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José Doroteo Arango Arámbu, more commonly known as Pancho, or Fransisco Villa, was born on June 5th, 1878. He was born to Micaela Arambula and Agustin Arango, a field laborer. Villa was born in Hacienda de Rio Grande, Mexico.
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In 1893, his father passed away. He took over the family business and worked to support his 4 siblings and widowed mother. He was only 15.
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In 1894, now 16, Villa came home from the fields to find that the hacienda owner planned on assaulting his 12 year old sister. He shot the owner. He then fled to the mountains.
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Pancho hid in the mountains from 1894 to 1910. In 1896 Villa started a group of bandits and lead them to robbing the wealthy and committing offenses towards them. He was known as a modern day Robin Hood stealing from the rich in order to provide for the poor.
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Also in 1896, Villa went from being called Fransisco Villa to using his nickname Pancho Villa. He did this to avoid the law. No one knows why he chose the name he did. Some believe after his grandfather, others believe he got it from a bandit leader he looked up to.
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In October of 1910 Villa joined Francisco Madero’s uprising against the dictator of Mexico, Porfirio Díaz. Due to his ability to read, write, and his knowledge of the land, he was put in charge of a division of trained soldiers. He remained in the irregular army after the success of the revolution.
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In May of 1911, resigned. This was due to a difference between him and a fellow commander Pascual Orozco. He resigned as an exceptionally effective leader.
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May 29, 1911 Villa got married to Maria Luz Corral. It was during this time that Madero became president of Mexico and political unrest led to Villa's support of Madero. He gathered troops and began working with General Victoriano Huerta, who then accused him of stealing his horse and ordered that Villa be executed.
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From June to December of 1912 Villa was forced to stay in jail. Meanwhile Madero was killed by Huerto who then went on to take presidency. On December 27th 1912, Villa fled from prison to ally himself with Carranza to battle Huerta.
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While Mexico was still wrapped up in a civil war, Pancho Villa and Venustiano Carranza turned against each other. The United States chose to support Carranza. Villa grew angry and killed 18 Americans in January. On March 9th of 1916 Villa led a raid on Columbus, New Mexico. After the raid on Columbus, several thousand soldiers were sent over the border in search of Pancho Villa. They searched for over a year, but never found him.
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Huerta convinced Villa to retire and received a hacienda as part of the deal. However, after only three years of retirement, he was shot by while sitting in his car and died. The killer was never identified or caught. This occurred on July 20, 1923.
