Fort Mill times. [volume] (Fort Mill, S.C.) 1892-current, 1920-08-12
OUTLAW PANCHO VILLA
NOW TURNS PATRIOT"


last ten years OF the patriotism OF
Francisco Villa. His recent promise to
retire to private> life and permit the
new De la Huerta government Of Mex
leo to carry on In peace IL said to be
inspired by patriotism. He il guaran-
teed q lavish annuity and each Of his
followers is promised q farm and q
years army pay. but Of course these
are merely little testimonials OF an
arpreciative government to such pa
triotism as that Of Pancho Villa.
His surrender Is patriotic act., SO
were those butcheries and ravages of
the last score Of years which haye
made his name one Of terror below
the Rio Grande and one of the most
repulsive In history. declares a current
writer. For ten years Villa has been
killing and robbing and burning in the
name Of patriotism. Before 1910 he
frankly admitted he was a horse thief
and a bandit.
Attempts have been made to cloak
his brutality In romance. He has been
called the Robin Hood Of the Des-
ert." 1t has been said he robbed only
the rich; that he gave to the poor Of
his ,plunder; that his heart bled for
his prosecuted countrtymen. Yet the
trails he has travelled are Uttered with
the bodies Of these same poems, terri
bly, mutilated. Their homes and villa
ges are in ashes. Their farms lie bar
rem. Their women have been desc
Grated and their children orphaned.
Always through the fiimsy fabric hts
friends have woven about him leers
the cruel face of the beast Of prey
which knows no law but desire and
might.
Still. In spite of his lust and cruelty.
Pancho villa has held a certain power
over his fellows. For - years he has
heen an outlaw with a price on his
head in a land where every man Is
supposed to have his price-and that
a small one. Yet seldom has any ono
attempted his betrayed. 1t Is the ad-
miration OF the poems for HE daring
that has protected him. his friends
say. Or 1t may have been their fear
Of him. None Of those who dared at
tempt his betrayal ever lived to re.
ceive his rewards.
His hold on his own men Is more
easily understood. In the days when
the armies OF Mexico. both federal and
revolutionary. were ragged. poorly
armed and half starved. Villas meB
were well cared for. They were
mounted on good horses. Their gums
were in good condition. They were
we'll supplied with ammunition. They
grew wealthy from the loot their chief
allotted them. They had fortunes In
Jewels to bestow upon their women
who rode on wire netting. swung ham,
mock-wise. beneath the cars of the
troop trains. and accompanied ths
soldiers wherever they went. % Disci,
pline of a kind was strict. Insubordi-
nation was punished by death. as ALSO
was cowardice. But wherever villa
went there was bound to be much
loot. and his men remained loyal.
|. Accounts OF the bandits early life
are 30 interviewer with fact and
friendly fiction 1t Is hard to determ-
Inc which 10 truth. He was born in
1868, In Las Nieves. Durango. He was
the oldest of four children. and It fell
upon him, when his father died. to
provide for his mother and. sister and
brothers. The family moved to Chi
huahua. where Francisco worked for
some time as q cowboy. So far aq-
counts tally. but as they presume to
: explain his entrance into banditry
there are many discrepancies.
In an interview with John N. Whes-
Ter in 1915. Villa recounted his own
version of this event. "One day my
sister called me to her and told me-
one Of the owners Of the hacienda
b had assaulted her" he said, :" which
was not uncommon in those days. for
the peon families were little more
than slaves. From the time / was old
enough to play with the other peop
boys I had always had a very bad
temper. They tell me l. have yet.
When my sister told me her story this
70 7
and waited my chance and shot the
owner Of the hacienda In the leg. He
was not badly wounded. but he sum-
monedi the rurales. who were the fed;
eraf police under Diaz. and came to
our adobe hut to get me.
II thought / would surely be shot
for what I had done. However the
owner of the hacienda. became re-
morseful and told the rurales not TO
take me. 1t was, unusual that he
should do this. and distrusting him
and knowing how quickly such a man
changes his mind. fed to the hills
near the hacienda
my family knew where was hid
ing in the mountains and they used
to bring food to me. especially the
sister who had been wronged. At
last one day they reported to me that
the owneer had again changed HE
mind and that the rurales were
searching for me. and had BETTER
nee. That was really the beginning
o. my long life In the mountains"
Francisco was 16 years old at the
time. Some weeks later he fell In
with q band OF horse and mule
thieves who were raiding ranches In
Mexico and selling the stock on the
other side Of the Rio Grande. He
Joined them. A few months later he
killed their leader and himself be-
came chief OF the band. That Is VII,
las own story Of how he came to bs
an outlaw.
An article published In the Lon