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Birth
On June 4, 1848, Pancho Villa was born in La Coyotada, Mexico. His full name was José Doroteo Arango Arámbula. He changed his name to Pancho Villa because the local police were after him so he changed it to Pancho (which is a nickname for Francisco) Villa. Now that i look back at this his name he changed it to was Francisco (which makes that Pancho thing make more sense his original name didn't have francisco in it) Pancho Villa. -
His nickname
Villa not only commanded the most feared cavalry in the world at the time, but he was also an outstanding horseman who personally rode into battle with his men. He was so often on horseback during the that he earned the nickname “the Centaur of the North.” -
Army retirement
Picking up a rifle and joining a revolution isn’t what most people consider a wise career move, but the fact remains that the revolution made Villa rich. A penniless bandit in 1910, when he “retired” from the constant warfare of the revolution in 1920 he had a large ranch with livestock, a pension and even land and money for his men. -
Living as a fugitive
In 1910, while still living as a fugitive, Pancho Villa joined Francisco's Madero successful uprising against Mexican dictator Porfirio Díaz. With Villa's skills as at reading, writing, fighting and his knowledge of the land, Madero was named a revolutionary leader and his company won the first Battle of Ciudad Juárez in 1911. The rebels eventually drove Díaz out of power, and Madero took the position of president, having named Villa a colonel. -
Governer
Even though he had no high ambitions, Villa proved while Governor of Chihuahua in 1913-1914 that he had a knack for public administration. He sent his men to help harvest crops, ordered the repair of railways and telegraph lines and imposed a ruthless code of law and order which even applied to his own troops. -
Battles
The fact that the majority of Villa's battles were on the northern border of Mexico brought the revolutionary to the spotlight in terms of photographs and stories covering the events in Mexico. And surprisingly, the bandit who once hid his presence and changed his name to avoid attention loved being photographed. He even signed a contract with Hollywood's Mutual Film Company in 1913 to have several of his battles filmed. -
Murderer
The U.S. supported Villa in more ways than simply behind a lens. . With Mexico's move towards democracy under Carranza, Woodrow withdrew his support of Villa the following year, leading to Villa kidnapping and killing 18 Americans in January 1916. Only months later, on March 9, 1916, Villa led several rebels in a raid of Columbus, New Mexico, where they ravaged the small town and killed 19 additional people. -
Criminal Record
Villa wasn’t afraid to get his hands dirty and personally killed many men on the battlefield and off of it. There were some jobs, however, that even he found too repulsive to do. Fortunately, he had Rodolfo Fierro, a sociopathic hit man who was fanatically loyal and fearless. According to legend, Fierro once shot a man dead to see if he would fall forward or backward. The loss of Fierro on campaign in 1915 was a huge blow to Villa. -
never drank alcohol
It’s at odds with his macho-man image, but Pancho Villa never drank. During the revolution, he allowed his men to drink, but he never did until late in his life after his 1920 peace with Alvaro Obregon