A Bandit Folk Hero Who Couldn’t Think of Anything To Say
Francisco “Pancho” Villa (1878 – 1923) was born into a family of sharecroppers in the Mexican state of Durango, and raised in poverty. He received some elementary education in early childhood, but had not progressed beyond basic literacy when his father died and he was forced to quit school and help his mother. Villa worked a variety of menial jobs, interspersed with stints of banditry with local gangs. At age sixteen, he reportedly killed his first man, a hacienda owner whom he accused of assaulting his sister. He then stole his victim’s horse and fled to the hills. They became his base for years to come as he turned to full time banditry. Captured in 1902, he was spared the death penalty, and inducted into the Mexican army instead. Soon thereafter, he killed an officer, stole his horse, deserted, and returned to banditry.
In 1910, when the Mexican Revolution began, Villa was persuaded that he could fight for the people by directing his banditry against hacienda owners. He turned out to be good at the revolution’s style of warfare, and was instrumental in defeating the government’s forces in northern Mexico. He 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, Villa announced plans to run for president, but soon thereafter, his car was ambushed and shot up, and he was fatally wounded. He realized that a life as interesting as his should end with interesting last words. However, he was unable to think of anything memorable. So his last words as he lay dying were: “Don’t let it end like this. Tell them I said something“.
