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PANCHO VILLA
1878 - 1923
Pancho was Mexican, a teetotaler, and was (and still
is today) pretty controversial.
Pancho Villa,
also called Francisco Villa,
was originally
Doroteo Arango, but Pancho caught on better with anyone who felt
like joining the fight against Mexican dictator
Porfirio Díaz.
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Pancho Villa was busy during the
Mexican Revolution. He might or might not have raided
Columbus, New Mexico, in 1916.
In any event, as a consequence of the
Columbus Raid, the US sent
John J. Pershing after Pancho Villa.
In effect, Villa controlled Chihuahua
for 2 years. |
Luis Aguirre Benavides was
Pancho's secretary. Another good friend of Villa's was
Rodolfo
Fierro, who passionately did all of Pancho's dirty work.
Arguably the best trained soldier in the field of the Mexican
Revolution was Villa's general
Felipe Ángeles.
Doroteo Arango without hat
Archivo Histórico, Universidad
Nacional Autónoma de México
Pancho Villa - Early Years
Pancho was born on June 5,
1878, at the Rancho de la Coyotada on the Hacienda del Rio Grande,
one of the largest haciendas in the state of Durango. The hacienda
owner was the López Negrete family.
Francisco "Pancho" Villa was baptized
Doroteo Arango. There are different opinions about his real
name.
Pancho Villa's Family
Pancho Villa's father was
Agustín Arango. His mother was María Micaela Arambula.
The couple worked as sharecroppers on the hacienda.
Pancho's father died when he was five
years old.
Pancho Villa had four siblings. His brothers were
Antonio and Hipólito. Pancho's sister was
Martina.
OL' PANCHO
Bettmann Archive
Pancho Villa's Looks
Pancho Villa's physical
appearance is described as tall, as a matter of fact taller than
Zapata, robust, approx. 180 rounds, with a light complexion.
PANCHO VILLA AND AMIGOS READY TO RUMBLE
Instituto
Nacional de Antropología e Historia
Pancho Villa's Love Life and Offspring
If you think Elizabeth Taylor
got married often, check this guy out. Pancho promised marriage to
girls all over the place. Thus, he ended up having many kids by many
girls. In other words, if you find out that you are related to
Pancho Villa, don't be surprised.
He might or might not have married
Petra Espinoza in Parral.
After just a brief courtship, Pancho
Villa married Maria Luz Corral. He convinced the priest that
neither one would really have the time for his confession before the
marriage. This
relationship ended in 1921.
PANCHO VILLA AND HIS WIFE LUZ
CORRAL
El Paso
Library
Juana Torres was also married to
Pancho at some point. Juana's love faded when Pancho Villa put
Juana's mother and sister in prison for stealing his money.
Among others, Pancho also married
Soledad Seañez and Austreberta Renterta.
So how did he pull it off? Pancho became
a pro for simulated marriages. After the ceremony, he told the judge
to burn the official papers. That simple.
Pancho had a son named
Augustin.
Augustin's mother was Asuncion Villaescusa.
Pancho had a daughter named
Reynalda.
Not sure about her mother.
Pancho had a daughter named
Micaela.
Micaela's mother was Petra Espinoza.
PANCHO VILLA
Library of
Congress
Pancho Villa's
Assassination
Pancho Villa was assassinated
on July 20, 1923. Villa was in his Dodge Sedan with his bodyguards, driving from Parral
home to Canutillo.
A street vendor was waving to him at the
intersection Benito Juarez / Gabino Barveda. Pancho slowed his car to return the greeting and the
vendor shouted "¡Viva Villa!". The shout was a signal for a squad of
gunmen concealed in a house by the roadside.
They opened fire, the car swerved off
the road and crashed into a tree. Villa was killed instantly, riddled by
seven, some say nine, bullets. Four of his bodyguards were killed with him.
Among the ones killed were:
Trillo
(the chauffeur), and Daniel Tamayo (Villa's assistant). Three
members of his escort were wounded: Rafael Medrano,
Ramón
Contreras, and Claro Hurtado.
Villa was buried in the Parral cemetery.
On February 6, 1926, grave robbers had a field day. Pancho Villa's
head disappeared and was never recovered. Of course there were all
kind of rumors where the head went.
Several months after Pancho Villa's
killing, Jesús Salas Barrazas, the congressman for the Eloro
district of Durango, was arrested and charged with the murder of
Pancho Villa. Barrazas claimed innocence but, on September 13, 1923, was convicted and
sentenced to 20 years in prison. He served only 6 months.
Shortly before his death in 1951,
Barrazas confessed to being one of the seven men who had ambushed
Villa.
PANCHO VILLA ON HORSEBACK
Archivo Histórico, Universidad
Nacional Autónoma de México
Pancho Villa's Legacy
In 1976, President Luis
Echeverría dedicated the Monument of the Revolution in Mexico
City. Once more but this time by presidential decree, Pancho, or
what was left of him, was dug out and re-buried in Mexico City
alongside Francisco Madero and
Venustiano Carranza.
Pancho's girl Austreberta and
some of his children were present at the ceremony.
Luz Corral
didn't show. She said the only proper place to bury Pancho Villa
would have been the crypt in Chihuahua.
In 1979, a statue of Pancho Villa was
erected in Tuscon, Arizona. Talk about split reaction.
Pancho Villa All-Time Records
In his book The Life &
Times of Pancho Villa, author Friedrich Katz speculates that, "Pancho
Villa's División del Norte was probably the largest
revolutionary army that Latin America ever produced."
GENERAL PANCHO VILLA
Archivo Histórico, Universidad
Nacional Autónoma de México
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