Hello all, here is an article for discussion that was previously posted on TheArmoryLife.com. It is titled “Hunting Pancho Villa with the 1911” and can be found at https://www.thearmorylife.com/hunting-pancho-villa-with-the-1911/.
Hunting Pancho Villa with the 1911
- Thread starter Mike H.
- Start date
kenpomaniac1958
Master Class
Good article. I grew up near the Mexican border in the Rio Grande Valley. I retired and moved back to the area. The remote parts of the Texas/Mexico border can be dangerous, especially at night.Hello all, here is an article for discussion that was previously posted on TheArmoryLife.com. It is titled “Hunting Pancho Villa with the 1911” and can be found at https://www.thearmorylife.com/hunting-pancho-villa-with-the-1911/.
Pancho Villa was not the hero to the Mexican people some Americans think he was. He took over towns in Mexico and took almost any woman he wanted. He fathered a lot of children. As time passes he's seen as the bandit he really was.
Consider that throughout Mexican/American border history, the people who have lived there have had to deal with corruption, smuggling, and sometimes corrupt or heavy handed law enforcement. If you spend any time near the remote parts of the Texas/Mexico border it's hard not to gain respect for the people who live and survive there. It's rugged country and drug smugglers and "coyotes"(people smugglers) pass through pretty often.
I'm a fan of the 1911. I carried and shot them in the Marine Corps('76-79). And have owned many different models over the years. It's an accurate firearm with great knockdown power. To me a 1911 is the Harley of handguns. It's been around a long time and it works. It's not a firearm for everyone but if it works for you, it's hard to carry anything else.
KaniksuKidd
Alpha
My FIL and his wife lived in Columbus, NM when I visited them in 1997. General Pershing's HQ are now "Pancho Villa State Park". Go figure. His Mexico Expeditionary Force was the first time that the US Army had used motorized vehicles in combat operations. There is a brick structure at the "park" that the vehicles were driven onto so that they could receive oil changes and greasing. Due to the lack of roads mechanical breakdowns were constant. A friend of my FIL had a metal detector and knowing of my love of firearms presented me with a styrofoam "go-box" of ancient .30-06 and .45 ACP rounds. The latest headstamp on any of these was "FA 1913". He would not tell me where he had been detecting when he found them but I had a pretty good idea that they came from the state park. Some of the .30-06 rounds had corroded to the point that the bullets were easily removed. They were the correct flat-base design for that period. That was a good trip!
HayesGreener
Ronin
The 1911 has an unmatched legacy of service. I think of that every time I pick one up.
kenpomaniac1958
Master Class
The Pancho Villa State Park doesn't surprise me..
Some people's view and knowledge of a person like Pancho Villa is not balanced, but to each his own. To some people Villa will always be a hero. That's why I like the song "Pancho and Lefty" by Merle Haggard and Willie Nelson...good song...some truths there...My grandpa on my mother's side was a soldier in the Mexican Army in the early 1900's. He grew up and lived near the border (Progreso) in Mexico. I'd go visit and spend time at his ranch(A few miles outside of Progreso). Watching him use a whip was pretty scary.
When he'd come visit us in the US we'd go for walks after dinner. He told me about how rough things were back then and how some stories of events got distorted. Grandpa was "old school" tough. He lived to be in his 90's and died in the late 1970's.
Last edited:
Of all the figures in the Mexican Revolution, I only respect Emiliano Zapata. Villa was a bandit that joined the Revolution for his own gains. While he may be considered a "hero" by some Mexicans now (and then) Zapata genuinely cared for the Mexican peasant. I have read several books on the subject and found them fascinating. Interestingly, both Villa and Zapata simultaneously occupied Mexico City at a time when leadership of Mexico was very uncertain. Both declined to assume power. Zapata was generally concerned only with his native state of Morelos.
KaniksuKidd
Alpha
I'd bet that your grandpa told you things you will never forget!The Pancho Villa State Park doesn't surprise me..
My grandpa on my mother's side was a soldier in the Mexican Army in the early 1900's. He grew up and lived near the border (Progreso) in Mexico. I'd go visit and spend time at his ranch(A few miles outside of Progreso). Watching him use a whip was pretty scary.
When he'd come visit us in the US we'd go for walks after dinner. He told me about how rough things were back then and how some stories of events got distorted. Grandpa was "old school" tough. He lived to be in his 90's and died in the late 1970's.
