01/06/1953
Gen. Francisco (Pancho) Villa had 20 children by six or seven "wives" and some of them have become prominent professional men, Mrs. Luz Corral vda. De Villa , the guerrilla chieftain's widow, said in El Paso.
Mrs. Villa, who lives in Chihuahua City, is visiting friends, Mr. and Mrs. Alfredo Venegas of 816 South El Paso street.
"I was the only legal wife Pancho had," Mrs. Villa said. "That was recognized by a Durango court, which named me the sole heir after he was killed from ambush.
Canutillo Ranch
"His Canutillo ranch in Durango was sold to pay his debts, which included 20,000 pesos plus a loan of 80,000 American dollars."
Mrs. Villa said she was acquainted with several of Pancho's other women and reared several of their children. '0ne of his sons is a lawyer, one a doctor, and another an educator in Guadalajara," she said. Her own daughter by Villa died.
Although a fierce warrior in the field, Villa in retirement was a family man, a good husband and a kind father, his widow said.
No Buried Treasure
"He got up at 5 a. m. and worked in the fields all day," Mrs. Villa said.
Buried treasure?
"Ha!" exclaimed Mrs. Villa. "People still look for it, with maps and everything. There's no such thing. If there had been 1 would have found it myself.
"Of course, when Pancho was a military commander he buried money and arms. But he dug them up to pay the troops and to fight with when needed. He never got rich—not like the politicians do now."
Raid on Columbus
Mrs. Villa said her husband's assassination in 1923, the work of six or eight men, was inspired by Generals Obregon and Calles. Villa was riddled with bullets as he drove near Parral in his 1919 Dodge touring car.
Mrs. Villa still has the Dodge, along with Pancho's guns and binoculars and other relics, in a little museum in Chihuahua City.
Asked whether Villa ever discussed the raid on Columbus, N.M., which led to the Pershing Punitive Expedition in I916, Mrs. Villa said he seldom talked about such matters.
"It was General Villa who ordered the raid on Columbus.'" She said. "He was mad at the United States because of some bad ammunition he had been sold. He said it caused him to lose the battle of Celaya. Also, he was mad because the U. S. favored General Carranza."
Mrs. Villa said she believes Pancho Villa will go down in history as a true Madero revolutionist, a Robin Hood type of hero.
"Mexico is just beginning to give him justice," she said.
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