coming the head of a
large family at the age of
- Five years later, he
killed a man attempting
to rape his sister and fled
to the mountains of nor-
thern Mexico. Restless
and angered by privilege,
Doroteo joined a bandit
gang headed by Ignacio
Parra, who specialized in
rustling cattle. Once
Parra was killed, Doroteo
adopted the name Fran-
cisco “Pancho” Villa after
a legendary bandit and
formed his own band.
Villa proved clever, suc-
cessful, and utterly ruth-
less toward his victims,
mostly rich landowners.
However, he demon-
strated a benevolent
streak by sharing his
plundered goods with the truly poor and
needy. In this manner Villa gained popular,
near-legendary status among the peasants of
Chihuahua as a modern-day Robin Hood. By
1909, the semiliterate bandit was among Mex-
ico’s most wanted criminals—and a popular
figure among Mexico’s downtrodden.
Villa’s villainous career dramatically
changed polarity in 1910, following the out-
break of the Mexican Revolution. Many peas-
ants, outraged by the excesses of the aristo-
cratic dictator Porfirio Diaz, rallied behind a
new reformer, Francisco Madero. Although
high-born, Madero treated his social inferiors
with kindness, and he allegedly was the first
aristocrat to accord Villa any genuine respect.
“This is a rich man who fights for the good of
the poor,” he declared. “If all the rich and
powerful in Mexico were like him, there
would be no suffering.” The former bandit
was smitten by such civility and threw his
weight behind Madero’s forces. Commencing
in 1910, when Villa defeated federal forces at
the town of San Andreas, he quickly estab-
lished himself as one of
Mexico’s most capable
military leaders. His repu-
tation was solidly con-
firmed in May 1911, when
he scored a smashing vic-
tory by capturing Ciudad
Juarez on the U.S. border.
This calamity forced Diaz
to resign from office, and
he fled to Europe. Ma-
dero then became presi-
dent, and expectations
ran high for much-needed
social reforms. Villa, who
evinced no interest in
politics, then settled
down and established a
meatpacking plant in
Chihuahua.
Unfortunately for Mex-
ico, the revolution had
gathered momentum and
was about to devour its
own children. What began as a crusade for so-
cial justice degenerated into an internecine
struggle between forceful personalities. Villa
came out of retirement and agreed to serve
the Madero regime, although he was subordi-
nate to Gen. Victoriano Huerta, another head-
strong leader. Owing to a clash of personali-
ties, Huerta nearly executed Villa for
insubordination in June 1912, when Madero
suddenly issued a last-minute reprieve. Villa
was then sent to Mexico City and jailed, but
he subsequently escaped and made his way to
Texas. He smoldered in El Paso for several
months, until March 1913, when Huerta
usurped the presidency, killing Madero in the
process. The loss of his former benefactor en-
raged the volatile Villa, and he reentered Mex-
ico determined to settle the score. Within
months he emerged as the undisputed leader
of the anti-Huerta forces in Chihuahua and
cleared that state of armed opposition. His
army, the Division of the North, was also the
best-equipped and best-led of the revolution-
ary armies. In December 1913, he scored an-VILLA, PANCHO
Pancho Villa
Bettmann/Corbis