page_title: Chihuahua (state)
section_title: Mexican Revolution
hierarchical_section_title: Chihuahua (state) / History / Mexican Revolution
caption_attribution_description: English: Bain News Service,, publisher. Pasqual Orozco circa 1913 [between ca. 1910 and ca. 1915] 1 negative&#160;: glass&#160;; 5 x 7 in. or smaller. Notes: Title from unverified data provided by the Bain News Service on the negatives or caption cards. Forms part of: George Grantham Bain Collection (Library of Congress). Format: Glass negatives. Rights Info: No known restrictions on publication. Repository: Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, Washington, D.C. 20540 USA, hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pp.print General information about the Bain Collection is available at hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pp.ggbain Persistent URL: hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/ggbain.14419 Call Number: LC-B2- 2844-16
context_page_description: Chihuahua, officially the Estado Libre y Soberano de Chihuahua, is one of the 32 states which comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is located in Northwestern Mexico and is bordered by the states of Sonora to the west, Sinaloa to the southwest, Durango to the south, and Coahuila to the east. To the north and northeast, it shares an extensive border with the U.S. adjacent to the U.S. states of New Mexico and Texas. Its capital city is Chihuahua City.
  Although Chihuahua is primarily identified with the Chihuahuan Desert for namesake, it has more forests than any other state in Mexico, with the exception of Durango. Due to its variant climate, the state has a large variety of fauna and flora. The state is mostly characterized by rugged mountainous terrain and wide river valleys.
  The Sierra Madre Occidental mountain range, part of the continental spine that also includes the Rocky Mountains, dominates the state's terrain and is home to the state's greatest attraction, Las Barrancas del Cobre, or Copper Canyon, a canyon system larger and deeper than the Grand Canyon.
context_section_description: Díaz created an effective centralized government that helped concentrate wealth and political power among the elite upper class, mostly criollo. The economy was characterized by the construction of factories, roads, dams, and better farms. The Díaz administration passed new land laws that virtually unraveled all the rights previously recognized and the land reforms passed by President Benito Juárez. No peasant or farmer could claim the land he occupied without formal legal title.
  A handful of families owned large estates (known as haciendas) and controlled the greater part of the land across the state while the vast majority of Chihuahuans were landless. The state economy was largely defined by ranching and mining. At the expense of the working class, the Díaz administration promoted economic growth by encouraging investment from foreign companies from the United Kingdom, France, Imperial Germany and the United States.  The proletariat was often exploited, and found no legal protection or political recourse to redress injustices.
  Despite the internal stability (known as the paz porfiriana), modernization, and economic growth in Mexico during the Porfiriato from 1876 to 1910, many across the state became deeply dissatisfied with the political system.  When Díaz first ran for office, he committed to a strict “No Re-election” policy in which he disqualified himself to serve consecutive terms. Eventually backtracking on many of his initial political positions Díaz became a de facto dictator.  Díaz became increasingly unpopular due to brutal suppression of political dissidents by using the Rurales and manipulating the elections to solidify his political machine. The working class was frustrated with the Díaz regime due to the corruption of the political system that had increased the inequality between the rich and poor.  The peasants felt disenfranchised by the policies that promoted the unfair distribution of land where 95% of the land was owned by the top 5%.
  The end of the Porfiriato came in 1910 with the beginning of the Mexican Revolution. Díaz had stated that Mexico was ready for democracy and he would step down to allow other candidates to compete for the presidency, but Díaz decided to run again in 1910 for the last time against Francisco I. Madero. During the campaign Díaz incarcerated Madero on election day in 1910. Díaz was announced the winner of the election by a landslide, triggering the revolution. Madero supporter Toribio Ortega took up arms with a group of followers at Cuchillo Parado, Chihuahua on November 10, 1910.
  In response to Madero's letter to action, Pascual Orozco (a wealthy mining baron) and Chihuahua Governor Abraham González formed a powerful military union in the north, taking military control of several northern Mexican cities with other revolutionary leaders, including Pancho Villa. Against Madero's wishes, Orozco and Villa fought for and won Ciudad Juárez. After militias loyal to Madero defeated the Mexican federal army, on May 21, 1911, Madero signed the Treaty of Ciudad Juárez with Díaz. It required that Díaz abdicate his rule and be replaced by Madero. Insisting on a new election, Madero won overwhelmingly in late 1911, and he established a liberal democracy and received support from the United States and popular leaders such as Orozco and Villa. Orozco eventually became disappointed with the Madero's government and led a rebellion against him. He organized his own army, called "Orozquistas"—also called the Colorados ("Red Flaggers")—after Madero refused to agree to social reforms calling for better working hours, pay and conditions. The rural working class, which had supported Madero, now took up arms against him in support of Orozco.
  In March 1912, in Chihuahua, Gen. Pascual Orozco revolted. Immediately President Francisco Madero commanded Gen. Victoriano Huerta of the Federal Army, to put down the Orozco revolt. The governor of Chihuahua mobilized the state militia led by Colonel Pancho Villa to supplement General Huerta. By June, Villa notified Huerta that the Orozco revolt had been put
caption: Pascual Orozco
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