Meeting Pancho Villa

(Post written & submitted by listener Juan Cordova)

This request is dedicated to my grandma Rebecca Felix. Who like you was a story teller through and through. 

My grandma Becky adored her family, which was rather big (6 kids and 20+ grand and great grand kids) and never missed a chance to tell a good tale. Sadly she passed away June of 2020. Because she was in her 90s and the pandemic being what it was most of the family were not able to see her in those last few month. But we still pass around the stories she would tell us all the time. 

The one I was hoping you could share was one of her favorites. And while it never happened to her she always told this one with vigor and pride. It happened to her mom Lupe and her grandmother Luz. My great great grandma Luz eventually married Francisco Gonzalez but we don't know year. But this is the story of how they met Pancho Villa and made their way to America. 

The year was somewhere between 1912-1915 during the Mexican revolution. Bandits were everywhere. Francisco and his son Fruitoso had to leave Mexico early for two reasons. One to work in America and send funds back home to support Luz and the girls. And two, if they stayed they would have been dragged into the war one way or another, by the army, revolutionaries or bandits. This left Luz and her daughters, sadly I don’t know any besides my great grandma Lupe, who was probably a teenager at the time, in Guanajuato. Things got worse day by day. But they started hearing stories about a dangerous revolutionary called Pancho Villa that many feared, but also helped the poor and looked out for the people of Mexico trying to stay out of the war. 

As things in Guanajuato started getting worse. More and more fights were breaking out and streets becoming more and more dangerous. Luz knew she had to take her daughters to America and was saving the funds Francisco was sending to buy train tickets, as that was the safest way to transport her and her daughters across the country. But with how quickly things were turning she was starting to think tragedy would befall them before they could afford tickets. Then she heard that Pancho Villa was coming to town, there was some kind of rally or meeting of some kind at the train station.

 Now from what it's been described from my grandma Becky, Luz was a small timid woman and the thought of trying to even approach big dangerous man frightened her to her core. But with her options running out she gathered her children, about 3-5 including Lupe(unfortunately we don’t know our own history enough to have all of their names or exact number) and went to the station the day Pancho Villa was supposed to be there. She waited hours almost thinking he was not going to show up. Then a crowd started gathering and lots of commotion that got Luz’s attention. Pancho Villa road in on a white horse, large Sombrero, smoking and cigar and of course his classic mustache and double bullet belts on his chest with his revolutionaries trailing behind him. 

Luz knew this was her chance and approached him, mumbling and stumbling over her words and she tried to speak to him. Pancho Villa stopped and waited for a second for her to try to speak to him before he just says "what do you want woman." Grandma Becky always emphasized the way he said this as short and curt and impatient 

Of course this freaked Luz out and she wasn't sure what he would do, but she mustered the courage to ask for train tickets to join her husband in the states. At that Pancho Villa got off his horse, standing over her for a moment before just saying "wait here" and then he went into the train station. He came out moments later with a whole roll of train tickets. The man stole a whole roll of tickets. Went up to Luz and started just spinning off dozens of tickets and asked how many do you. Perplexed Luz was stunned for a few moments before finally asking for just enough for her and her kids.

 This moment always stayed with my Great grandma Lupe and she told this over and over to my grandma Becky growing up. Pancho Villa was Lupe’s hero. She adored him because he helped them escape the wars. That's how it became one of grandma Becky's favorite stories.

It doesn’t end there though. For after they boarded the train they finally thought they were safe. But the train was attacked while they were on it. Sadly I don’t remember if it was revolutionaries and soldiers or it was just bandits attacking. But Luz and her kids had to stay laying on the floor of the train, bullets flying over their heads. Even after it had calmed down they had to stay on the floor because attacks could resume at any moment so they did the whole way from Guanajuato to Tucson Arizona. It took a long while before they could find Francisco and unfortunately they never found Fruitoso. But that is their story of coming to America and meeting Pancho Villa.

I wish I could share more details and I don’t tell it as well as my grandma did. But it is something I think my grandma Becky would have loved to share with as many people as she could. And I think it would mean a lot for my family to be able to listen to one of her stories again.