Pancho Villa
José Doroteo Arango Arámbula – better known by his made up name, Francisco Villa or his nickname Pancho Villa – was one of the most prominent Mexican Revolutionary generals. Pancho Villa was born Doroteo Arango into a life of poverty where he experienced the harshness of peasant life. During the late 19th century, the rich were getting even richer and taking advantage of the lower class often using them like slaves. When Villa was fifteen years old, his father died and he was forced tostart working as a sharecropper to help support his family. In 1894, Villa came home to find the owner of the hacienda was trying to have sex with his twelve year old sister. Villa, sixteen at the time, grabbed a pistol and shot him, and then took off to the mountains. From 1894 to 1910, Villa spent his life running from the law, until, he joined some bandits and soon after became their leader. Villa and his group of bandits would steal cattle, rob shipments of money, and commit additional crimes against the wealthy. In doing so, he was getting back at the rich for taking advantage of him and his lower class people. By stealing from the rich and often giving to the poor, some saw Pancho Villa as a modern-day Robin Hood . During this time, Doroteo Arango began using the name Francisco "Pancho" Villa, Pancho being a nickname for Francisco. Many saw Villa's bandit skills as an advantage in the revolution. These men understood that Villa could be a great guerrilla fighter. Since Porfirio Diaz damaged Mexico by not allowing the lower class to have any say in the government, Villa decided to fight on Madero's cause and agreed to be a leader in the revolutionary army. From October 1910 to May 1911 , Villa was a strong revolutionary leader until, May 1911 when Villa resigned because of differences he had with another commander, Pascual Orozco, Jr. In the spring of 1912, Orozco challenged Madero by starting a new rebellion because he was angry that he did not get "rightful" place in government when Madero came back into power. Villa gathered troops and worked with General Victoriano Huerta to support Madero. In June 1912, Huerta accused Villa of stealing a horse and ordered him to be executed. Villa remained in prison from June 1912 to December 27, 1912, when he escaped. When Huerta killed Madero soon after Villa's escape, Villa then allied himself with Venustiano Carranza to fight against Huerta. The next few years, Villa was very successful winning battle after battle. In the summer of 1914, Carranza and Villa split starting a civil war. The United States took the side of Carranza. When Villa attacked Columbus, New Mexico Americans sent thousands of soldiers over the bored to capture him because it was the first attack on American soil since 1812. However, he was never found. Villa retired from revolutionary life in 1920 but had only a short retirement for he was gunned down in his car on July 20, 1923.