and defeated him. Villa then captured, with Emiliano Zapata, Mexico City at the of the bloodiest period of the revolution in 1915. Villa's cavalry was no match for Alvaro Obregon's modern machine guns. As Villa's forces were crushed, Venustiano Carranza took charge of the government.

On March 9, 1916, Villa led 1,500 Mexican raiders in a cross-border attack against Columbus, New Mexico, in response to the U.S. government's official recognition of the Carranza regime. They attacked a detachment of the 13th US Cavalry, seized 100 horses and mules, burned the town, killed 16 of its residents, and took much ammunition and weaponry.

United States' President Woodrow Wilson responded by sending 6,000 troops under General John J. Pershing to Mexico to pursue Villa. In the U.S., this was known as the Pancho Villa Expedition. During the search, the United States launched its first air combat mission with eight airplanes. At the same time Villa was also being sought by Carranza's army. The U.S. expedition was eventually called off as a failure, and Villa successfully escaped from both armies.

In 1920, Villa ended his revolutionary actions. He was assassinated three years later in Parral, Chihuahua in his car. Though the assassins were never found there is suspicion that it was a government conspiracy. Villa is remembered as a folk hero in Mexico.

In 1926 grave robbers decapitated his corpse. His skull has yet to be found.

German involvement?

Contemporary historians debate whether Villa was involved with the Germans and how much aid and information passed through them. Some contend that the Germans encouraged Villa's actions against U.S. interests and his incursions into Texas and New Mexico, with the aim of fomenting instability on the southern border of a power they definitely did not want interfering in World War I. Other actions by the Germans, such as the Zimmermann Telegram, indicate a desire on their part to destabilize the United States. The extent of Villa's role as an abettor of German interests and receiver of German aid is still very much in question, but the idea would not seem to be in contradiction with his opportunistic tendencies.

Pancho Villa in films

Villa represented in films by himself in 1912, 1913, and 1914. Many other actors have represented him, such as:

. Guadalupe Villa y Rosa Helia Villa, editors. Mexico City, Mexico: Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México: Taurus: Santillana Ediciones Generales, c2003 (2004 printing). ISBN 9681913116