23. Pancho Villa’s Unexpected Final Words
Pancho Villa’s side won, but the victorious allies fell out again. He fared poorly in this third round, and suffered repeated setbacks. By 1915, he was reduced to a small band hiding in the hills of Chihuahua, and America shifted its support from Villa to his opponents. Feeling betrayed, he began attacking American interests in northern Mexico, and in 1916, crossed the US-Mexico border and attacked the town of Columbus, New Mexico. America responded with a military expedition to Mexico, to hunt down Villa. He eluded the Americans, and his popularity rose among Mexicans resentful of the intrusion.
Villa continued a low-scale guerrilla campaign until 1920 when he made peace and recognized the Mexican government in exchange for an amnesty and a 25,000-acre hacienda. In 1923, he announced plans to run for president. Soon thereafter, his car was ambushed and shot up, and he was fatally wounded. The violent death of a violent man is not exactly unexpected, but Villa’s final words were pretty unexpected. He figured that his interesting life should end with an interesting final statement. However, he could think of nothing memorable as he lay dying. So Pancho Villa’s last words were: “Don’t let it end like this! Tell them I said something!”
