Have a question? Need assistance? Use our online form to ask a librarian for help.
Chat with a librarian, Monday through Friday, 12-2 pm Eastern Time (except Federal Holidays).
Chronicling America is a searchable digital collection of historic newspaper pages through 1963 sponsored jointly by the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Library of Congress.
Follow @ChronAmLOC External and subscribe to email alerts and RSS feeds.
Also, see the Directory of U.S. Newspapers in American Libraries, a searchable index to newspapers published in the United States since 1690, which helps researchers identify what titles exist for a specific place and time, and how to access them.
Known by some as a "Robin Hood in Mexico," the American press often portrays Francisco "Pancho" Villa as the villain of a war at the Mexican border. At the end of the Mexican Revolution, after his army dwindles, Villa negotiates an amnesty with the Mexican government and retires his military pursuits in 1920, only to be assassinated in an ambush three years later in 1923. Read more about it!
The information in this guide focuses on primary source materials found in the digitized historic newspapers from the digital collection Chronicling America.
The timeline below highlights important dates related to this topic, and a section of this guide provides some suggested search strategies for further research in the collection.
| June 5, 1878 | Born Jose Doroteo Arango Arambula in San Juan del Rio, Durango, Mexico. |
|---|---|
| 1910 | Pancho Villa joins Francisco Madero against dictator Porfirio Diaz. |
| 1913 | When Madero is overthrown, Villa joins with Emiliano Zapata and Venustiano Carranza to oppose the dictatorship of Huerta. Forms own army, the Division del Norte. Serves as provisional governor of the state of Chihuahua. |
| 1914 | Villa splits with Carranza, who has assumed the presidency. |
| March 9, 1916 | Raid on Columbus, NM, allegedly initiated by Pancho Villa in retaliation of the change in US allegiance from him to Carranza. |
| 1916-1917 | “Punitive expedition” lead by Brigadier General Pershing is sent into Mexico with 3,000 US troops. Villa eludes capture. Pershing is called back when the US enters WWI. |
| 1920 | Villa is granted amnesty and retires to a ranch in northern Mexico. |
| June 20, 1923 | Villa assassinated in Parral, Chihuahua. |
