The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1916-04-18
VILLAS TURBULENT CAREER
Hunted Bandit Once De Faeto Presi-
dent of Mexico

Hunted Bandit Once De Faeto Presi-
dent of Mexico
General Francisco Villa, or Pancho
Villa as he used to be called before he
rose u importance. had one OF the
remarkable careers that only such
country as Mexico and Mexico in the
throes of a rebellion. could offer Five
years ago he was bandit, slulking for
his life in the mountains and known for
his ferocity and the murders he had |
committed. -Four years ago he was one
of Maderos trusted leaders and trans
terred his allegiance to CarIanza when |
that President was killed. 4 few |
months later ne broke with the man he |
had elevated to power. and became Tor !
a few brief weeks the de factU Presi |
dent Of Mexico But he could not main !
tain himself, and last Spring his for
tunes began to fade,
In the days Of Villas prosperity it
was the fashion TO say that he had be-
come an outlaw through his enforce
ment of the "unwritten law" How,
ever that might be. Villa for years
dwelt in the mountains, hunted by
Diazs rurales and acquired an unenvi-
able reputation for the barbarity with
which he treated his prisoners and enc
mics.
! When Madero began his revolt Villa
saw his opportunity. He received a
commission as Colonel and quickly
built up one of the most important com
mands in the revolutionary army lie
! assisted in the capture Of chihuahua
and Juarez and forced himself to the
front
Villa was loyal to Madero during the
short time that he was President, and
resisted all attempts to turn him
agains the President, Orozco could not
estrange him. and, even though he was
arrested By Huerta, Ne refused to be
! faithless 10 the man who had brought
| him back from outlawrys r.
SO when Madero was murdered ana
Iiuerta became President, he found in
Villa the most dangerous of all his
opponents. Villa took the field at first
on a borrowed horse, with two sacks
of flour and nine men. In nine months
he had raised an army OF 10000 we'll
mounted and equipped cavalrymen, and
had armed them with thirty-eight large
field pieces fifty machine guns and a
trainload Of ammunition
All this time he was nominally the
Lieutenant OF Carran2a. They were not
in close touch with each other Villa
earned his successes by the rapidity of
his movements and the daring OF his
exploits and he moved himself Gen
eral of no mean order, judged by
Mexican requirements
The cohesive power of loot" was
the secret OF his success in holding to-
gether his army. but his old bandit hab-
its led him into one serious mistake
BY his orders w. S. Benton, British
subject, was put TO death without trial
and the international complications
: which ensued gave even Villa some
anxiety
Meanwhile lIueIta was losing
strength and Carranza was gaining it
and the time was evidently coming
when there must be a trial OF strength
between them The rupture came over
the AgUas Galleries Convention in
October 1914, which was called TO set
tie the affairs Of Mexico, and from that
time the two men were in active OPP
position. Villa joined with Zapata and
drove Carranza to Vera Cruz. For
several months he was in possession
of Mexico City He made himself
President or Feb. 3, 1915, but from
that time his power began to decline.
He had to face the turbulence OF sub
ordinate leaders, which he had himself
so often displayed in the olden days
and when Oregon turned On him he
mound that he was no match for him.
At Celaya, lrapuatO and Silao Obre-
gon defeated villa. in one of those
battles Oregon lost one OF his arms
Villa lost his hold over his followers
and retreated northward 70 Torreon
e his old stronghold Even there, how
a ever, he did not dare risk a decisive
= bottle. Obregon kent after him. De
feat followed disaster The bandit
chief was driven across the mountains
!, into Sonora, where he Joined forces
y with Urbalaio, the Yaqui Indian chief
q The United States was sh- cked By
the news of the Columbus raid on
n March .. This was the most wildly
Y daring act Of Villas reckless career. II
h is supposed to have been actuated by q
;. desire to cause the United States tC
intervene in Mexico, in which case
Villa might hope to regain his pres
! tigc.
VETERAN FPK RETIRES