Pancho Villa and his Men
Pancho Villa y sus Hombres

Pancho Villa and his Men

The image shows Pancho Villa and his men. Villa is the fourth man from the right in the front row. Pancho Villa (1878-1923) was a Mexican revolutionary leader who advocated for the poor. Though he was a killer and a bandit, many remember him as a folk hero. Born into a poor family, he learned the gap between the rich and the poor in Mexico in the end of the 19th century the hard way. After having shot the owner of the hacienda on which his family lived and worked with the age of 16, Villa ran from the law and became the leader of a group of bandits. Because of his skills as a guerilla fighter, he caught the attention of men who were planning a revolution. Since Porfirio Diaz, the sitting president of Mexico, had created much of the current problems for the poor and Francisco Madero promised change for the lower classes, Pancho Villa joined Madero and became an effective leader in the revolutionary army from October 1910 to May 1911. Together with Madero and Pascual Orozco, he commanded the troops during the Battle of Juarez, which led to the resignation of Porfirio Diaz. However, in May 1911, he resigned from command because of differences he had with Orozco. Villa married Maria Luz Corral and tried to settle down. When Orozco started a new rebellion against Madero, who had become Mexican President, Villa supported Madero together with General Victoriano Huerta. When Huerta became a Madero adversary and eventually killed him to claim the presidency for himself, Villa allied himself with Venustiano Carranza to fight against Huerta. Pancho Villa was extremely successful, but in the summer of 1914, Villa and Carranza, became enemies and fought against each other for the next several years. The United States supported Carranza, which is why Villa attacked the town of Columbus, New Mexico, in 1916. His attack was the first on American soil since 1812. Under the leadership of General Pershing, the U.S. sent thousands of soldiers across the border to hunt for Pancho Villa (Punitive Expedition), but they never caught him. When Adolfo De la Huerta became the interim president of Mexico in 1920, Villa agreed to retire from revolutionary life but was gunned down in 1923.

Area: Out of Area / Out of Area

Collection: Franklin Lee Cleavenger

Source: University of Texas at El Paso Library - Special Collections Department

Reference ID: PH070-05--39

Uploaded by: El Paso Museum of History

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From what I have been told, my great grandfather was one of Villa’s Dorados. His name was José Miguel Melendez, but I cannot find any information on him.

My grandfather is Rudolfo Fierro.

Does anyone know the name of the soldier third from the right ? The “guerro” as I was told is my great grandfather.

My great great uncle was Rudolfo Fierro....My grandma Emilia Fierro was his niece....De Moqorito Sinaloa

My Grandmothers brother, Meliton Lozoya, shot Pancho Villa who died in front of my mothers childhood home. There was bad blodd between the Lozoyas and Villa after he whipped and drug one of the sons through the desert behind horses.

I just found out that one of my family members where with pancho villa to thats cool.

It is reported that my father’s father also rode with Pancho Villa under the name of Jesus Valadez. Supposedly after Jesus killed someone, he ran away to south Texas and changed his last name to Flores. My father took us to the PV museum in the 1970s where we saw the car (he was assassinated in) and met his widow. She signed a glossy B&W picture of him. Would love to know more. Thank you for this forum.

My Grandmother says her Grandfather rode with Pancho Villa. His name was Francisco "Panchillo" Gonzalez. He was his helper/errand boy. I can't find a muster roll anywhere with the names of the "Dorados". If anyone finds them, please comment. Thank you in advance.

I’m told that my grandfather Miguel Reyes Cuellar wrote with Pancho Villa. But I can’t find any documentation on it.

If I had lived in Pancho's time, I think I would ha been a Villista.... Viva, Pancho's heritage and name

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