The Zone of Silence

Everyone enjoys a good mystery and the natural world, despite the best efforts of scientists, still manages to provide a startling number of them. The Bermuda Triangle; the Dragon Triangle; the Brown Mountain lights; the list goes on. Here, in Mexico, there is another, deep within the scorching Chihuahua Desert. The academics call it Mar de Tetys (Sea of Thetys), but the rest of the world know it by another moniker: the Zone of Silence.



Thetys is a Greek goddess, who was seen as the embodiment of water. She was the sister and wife of Oceanus and the mother of the world's rivers. She may seem a bizarre choice to lend her name to a place of punishing heat and arid dryness, such as this part of the Chihuahua desert. However, in antiquity, there was a sea here. It covered most of modern day Mexico and the USA; and its legacy is the millions of fossilized marine creatures, which litter the desert today.



To say that the area has some unusual phenomena is to understate the situation. There are more UFO sightings, strange lights, alien encounters, ghostly figures and spontaneously burning bushes in this isolated part of the desert, than there are in the entire rest of the country. There is also some unusual flora and fauna, including a purple cactus and a sub-species of desert turtle, which aren't found anywhere else on the planet.

Back in the 19th century, local farmers were telling visitors about the 'hot pebbles' that habitually fell upon the wilderness. Modern scientists are still seeing them, but they are calling them tiny meteorites or guijolas.

Studies of the soil have shown high levels of magnetite. As the name suggests, this is the most magnetic of all of the Earth's minerals. This might give you a clue as to what happens to iron in the area.



Amongst the stories is that of a ranch, close to the Zone of Silence, which is regularly visited by two blond man and a blonde woman. To all intents and purposes, they are human and they speak perfect Spanish. What makes them so strange is that they only ever ask for water and, when asked where they come from, they simply answer, 'from above'. They are also wearing raincoats, which isn't common attire in a blazing hot desert.

The family on the ranch aren't alone in meeting them. A scientific researcher became separated from his party and was lost in the Zone. He was just starting to panic, when he spotted three blond haired people, wearing 'raincoats and ball caps'. They directed him back to civilization.



This is similiar to the experience of Josefina and Ernesto Diaz, a couple of fossil hunters, who got stuck after a rainstorm induced flash flood. This was on October 13, 1975, when their truck ended up in a hole, from which they could not simply drive out. As they surveyed the problem, they were approached by tall, blond men, in yellow raincoats, who suggested that the couple get back into their vehicle.

They did so and felt the truck being lifted and pushed back onto solid ground. Thankful and thrilled, the couple left their truck to shake the hands of the men. But they were now alone. The desert stretched for miles in each direction without a sign of their assistants. There were no footprints in the sodden sand.



A TV reporter also spotted them. Luis Ramirez Reyes was travelling with a photographer, in November 1978, with a view to investigating the area for a possible feature in a programme. As the two drove along, he saw three blond men, with raincoats, at the side of the road, watching them. The photographer was driving and, to the reporter's surprise, didn't stop the car.

As Reyes pressed him for a reason why, the photographer replied with incredulity that he hadn't seen then. This alone was enough to spook Reyes, but as they continued driving into a totally different part of the desert, he saw the same three men again, standing watching. As before, the photographer couldn't see them.

Travellers through the area often encounter the ghostly figure of a blond man, who just drifts across the road or is glimpsed walking across the landscape.



However, none of this is explaining why it's called the Zone of Silence. This is because no communication devise works there. Radio waves are randomly deadened. Cellphones have no signal; walkie-talkies just transmit white noise; televisions and transistors receive nothing but static; even compasses can't find north, but spin around on the spot.

This would be a harmless curiosity, but for the fact that it also destroys the equipment of anything flying above it. In fact, publicity for this place first leaked out after a pilot, Francisco Sarabia, crash-landed in the zone during the 1930s. He claimed that his 'plane's radio had stopped working, as he flew across.



Even more dramatic was what happened in 1970, when a US Athena missile left Utah bound on a test flight to New Mexico. However, the missile overshot its landing spot. NASA observers reported that it was as if the missile was suddenly pulled off course. It continued into Mexico and crashed into pieces in the Zone of Silence.

With the permission of the Mexican government, a team of US scientists and military crossed the border to the crash site. They discovered that not even satellite signals worked there. Short waves, radio waves, television waves, you name it, it was silenced.

These are just a few of the strange stories attached to the Zone of Silence. Many theories have been proffered to explain the strangeness of the area. They range from the spectacular to the prosaic, but none have definitely solved the mystery.

Chihuahua: The World's Smallest Dog

There are 1,700 different species of animals indigenious to Mexico. Some are world famous, yet one stands out above them all. The national emblem of our country is the Mexican golden eagle, but it might as well be the chihuahua.


This is the world's smallest dog, standing at around 6-10" (15-23cm) tall. It is named after the northern Mexican state of Chihuahua. Along with chocolate, coffee, corn and tequila, the breed is one of the country's most successful exports. Most of the globe is familiar with the little guy.

The ancestor of the chihuahua was slightly bigger. This was the techichi, a favorite dog of the Aztec people. It apparently had a mystical significance too. The techichi were thought to be so loyal that they would guide their human companion's soul through the Underworld into safety. It would fight off all evil spirits in their path. As a result, the poor techichi was often sacrificed and burnt, along with their owner, so that the two could journey on together.

Even after the coming of Christianity to Mexico, this practise continued. Only now, the techichi were used as scapegoats. Cremating one in a human funeral pyre meant that the techihi dog would take on the human's sins. Thus its owner could carry on straight into Heaven.


Techichi
The techichi, as a distinct breed, is extinct now, but its genes live on in the tiny chihuahua.

There is a theory that Spanish conquistadors brought with them a toy breed, like the Chinese crested dog. This mated with the techichi, in order to create a brand new hybrid, which eventually became the chihuahua. Others argue that images and other artifacts, including remains, have been found in Maya and Aztec archaeological sites. These obviously pre-date 1530, pointing to the fact that chihuahuas were in Mexico long before the Spanish came with their pets.

In 1904, the American Kennel Club officially registered the breed of toy dog, that the fashionable society ladies of Texas, Arizona and New Mexico were buying in Mexico. It was called the Chihuahua Dog, as in the breed from Chihuahua, though that quickly became shortened to a chihuahua. This is the moniker by which it is known throughout the world.

(For a moment there, it could have been called the Texas Dog or the Arizona Dog, which is where they were most prevalent in the USA, at the start of the 20th century. Today, they are stereotypically seen, in Mexico, as the pets of Manhattan's social elite, hence the dog's nickname here of 'New Yorker'.)


It is a popular misconception that chihuahuas have to be pampered by humans in order to survive. They were certainly the dogs of kings (the Aztec monarchs all owned one), but they have been known to form wild packs too. One such pack famously took up residence in the ruins of Tenochtitlán Palace, in Mexico City. Their ancestors had been abandoned after their Aztec owners, all members of the nobility, had been killed in the Spanish invasion of the 16th century.

Generations of this pack of chihuahuas lived there for three centuries, right up until the construction of the National Palace of Mexico, in 1850, near to the site. It's hard to build grand architecture, with dozens of 10" dogs yapping in defense of their patch, so, unfortunately, the wild chihuahuas were removed.


Chihuahuas are usually differentiated between two types: long-hair and smooth-hair. They are genetically exactly the same breed, but their fur is respectively long or short. (Smooth hair doesn't necessary mean 'smooth'. It can be velvetty or coarse, as long as it's short.) As show dogs, they shouldn't weigh more than 6lbs, though 2-4lbs is the ideal.

They are the favorite of the world's celebrities, with actresses and socialites in particular often seen with one under their arm. Famous chihuahua owners include: Marilyn Monroe, Sharon Osbourne, Paris Hilton, Hilary Duff and Cesar Millan. Chihuahuas often turn up in shows and in films, including 'Evil Con Carne', 'Invader Zim', 'Batman Returns', 'That's So Raven', 'The Soup', 'Legally Blonde' and 'Transformers'. They've also advertized Taco Bell. Let's not also forget that Ren Höek, the eponymous hero of 'Ren and Stimpy', is a chihuahua.

Boo Boo, the world's smallest, living, adult dog, is a chihuahua. She is 4" high, 6.5" long and weighs just 24oz. She can be found in Raceland, Kentucky, in the USA.

Pancho Villa: Wild Roses, Tender Roses

Pancho Villa was angry. Pancho Villa was really angry. He had the governor of the state of Chihuahua, but he should be President of Mexico. He knew it. The people knew it. He suspected that even the President of the USA knew it; but the Americans had not only sided with Carranza, but had also sabotaged his own cause. As far as Villa was concerned, his former allies, the USA, were now his enemies.

But he could also use them. The USA had already invaded Veracruz. If Villa could spark more hostilities from their Northern neighbour, then even the war-weary Mexicans might rise up again en masse. With Carranza out, then Villa would have to take the country. He would have the popular vote.


Villa's troops amass in Agua Prieta.
There were a few skirmishes, notably up in Agua Prieta, Sonora, right on the border with Arizona, on 1 November 1915. Though the Americans were not openly lured into combat, they did provide much of the equipment used to repel Villa's men, including searchlights powered with American electricity.

Then, three months later, a train carrying American employees of the Mexican mining company ASARCO was attacked near Santa Isabel, in Chihuahua. Villa admitted to ordering the attack, but he denied giving the command to kill the seventeen dead Americans. But worse was to come; and when it came, Villa did not deny a thing. He had invaded the USA.


On March 9th, 1916, Villa took 500 men on a raid into New Mexico, USA. The town of Columbus had a garrison of American cavalry attached to it and it was this which was targeted by Villa. In the early hours of the morning, the Villistas burst into the area, in a two-pronged attack on both town and garrison. Fierce fighting raged through the streets, with the Mexicans yelling, "¡Viva Villa!". It left the Americans in no doubt whatsoever as to who had arrived.

There are many twists and versions of this horrific event. Many chroniclers hailed it a defeat for Villa, as the Mexican dead far outstripped the American. But Columbus was practically razed to the ground and Villa escaped back into Mexico with the majority of his men. His objective had been to provoke the USA into invading Mexico and that was successful.


On March 14, 1916, the Mexican Expedition, or Pancho Villa Expedition, began, with American troops entering Mexico. Their sole objective was to find, capture and/or kill Pancho Villa. 4,800 ground troops took up the hunt, with military Curtiss "Jenny" airplanes providing aerial surveillance. But the countryside closed around Villa and the people hid him. For nearly a year, the American military searched before admitting defeat. On February 7, 1917, they finally withdrew empty-handed.


Contemporary cartoon depicting the Mexican Expedition
In the meantime, Villa had twice entered the US state of Texas and his raids had seen American dead.

Moreover, Carranza had not been happy about the American military wandering Mexico without his invitation. There were several battles between the Mexican Federal Army and the Americans. Diplomatic relations soured between Presidents Carranza and Wilson.

This reached a head, when one of Villa's officers sneaked a letter over the border, informing the Americans that Carranza was working with the German Empire. America had just been drawn into World War One, with Mexico nominally neutral. Villa's intelligence report stated that the Germans were going to use Mexico to attack the USA, thus keeping them from arming the Allied forces over in Europe.

The news was taken very seriously and, on August 27, 1918, violence erupted in the border split-town of Nogales. Half of this lies in Arizona, USA, and the other half in Sonara, Mexico. It was here that American troops met Mexican Federal troops, in the Battle of Ambos Nogales. By evening, Carranza's men surrendered and the fighting was over. The USA had won, but the humiliation was on both sides.


Nogales, showing the Mexican-American border through its center
Pancho Villa remained at large for the rest of his life. Despite substantion rewards offered by the American government and private individuals, he was never betrayed by the people of Mexico. There are unsubstantiated reports that he was also able to travel at will through some areas of the USA, especially California.

Nevertheless, his reputation was in tatters over the border. The 'Robin Hood' moniker was squashed under a wealth of new stories circulated about him. He was a mass rapist, who killed any woman who would not submit to him; he was nothing but a low-life leader of a criminal gang, akin to a Mafia Don; he was a murderer and a thief, with no value for human life; he had 26 wives and a score of illegimate children; he conspired with the Germans; he had no morals at all.

The American public turned against him, especially in the northern states, where he had never been personally known. Yet, even today, in the places where these attrocities were alleged to have taken place, Villa's name is uttered with respect. He appears, through the memories of the Mexican poor, as much a folk hero now, as he did then. Time has not tarnished the image and, as Hollywood prepares for another film about his, it has restored some of the gloss.


Carranza had never regained his lost credibility and so hadn't stood for re-election. However, the President had gone out of his way to try and discredit General Obregón, another popular revolutionary choice. Carranza's efforts including stripping Obregón of his rank and military honors, which only served to enhance the revolutionary's popularity.

Another uprising appeared imminient, but it ended quickly with a single battle between the forces of Obregón and Carranza. The President stepped down and fled towards Veracruz. He never made it, but was assassinated, in Puebla, by another revolutionary, Rodolfo Herrero. Obregón was elected and that signalled the end of the Mexican Revolution.


Obregón and his government
It was around this time that Pancho Villa announced his intention to retire from revolutionary life. There was no love lost between him and Obregón (the two had fought each other in battle a few times), but the signs were bright that Obregón was the president that Mexico needed.

There were a series of reforms passed which sought to finally realise some of the demands of the Revolution. He was even standing firm against the USA, over demands from their northern neighbour that article 27 of the Mexican Constitution; though other concessions were unpopular amongst his people, even while they salved US relations.

Villa knew that he couldn't become President of Mexico now. It would be like painting a giant bull's eye on his back, as that was a very public office for someone with such a bounty on his head. Instead, he disbanded his army, but for a small personal bodyguard, and withdrew with Sra. María Luz Corral de Villa and their children to a hacienda in Chihuahua. It had been awarded to him, as part of a peace agreement with the Mexican government, following the assassination of Carranza.


Pancho Villa and his wife, Maria Luz Corral de Villa
On July 20, 1923, Pancho Villa drove to the local bank, with just two bodyguards, to take out the wages for his hacienda staff. His car was ambushed and Villa died instantly, peppered with bullets, along with one of his men. It has never conclusively proved who killed him.

Places to Visit

* There is a statue of Pancho Villa, on horseback, in the city of Chihuahua.

* Cerro de la Bufa, Zacatecas. There is an aerial tramway to the memorial and museum dedicated to Pancho Villa here. A telescope can be used to survey the actual, arduous terrain that Villa needed to traverse in order to take the silver town.

* The Historical Museum of the Mexican Revolution, in Chihuahua, has many artefacts belonging to Pancho Villa, including the bullet-ridden car, in which he was killed, and his death mask.

* Villa's grave is in Parral Cemetery, Hidalgo del Parral, in Chihuahua. However, his remains were removed from and buried under the Monumento a la Revolución (Monument of the Revolution), in Mexico City. He shares a mausoleum with other figures from this historical time, including Madero and Carranza.

* A Hollywood film, entitled 'Wild Roses, Tender Roses', is due to begin filming next year. It will tell the story of Pancho Villa.

Pancho Villa: The Second Mexican Revolution

It seemed that Pancho Villa could do no wrong. On both sides of the Mexican-American border, he was proclaimed a hero.

Years later, chroniclers and reporters would travel through Chihuahua, Durango and Sonara, collecting stories of orphans delivered to safety and given treats; of the robbed having their possessions returned; of widows and the elderly given money and care; of wrongs righted and justice served.

In the USA, Hollywood moguls jostled for the rights to tell the story of Pancho Villa. From Washington to California, there were people singing his praises. Viewed as a modern-day Robin Hood, Villa could get a free meal anywhere. This was before we even got to revolution.



For Villa, the rise of Huerta to the presidency was a personal matter. Not only had the man once framed Villa for horse theft and almost had him shot, but he had undone the meagre gains of the Mexican Revolution. Huerta's policies were more than a return to those of Díaz. It was a full on dictatorship, forged in blood and heavy-handed responses to any who criticized him.

Moreover, Huerta arrested and executed Abraham González. This academic had been the brains behind the proposed reforms of the Revolution. He had written a far-reaching Constitution, which would have helped the Mexican poor out of poverty. He had advised Madero and recruited Villa to the cause. Now he was dead. Much later, Villa was to hunt down González's remains and give him a proper funeral. Villa probably would have rode out anyway, but the murder of González sealed the deal.

Villa crossed into El Paso, Texas, in the USA, to make his plans. He was well respected there. He funded his army on beef and cattle sold to the Texans, who willingly paid in arms or money. As Villa's prestige grew, and Huerta's correspondingly fell, Villa even started producing his own currency, which was readily accepted in Texas. His coinage was good and stable. He also had a contract with a studio in Hollywood. They would film his revolution and he would receive 50% of the door profits to fund it.


By the time Villa crossed back into Ciudad Juárez, the call had gone out. This Division of the North had never officially disbanded after the first Revolution and it quickly reassembled. Villa was in touch with other discontented leaders, such as Venustiano Carranza, and he was well stocked with American fire-arms. It didn't take long for practically the entire north of Mexico to fall under rebel control, with Pancho Villa's name attached to many of the major battles. (His military prowess and genius at battle strategies was impressive enough for the American army to start studying them; then using them in training exercises amongst their own personnel.)

Huerta hadn't quite been the puppet president that the USA had anticipated. In fact, he had acted with downright hostility towards American businesses in Mexico. The Americans were concerned enough to station navy ships in the Gulf of Mexico. The situation was to reach its zenith in the Tampico Affair.


Tampico, in Tamaulipas, was the site of a large American oil refinery. As Villa and Carranza closed upon it, President Woodrow Wilson sent messages to Huerta to ask what he was going to do about it. Meanwhile, US navy ships rushed into the area to evacuate their civilians from the town. Federal Mexican troops, controlled ultimately by Huerta, raised their guns on an American ship, the USS Dolphin. There was no-one amongst them who spoke both Spanish and English, on either side, thus the Americans on board were arrested and taken into custody.

They were eventually released, but not without bad feeling on each side. Rear Admiral Henry T. Mayo, of the US navy, demanded a written apology of Huerta and the placement of the Stars and Stripes to fly over Tampico. Huerta didn't respond, though the governor of Tampico did write the apology. All requests for the American flag to stand on Mexico soil were refused. President Woodrow Wilson ordered an invasion and American forces took Veracruz.


All the time, Villa and Carranza waited, not advancing, though it was obvious that they could have done. They were piling on the pressure in full knowledge of how the Americans would react. It forced Huerta to fight on too many fronts, without the backing of either his own people or their powerful northern neighbours. The people, en masse, were supporting Villa. It was his charisma and integrity which brought them from their fields; his strategy and generalship which won the battles; and the sheer presense of the man that foresaw a better future for Mexico. On 15 July 1914, Huerta bowed to the inevitable and fled the country.

It felt, at the time, that Villa was poised to become Mexico's next president. Wherever he went, the people would rush from their homes to cheer him. "¡Viva Villa! ¡Viva Villa! ¡Viva Villa!"


But there had already been some puzzling maneuvering along the chain of command. On the eve of Huerta's flight, Carranza had asked Villa to take his troops to attack Saltillo, a town which was still loyal to the president. Villa did so with his usual flair, winning the territory outright. In the meantime, Carranza had entered Mexico City in triumph.

Villa was outraged and immediately diverted his forces onto Zacatecas, the source of much of Mexico's silver wealth. It was a daring target, with easily defensible terrain to cross, but Villa did it. Carranza might have secured the capital city, but Villa had Mexico's economy.

It once again felt cut and dried. Villa would become president and he would ensure that all of the revolution's reforms would be applied. But there was one more sting in the tale. President Woodrow Wilson gave the order that the USA was siding with Carranza. The wily revolutionary politician had already done a deal with Standard Oil, the largest US oil company represented in Mexico. He would protect their interests first.


President Carranza (bearded with a stick) and his government
Villa continued to hold Zacatecas, but he ordered a half of his northern army to attack Carranza. They should have won. Villa's strategies were there and they had the strength and experience. But they were also fighting with ammunition, which had just arrived from Texas. The bullets were duds. 14,000 of Villa's men died on the field and the US president used that as justification for the fact that Carranza was the stronger candidate. From now on, no American arms would be supplied to Villa and no more financing was to come from north of the border.

Pancho Villa felt betrayed. He declared war upon the USA.

Pancho Villa: Huerta's Usurpation

Pancho Villa was in prison. For many, this would have been a moment of disaster and shame, but for Villa, it was an opportunity.

As a child, he had been a slave in all but name, out on a Durango hacienda; as a teenager and a young man, he had been a futigitive up in the mountains of Durango and Chihuahua; and now he was a soldier. None of this had provided much in the way of schooling.

But Villa's cell-mate was Gildardo Magaña Cerda, a Zapista teacher. He spent his days teaching Villa how to read and write. It wasn't a bad sojourn.

For all his endeavours and a raft of quite legitimate charges that could have been set against Pancho Villa, this one was false. He was in prison on chumped up charges of stealing a horse, by a man who was not winning friends and influencing people amongst the revolutionaries.

The ambitious General Victoriano Huerta had originally been an ally, switching sides as Díaz had fell, in order to head up Madero's federal forces. Villa had originally resigned his command of the same, because of differences with Pascual Orozco.

This reading of the situation now appeared very justified, as Orozco, bitter at not receiving high office in Madero's government, led an uprising in Chihuahua. Madero sent Huerta to put it down, while also asking Villa to assist him. This was, after all, Villa's home ground.

The two armies joined forces and Orozco's rebellion was defeated, though the man himself was not captured.

But close proximity had allowed Huerta to gain the measure of Villa. He could see the general's charisma and the love of the people for him. Villa was going to be a rival, if Huerta's plans at taking the presidency for himself were to continue. Villa had to be put down.

So Huerta suddenly accused Villa of stealing a horse and quickly sentenced him to death by firing squad. Villa's supporters swiftly rode to get messages to Madero, who responded instantly. At the very moment when Villa was blindfolded and the guns were being readied to fire, the horsemen returned. The sentence had been commuted by the president. It was imprisonment, not death. Thus Villa received some schooling and another story was added to his popular legend.


Madero's presidency, which Villa had so strongly supported, was not becoming a happy one. Much of the infrastructure and and civil servants, which had propped up Díaz's rule for so long, was still in place. There had been some lip-service reforms, but nothing which really affected the poor who had risen for him. Moreover, many of the haciendas seized in the Mexican Revolution, had been returned to their original owners.

Villa's response was basically to wait and see what happened. He reasoned that Madero had only just taken power and the previous dictator had been there for a long time. Unravelling things would take time, especially if the replacement system was to be sound.

(Pictured Madero (center) and Huerta (right))

However, other revolutionary leaders weren't so patient. They wanted results now. Madero sent Huerta to put them down and many atrocities occurred, as the army swept through the countryside. General Huerta wished to send a message to the people. He did that in blood. Madero openly condemned this and demoted Huerta. Villa, on the verge of rising again, stepped back down.

But Madero's enemies were not just domestic. One of his reforms had been to place a taxation on oil for foreign companies on Mexican soil. This did not go down well with the USA, who had several large oil plants, especially up in the Tampico area.

The American ambassador, with the presumed approval of Washington, arranged for Huerta and Díaz's son, Felix, to meet within the American Embassy. Ambassador Henry Lane Wilson openly reported, in both official documents and to the press, that he had negotiated a settlement between them and remodelled the Mexican Constitution to better suit the interests of the USA.

The upshot was the American backed assassination of President Madero and his vice-president; and the military coup of Huerta, who became head of state, tacitly and then officially, from February 19, 1913.


President Huerta and American Ambassador, Henry Lane Wilson
Now Pancho Villa was ready to rise again; and he had the army to do it. Phase two of the Mexican Revolution was now on.

Pancho Villa: The Mexican Revolution

It is 1910 and the call goes out. Francisco I. Madero was rising an army and leading it against Mexico's long-term ruler, Porfirio Díaz. Madero was himself a wealthy landowner, one of the very class which benefitted so well under the president, but he was a idealist too. He could see that Mexico couldn't go on like this and his rhetoric espoused change.

He tried to run against the president, legally, in an election, but was jailed. Madero's supporters spoke out. Díaz was a dictator. The people were suffering in poverty. If he wouldn't leave office then there was only one course of action. Revolution! Revolution! Revolution!


The Revolutionaries by David Alfaro Siqueiros
This wasn't the first uprising in Mexico. Before Díaz had become president, the jostling for power had been incessant. But it was the first serious challenge to him in a generation; and the ordinary people had not risen up in such numbers since the War of Independence. After thirty years of dispossession and fear of the police, they had had enough.

Up in the mountains of Chihuahua, another man, adept at reading the way the wind blew, watched the stirrings of revolution with interest. Francisco Villa had progressed through the ranks of Durango banditry and crossed the border into Chihuahua.

At 32 years old, he had become something of a folk hero. Stealing from the rich and giving to the poor, in the best traditions of Robin Hood; he was viewed widely as less of a bandit and more a force for justice and the fair redistribution of wealth. While the poor put in all of the hard work, the landowners took all of the benefits. Francisco Villa's gang were simply redressing the odds.

From Durango to Chihuahua, he was known fondly by a pet name for Francisco: Pancho. He couldn't starve. The poor fed him. If he rode through, then the pursuing police would find that no-one had seen a thing. He wasn't a blood-thirsty criminal, he was their Pancho. They loved him and they trusted him.

Thus, in these states, the Revolution wasn't particularly real, until the moment when Pancho Villa came down from the mountains and declared his intention to raise his own army in support of Madero. Then, and only then, did people in the haciendas put down their tools en masse. The División del Norte (Northern Division) of the Revolutionary Army was formed.


It should be noted that Villa wasn't just influential in Northern Mexico. Over the border, in the USA, he was also largely viewed as one of the good guys. When he raised his own revolutionary army, many Americans took up their arms and raced to join him. There were so many, in fact, that Villa created a whole American squadron under the command of Capt. Tracey Richardson.

The rest of his vast army was largely made up of poverty-striken Mexican labourers. They were armed by sympathetic citizens of the USA or else they created their own weapons. Homemade cannons, guns and bayonets flooded into the battlefield. It wasn't just the men out there. Women and children also took up arms in their own defense. The surgency, under Villa, swept the board. Madero's army accepted them into their ranks gladly, though, in many ways, they had no choice in the matter!


Click images for a larger view.


Fighting broke out throughout Mexico, though Villa's activities were restricted to the north. This fell quickly. Mexcali and Chihuahua City were soon in rebel hands. Then Pancho Villa's troops joined with Pascual Orozco's army to take Ciudad Juárez. This was significant. It meant that a city, bordering the USA, was now out of Díaz's control. Weaponry, from Mexico's northern neighbour, could flood unchecked into the country and provide the rebel army with even greater fire-power.

Moreover, Madero had escaped from prison and he was hiding in Texas. The taking of Ciudad Juárez, which borders the Texan city of El Paso, allowed Madero to just step back into Mexico and appeal directly to the Mexico people and their president.

Díaz was worried. Any fighting, in places like Ciudad Juárez, drew the risk of stray artillery injuring or killing Americans in El Paso. That might be all the excuse that the government of the USA needed to declare open war. The territorial desires of the USA had a strong precedent. During the past few decades, they had already taken northern California, Nevada, Arizona, Texas, New Mexico and Colorado. It wasn't a huge stretch of the imagination to consider the loss of Baja California, Sonara, Chihuahua and Coahuila too.

Díaz did not want to be remembered as the president who had further lost parts of Mexico. He agreed to meet with Madero and sign a peace treaty. The Treaty of Ciudad Juárez was signed on May 21, 1911. Under the terms of it, Díaz was to step down and install Francisco León de la Barra as an interim president, until proper elections could be held. Díaz did just that, then fled to France. He was never to return to Mexico again.


Revolutionary leaders, including Pancho Villa, after the signing of the Treaty of Ciudad Juárez
However, commentators at the time noted that, in the Treaty, Madero had not pressed for any of the reforms that had fuelled the ideology of this revolution. Where were the terms of 'free suffrage and no re-election'? Where were the land laws, which protected against just 5% of Mexicans lording it over the other 95%? In fact, the whole government was left intact, with just a new figurehead.

Some just assumed that Madero would change things once he was in power. They shook their heads over the fact that he didn't just assume control now, but that was all. It became academic shortly afterwards, when an election was held and Madero won a landslide victory. The revolution had been a success. Díaz was out and the self-proclaimed champion of the poor was in. Madero was president and the war was over. Hurrah!




Pancho Villa had taken Ciudad Juárez with Pascual Orozco, but he didn't like the man. Something about him just rubbed Villa up the wrong way. With the onset of peace and the installation of Madero as president, Villa resigned his command as general. This doesn't mean that he lost his army. The people were there for him, not some distant politician. They might have largely returned to their homes, but Villa was still their general. He only had to give the call and they would rise again.

Fortunately, despite some unsettling signs, that didn't appear imminently necessary. Pancho Villa declared his intention to lead a quiet life. He would retire to the mountains, perhaps buy a hacienda of his own. In the meantime, he would make an honest woman of his girlfriend, Maria Luz Corral. They married, in Chihuahua, on May 29, 1911.


Pancho Villa and Maria Luz Corral.
They thought it was all over, but the Mexican Revolution had only just begun.

Pancho Villa: The Storm That Swept Mexico

Enigmatic, charismatic, history-making general, Pancho Villa divided opinion even during his life-time. On both sides of the Mexican-American border, there were those who would call him hero, bandit, freedom fighter, terrorist, statesman, charro, the best or worst individual ever to come out of Mexico.



He recently made headlines again, when American actor, Johnny Depp, turned down the lucrative lead in a Hollywood movie about Pancho Villa's life. Depp, taking his cue from the campaigns of Racebending, argued that a Mexican should be cast in such a high profile Mexican role.

My dilemma is just the fact that it’s Pancho Villa. It is Pancho Villa, and it’s one of the great heroes of Mexico. And for me, I feel like it should be played by a Mexican, and not some, you know – not some mutt from Kentucky, you know what I mean? I think I still feel very strongly about that.
Johnny Depp, actor

Last night, American television audiences were treated to another airing of the docu-drama, 'The Storm That Swept Mexico'. It chronicled the life and times of Pancho Villa. So who is this man?


TRAILER - The Storm That Swept Mexico from Paradigm Productions on Vimeo.
Back in September, we ran a series of blogs on the Mexican War of Independence. It would have been nice to write that that was the end of the story and that Mexico then settled down to a lovely couple of intervening centuries. Unfortunately, it wasn't like that at all. The next 100 years were some of the most turbulent in Mexico history. Heads of State came and went, some lasting no more than days or weeks at most.

There was a crippling war with the USA, which resulted in the border being repositioned, cutting Northern Mexico off from the rest of the country. Central Mexico became (and still is) the new north. The French invaded and were repelled, in the events still celebrated as Cinco de Mayo. They returned and ruled Mexico for three years, until another revolution threw them out again.

Yet still there was no stability in the reappointed Mexican government. Some presidents lasted mere hours, before being replaced. None of this was good for the country's economy and it certainly wasn't great for the people.

The War of Independence had left such high hopes, but the reality had seen more war and oppression than had been felt under the rule of the Spanish. Poverty was rife and still the guns blazed.

Then, in 1877, Porfirio Díaz (pictured left) became President of Mexico on a ticket of 'no re-election'. He was ousted, but returned. When he was sworn in, in 1884, he was there to stay. Díaz held office for the next thirty years. For some, that was stability; but, for most, that was a dictatorship.

It was a particularly bitter pill to swallow, when it is considered that only the ruling elite got the perks during this regime. The poor became poorer and few opportunities for advancement went on. Wealthy landowners became mini monarchs of their own sprawling haciendas. The mass of people worked, practically as slaves, upon them. It was like the War of Independence had never happened.

It was into this world that José Doroteo Arango Arámbula was born, on June 5th, 1878, on the Rancho de la Coyotada, Rio Grande, San Juan del Río, in Durango. He was to become better known to the world as Pancho Villa.


Pancho Villa, in later life, on horseback.
The young José was the eldest son of hacienda workers, Agustín Arango and Micaela Arambula. Life was tough and became even tougher when Agustín died, while José was barely out of puberty. Nevertheless, he did his best to be the man of the house, helping his mother with his four younger siblings and working hard to bring a bit of money in.

Haciendas were like petty kingdoms of their own, with the owners calling the shots and doing what they would upon their own land. Lopez Negre, who ruled the Rancho de la Coyotada, was no exception and, in 1894, his gaze fell upon José's 12 year old sister. As he pinned the girl down, in an attempt to rape her, José raced for a gun and shot the man dead.

He might have saved his sister, but he had just about condemned himself and his family. At just sixteen years old, José fled into the Durango mountains and hid out.

Capture meant instant, summary execution. His family were being watched. Without a main wage-earner, they teetered on the edge of starvation. Then José was found.

It wasn't Díaz's countryside police who found him; nor was it the marauding bands of men from the hacienda. It was members of a bandit group headed by infamous outlaw, Ignacio Parra. José was taken to meet their leader, who instantly took him under his wing. The boy was advised to change his name, to further avoid capture. He decided to take his surname from his grandfather, Jesus Villa. As a first name, José chose Francisco.

From now, until 1910, Francisco Villa was one of many Robin Hood characters, roaming the Durango countryside. Their aim was to raid rich haciendas and to redistribute the gains to the poverty-striken common people. To many, they were merely criminal gangs, intent upon breaching all facets of law and order. But in this way, Villa managed to keep his family fed.

But his major role in history was just about to come.

Copper Canyon National Park

It is a canyon four times larger and deeper than the USA's Grand Canyon. It is home to the native Tarahumara people; as well as being the location of both the tallest and the second tallest waterfalls in the country. It is called Barranca del Cobre (Copper Canyon) and, when a television show recently asked viewers to vote for the greatest natural wonder in Mexico, it won by a landslide majority.



Here the Sierra Madre Occidental mountain range rises up to 8000ft (2.4km) above sea-level, in an area known as the Sierra Tarahumara. Copper Canyon is carved out of the landscape by the meeting of not one, but six rivers. These rivers flow down the western side of the Sierra Tarahumara, creating six ravines, before joining together to form the mighty Río Fuerte (Fuerte River). As the waters flow, they stain the riverbanks a copper color, hence the name given to the canyon as a whole.

Along the way, these waters create such wondrous sights. Cascada de Piedra Volada (Flying Stone Waterfall) plummets 1,486 feet (453 meters) down the side of one of the ravines. It is 50ft (15 meters) wide and can be found in the Cañon Candamena (Candamena Canyon).

This is the largest waterfall in Mexico, as well as the 11th tallest in the world, but you have to time it right to see it in its full glory. The rainy season (May to September) is the best time of all, when the rivers are swollen to capacity.

Remarkably, the falls have only recently been discovered, in September, 1994, as they lay in reasonably inaccessible wilderness. (Though it may be assumed that the locals knew it was there.) The tourist trails have now opened them up, but, for many, Piedra Volada is still best seen from a distance. Up close, the nature of the rock formations mean that there isn't a clear sight of the waterfall for all of your hard work getting up there.

Nevertheless, many make pilgrimage, because the stunning views of the rest of the canyon more than compensate. Going to the top of Piedra Volada is only for the hardy. It can be reached only via a hiking trail, starting in San Lorenzo, which takes up to 8 hours for the round trip. This also includes a section where hands and feet will both be needed, in order to traverse a rock ramp.

Copper Canyon is also home to Mexico's second tallest waterfall. Cascada de Basaseachi (Basaseachic Falls) is found in the canyon of the same name. It was believed for centuries that this was the country's biggest waterfall, until Cascada de Piedra Volada knocked it off its perch. However, unlike its neighbour, Basaseachi falls permanently, all year round.



Cascada de Basaseachi cascades down 807ft (246 meters) from the top of the Sierra Tarahumara. It is also easily accessible from the mountain-top town of Creel. This old railroad and logging town now caters for the influx of tourists, with many local amenities to serve their needs. It affords an excellent view of Cascada de Basaseachi, while a short drive out, on Federal Highway 16, allows visitors to reach the top of the falls themselves.

There are many such towns and villages dotted throughout the Copper Canyon. Some have been specifically built as tourist towns, since the area became designated as Parque Nacional Barranca del Cobre (Copper Canyon National Park). There is controversy over a couple of them, as large hotels are seen as distracting from the otherwise breath-taking vista.

However, barely noticeable at all are those settlements belonging to the indigenious Rarámuri. Friendly and sociable, these people have lived in the canyon since long before the arrival of the Spanish. Their legends tell of a giant rampaging through the scenery, causing the deep ravines with his heavy footfalls. Some Rarámuri have built their homes from scratch, while many others live quite comfortably inside caves. (They are quite used to tourists stumbling upon them and asking, in amazed delight, for photographs of their homes.)

This travel blog photo's source is TravelPod page: Creel, Chihuahua

The Rarámuri's Spanish name, Tarahumara, means 'the running people'. It references the amazing stamina of these people, who have been known to run non-stop for days. One of their hunting techniques was to chase their prey, until it fell from exhaustion; while one of their ball games rules it a foul, if a player stops running. These games often go on all day and well into the night too. You can read more about the Tarahumara, as well as seeing some stunning photography, on the Friends of the Running People website.

As well as human being, Copper Canyon is home to some quite rare wildlife, including the Stygian owls. Amongst the other 300 species of birds found here are royal eagle, mountain cockatoo, wild turkey and thick-billed parrots. You might also spot a mountain lion or a Mexican wolf.

Many agree that the best way to view Copper Canyon is by taking the Chepe Train, from Los Mochis to Chihuahua. There are roads, but that involves wanting to park up every five minutes to see another awe-inspiring sight. There are also commercial buses, as well as plenty of tourist buses. The former might be the cheapest way to travel, other than walking, but they can get very crowded. Hiking, biking and horse-riding also remain perennial favourites. Lots of travel advice is given in this Lonely Planet forum thread.



Time to discover why so many Mexicans rate this area as their country's greatest wonder?