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Did you really think we would make it through "Rugged Man" week without seeing a picture of Pancho Villa? Pancho Villa was considered by some a Bandit and Outlaw, and by others a Freedom Fighter, Populist Leader, and President of Northern Mexico. Regardless of where you come down on this question, you must admit that he deserves to be featured here this week. This picture of him was taken in 1914.
Now there is a rugged man that you can find a "little" history on.
ReplyDeleteBut You don't think of a rugged man as one that rides around in open top cars.
But yeah, I'll bet he had his share of sleeping out on the ground with bugs and snakes crawling around him and without a tents.
To bad he couldn't make up his mind if he wanted to be an outlaw or a hero
This is the anniversary of Modero's 1910 declaration of revolution that started the Mexican Revolution. Is that why Villa was chosen for today.
ReplyDelete”To bad he couldn't make up his mind if he wanted to be an outlaw or a hero”
ReplyDeleteMany heroes are considered outlaws as many American revolutionaries were considered outlaws by the British.
Very true, if you win the war you are a hero, if you lose the war you are a villian.
DeleteMy husband's grandfather was in the Army, stationed at one time in Texas. He spent part of his time chasing Pancho Villa.
ReplyDeleteWith the Army after him, Senor Villa is an outlaw to the Americans and a hero for the Mexicans.
DeleteI don't know. Villa has remained sort of popular in the American imagination, in spite of crossing the border and attacking Columbus New Mexico.
DeleteAt the time he did that he was upset, probably justifiably, with Woodrow Wilson having allowed the transport of Carranza's Federal Mexican troops across southern Texas by rail, something that is hard to imagine any President doing now. Villa was fighting against Carranza at the time, so he certainly wasn't a hero to every Mexican. The Punitive Expedition didn't catch him of course, and the US ended up in a couple of fights with Carranza's Federal Army, so things did get pretty confused. In the end, of course, Villa was assassinated by the Mexican government, again showing I suppose that at least to some he didn't remain a hero.
Indeed all three real greats from the Mexican Revolution, Modero, Villa and Zapata all ended up being assassinated by government forces, albeit different governments.
Villa was a murderer of Americans. Cut from the same cloth as Che Guevara.
ReplyDeleteJohn