Villa
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
FRANCISCO (PANCHO), a Mexican bandit leader, born in Chihuahua, the date being unknown even to himself, as he was the son of ignorant peon parents, Indian by race. Villa first became prominent in 1910, when he appeared as a guerrilla gu leader during the revolutionary troubles, definitely espousing the cause of Carranza, when the latter began his campaign against President Huerta of the Republic, the slayer of the previous President, Francisco Madero. Carranza made Villa leader of the army advancing against Mexico City. The main resistance of the Huerta partisans was made at Torreon, where Villa, leading a much inferior force, distinguished himself by his brilliant and daring tactics, exciting the admiration of military strategists in all parts of the world. After his success and elevation to the Presidency, however, Carranza disagreed with Villa, denouncing him as a bandit, whereupon the latter declared war against the Carranza government and returned to his guerrilla tactics in the mountains. To create difficult relations between Carranza and the Government of the United States, Villa and his followers, early in 1916, crossed the international boundary and attacked the town of Columbus, N. M., killing a number of citizens and setting fire to a number of houses. The United States immediately despatched a large cavalry force across the frontier in pursuit of Villa and his band, which achieved no success, but brought about a very critical situation between the two countries. In 1920 Villa was pardoned by the new revolutionary government and granted a farm as a subsidy.
What Has Changed in the Last Century
When Collier's wrote this in 1921, Villa had just been pardoned and settled on a farm — the hacienda of Canutillo in Durango. He was shot dead in an ambush at Parral, Chihuahua, on 20 July 1923, and in 1926 his grave was broken open and the head taken; it has never been recovered. The "bandit leader" of Collier's has since been made an official hero of the Revolution: his name was inscribed in gold in the Chamber of Deputies in 1966 and his remains were moved to the Monument to the Revolution in Mexico City in 1976. Scholars also place his birth not in Chihuahua but at San Juan del Río, Durango, where he was born Doroteo Arango, usually dated 1878 — a date Collier's says he did not himself know.
Written for this edition, 2026.