Francisco 'Pancho' Villa
Who is Francisco Villa, nicknamed Pancho Villa? He is one of the most famous historical figures of the Mexican Revolution in the years 1910 to 1920.
I didn't have a clue about this person before starting my trip. So, why visit two museums about him? In fact, while crossing the United States on the Trans-America Trail with my two bike partners, Thierry told me that Alvaro's nickname was 'Pancho Villa.' He told me about this revolutionary leader and the films and soap operas about him in Spain. This piqued my interest.
The Mexican Revolution started in 1910 after the 35-year presidency of Porfirio Díaz. In that year, the 80-year-old president tried to get elected again, but this time the election was strongly contested. It was the catalyst to the Mexican Revolution. For nearly 10 years, the government went through many changes, leaders, and internal conflicts.
During this revolution, Pancho Villa, has been a famous general for the Division of the North and he is credited with many decisive victories against the old regime. He also led a raid against the United States in 1916. The USA tried to capture him for about 9 months, but Villa always managed to evade his attackers with guerilla tactics.
I urge you to investigate about Francisco Villa and the Mexican Revolution. It is very interesting.
To learn about this historical figure, I visited two museums. The first one is in the city of Hidalgo del Parral, where he was assassinated in 1923, at 45 years old. The second one was in the city of Durango, where he was born in 1878.
Francisco Villa even played himself in at least 4 Hollywood films. In addition, more than twenty films have been made about him, some as recent as the years 2000. These films greatly helped fashion his image as a revolutionary hero or sometimes as a villain. He is considered as a hero by Mexican people.
