Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1916-04-02
cisco Villa Outlaw, Tells the Story Of His Life

when something occurred one day that
was bound to change my whole ire.
But for that Pancho Villa might still
he Il peon working on plot of ground.
tinformaIly, he likes to call himself
Pancho Villa instead of Francisco
One day my sister came to me and
told me one of the owners of the ha-
cienda had outraged her, which was
nothing uncommon in those days. for
the pcon families We're little more than
slaves. From the time | was old enough
to play with the other peon boys l had
always had q very bad temper. They
tell me | have vet. When my sister told
me her story, this temper overcame me.
so | got a gun and waited my chance
and shot the owner of the hacienda in
the leg. He was not badly wounded,
but he summoned the rurales. who were
the federal police under Diaz, and came
to our adobe hut to get me.
The owner also had several OF his
servants, and | thought | would surely
be shot for what | had done. However,
the owner of the hacienda became re-
morseful and told the rurales not to
a. IL
do this, and distressing him and know
ing how quickly such man changes
his mind, fed to the hills near the
hacienda. SO far in my life l have al
WAYS been lucky. and SO | believe
have a charmed life and will only die
when my time comes. That was only
the first of many narrow escapes from
death.
My family knew where I was hiding
in the mountains and they used to
hri To
who had been wronged. At last, one
day, they reported to me that the owner
had again changed his mind and that
the rurales We're searching for me, and
I had better flee. That was really the
beginning of my long life in the noun
tains, where ! never really went to
sleep. but only dozed. Always | was
on my guard. 1t was a hard me-
(There was some pathos in the express
sion of the bandit as he said this, and
one felt that perhaps under other con-
ditions all this energy might have been
directed to build instead of tear DOWN.
| went to the state of Chlhua hua,
where | met five or six men. older than
| was. who spent their lives rowing
through the mountains, stealing mules
and horses and driving them across the
boundary to the United States. where
they sold them. They told me, if l
would join them. they would furnish
me with a horse. and not knowing that
time what they did. / joined them. l
not saving ] WOulQ not nave DeeH
recruited anyway, for | soon found out
how they operated. and I still stuck
with them. | had to make friends with
these men. ! could not go with any
one else, for Diaz had his rurales after
me.
l made my first transact in
"mulas' with my new partners soon,
III off
or 500 mules and horses. The mules
were more valuable. The first bunch
we drove over into the United States
and sold them to Americans. who knew
very well how we got the mules, for
5000 pesos. This amounted to about
$500 in gold in those days, for Next
can money was two for one. When my
share of the deal was handed me / was
surprised.
What's this for?' l asked.
We sold those mules we stole and
drove off," they replied.
That was the first | knew what our
business was, but I stuck to it. and we
made quite a lot of money from time to
time. In fact, I became SO experienced
that / became the leader of the crowd,
following little dispute with the man
who had been the leader. Villa did not
define this dispute TO me. and ! did not
ask him the outcome of it, But / know
that a dispute in Mexico usually means
eliminating one man by means of re-
volver)
All this time the rurales were search
ing for me. and my perception and
senses developed rapidly. Being con-
stantly hunted keeps man always on
the alert. | didn't drink smoke, be-
cause | was afraid some time I would
be betrayed by the smoke or my brain
would become foggy with the mescal.
You have probably noticed | do not
drink or smoke now. ! have never gotten
over my desire to protect myself with