Pancho Villa and the Junta Constitucionalista: the Role of an Urban Middle-Class Group in the Formation of the Villista Movement in 1913

New Mexico Historical Review

Volume 85 Number 2 Article 2

4-1-2010

Pancho Villa and the Junta Constitucionalista: The Role of an urban Middle-Class Group in the Formation of the Villista Movement in 1913

Morten Lotveit

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Recommended Citation Lotveit, Morten. "Pancho Villa and the Junta Constitucionalista: The Role of an urban Middle-Class Group in the Formation of the Villista Movement in 1913." New Mexico Historical Review 85, 2 (2010). https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/nmhr/vol85/iss2/2

This Article is brought to you for free and open access by UNM Digital Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in New Mexico Historical Review by an authorized editor of UNM Digital Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected], [email protected], [email protected]. Pancho Villa and the Junta Constitucionalista the role of an urban middle-class group in the formation of the villista movement in 19131

Morten Løtveit

Introduction

ducated members of the urban middle class were important in the for- E mation of Francisco “Pancho” Villa’s movement of 1913. This argument runs counter to current historiography. Historians mainly agree that popular resentment against Gen. Victoriano Huerta’s government fueled the rise of the Villista movement, and they commonly believe that Villa’s personal magnetism and military talent were instrumental in transforming diverse and decentralized popular uprisings into a powerful armed movement. By and large, scholars see urban, educated middle-class individuals as mar- ginal in this process. They often assume that such figures did not play significant roles in the Villista movement until Villa took control over most of the state of Chihuahua at the end of 1913. Moreover, historians often regard the Villista movement as originating largely in isolation from the “respect- able” and “official” middle-class centers of the Constitutionalist movement, although the Villistas were formally a subordinate part of the Constitution- alist movement.2

Morten Løtveit is an Associate Professor of History at Hedmark University College in Norway and a former visiting scholar at the University of New Mexico. He has written a dissertation on the rise 131 of Pancho Villa, is the coauthor of a Norwegian textbook on the history of Latin America and the Caribbean, and has taught Latin American and Mexican history at the University of Oslo. 132 N new mexico historical review volume 85, number 2

This conception of the original Villista movement is arguably a core element in various interpretations of the Mexican Revolution. Thus, a re- appraisal of Villismo beginnings may have wider implications. Despite no- table advances in Villista historiography during the last few decades, this subject remains poorly researched and calls for further examination.3 Historians have particularly ignored the roles that members of the Junta Constitucionalista del Estado de Chihuahua (Constitutionalist Committee of the State of Chi- huahua) played in the formation of the Villista movement.4

The Junta Constitucionalista del Estado de Chihuahua

The Junta Constitucionalista del Estado de Chihuahua (JC) was established in El Paso, Texas, on 4 March 1913.5 Most of its members came from Chi- huahua to El Paso in the aftermath of General Huerta’s coup on 18 Febru- ary 1913 against Mexican president Francisco I. Madero’s government. Four days later, military authorities arrested Chihuahua governor Abraham González, a close associate of Madero’s, and subsequently dismantled his administration. Many of those who formed or joined the JC had been aides, political allies, or supporters of Governor González. In terms of personnel, a certain degree of continuity existed between González’s administration and the JC, whose members included Samuel Navarro Benítez, Juan N. Medina, Silvestre Terrazas, Matías C. García, Aureliano González, Miguel Baca Ronquillo, Sebastián Vargas Jr., Eleuterio Hermosillo, Primitivo Uro, Juan B. Anaya, and Theodore Kiracopolus.6 García served as the JC’s president, but Samuel Navarro was arguably the organization’s most important member during the spring of 1913. Two particular circumstances should be made apparent. First, the JC played a role in the unification of the Constitutionalist movement in Mexico. Together with the rebellious states of Sonora and Coahuila, the JC took part in negotiations that led to the formal establishment of the Constitutionalist Army under the leadership of Coahuila governor Venustiano Carranza in April 1913. In this context, the JC acted as a virtual substitute for the overthrown administration of Governor González. Second, González had maintained a relatively friendly relationship with Villa, who knew several of González’s associates who joined the JC. Villa lived in El Paso between January and March 1913. In late February and early March, Villa was in a position to confer with some of the JC’s future members. The political circumstances following Huerta’s takeover made spring 2010 løtveit N 133 cooperation between Villa and the JC not only possible but also advanta- geous to both parties.

A Gallery of JC Members

Who participated in the JC? The JC’s membership generally consisted of educated men, often professionals from middle- and, occasionally, upper- class backgrounds. The gallery presented here is not a complete list of all JC members but rather a selection of figures who are interesting in this context. A doctor born in Chihuahua City, Chihuahua, in 1882, Samuel Navarro Benítez was employed by the Mexican Army between 1901 and 1904. He joined the revolution in 1910, and two years later, Madero appointed him medical major in the sanitation service of the forces fighting the Orozquista rebels, followers of a breakaway Revolutionary commander, Pascual Orozco.7 Navarro emerged as the virtual head of the JC during the spring of 1913. He joined Villa’s force that May, taking charge of its medical service. Two of Navarro’s brothers, Saulo (or Saúl) Navarro Benítez and Benito Navarro Benítez, also joined Villa and became officers in his Division of the North. Saulo was eventually promoted to general.8 Enemy fire killed Samuel Navarro during Villa’s attack on Chihuahua City in early November 1913.9 Juan N. Medina, a lawyer’s son, was born in the city of Puebla in 1882.10 He studied at the prestigious Military College in Mexico City and took part in the military campaign against rebellious Sonoran Yaquis from 1900 to 1903. Medina then withdrew from the service, became a businessman in Ciudad Juárez, and, in 1909, joined the Maderistas, Madero’s disciples.11 In late 1910, Medina took part in the Junta Revolucionaria, organized by a brother of Abraham González, in El Paso. In the spring of 1911, Medina played a leading role in the rebels’ capture of Agua Prieta, Sonora. Through his participation in the revolutionary forces, Medina was rapidly promoted to lieutenant colonel.12 Between May 1911 and February 1913, Medina served as a Maderista politician in Chihuahua, acting as interim mayor of Ciudad Juárez twice.13 After Huerta’s coup, Medina went into exile in El Paso and joined the JC. According to Medina’s own record, Villa ordered him to stay in El Paso, plan an attack on Ciudad Juárez, and send Villa munitions and recruits.14 In April 1913, Medina established a military camp at Agua Prieta in order to train and equip troops for service in Chihuahua.15 In July he and his recruits 134 N new mexico historical review volume 85, number 2

ill. 1. pancho villa with generals fierro, ortega, and medina From left to right: Two unknown, Rodolfo Fierro, Francisco “Pancho” Villa, Toribio Ortega, and Juan N. Medina, probably in October or November 1913. (Photograph courtesy Record Group 165: Records of the War Department General and Special Staffs, 1860–1952, The Mexican Punitive Expedition Series, National Archives and Record Administration, ARC identifier 533444)

joined Villa at Ascensión in northwestern Chihuahua.16 In August the various forces that came under Villa’s command during the summer were integrated into the Villa Brigade, and Medina functioned as one of Villa’s two colonels.17 Before the Battle of Torreón in late September and early October 1913, Medina acted as Villa’s de facto chief of staff.18 Medina served as a key player in the formation of Villa’s Division of the North, but possibly owing to false accusations of embezzlement and a fear that Villa might execute him, Medina escaped to the United States and renounced all his positions in late November 1913.19 He stayed in El Paso until the summer of 1914, when Villa’s suspicion of his alleged embezzlement seemed to have evapo- rated. Villa called on Medina once again, and he returned to Chihuahua, working for Villa in various capacities throughout the following years.20 Silvestre Terrazas, a distant relative of cattle baron and former Chihuahua governor Luis Terrazas, became the chief clerk and private secretary of Chihuahua’s first bishop, José de Jesús Ortíz y Rodríguez. In 1899 Silvestre spring 2010 løtveit N 135

Terrazas began publishing the daily El Correo de Chihuahua, which became the rallying point for the state opposition from 1905 onward and offered support to Madero’s party in 1909 and 1910. After the fall of Porfirio Díaz’s government in May 1911, Terrazas and El Correo de Chihuahua continued to support Madero.21 Furthermore, Terrazas played a key role in González’s economic policy in Chihuahua.22 Terrazas was in Mexico City at the time of Huerta’s coup in February 1913. When he returned to Chihuahua at the end of April, the new Chihuahuan authorities closed his newspaper.23 In early May, Terrazas moved to El Paso and became an important figure in the JC.24 When Villa became governor of Chihuahua in December 1913, he appointed Terrazas general secretary of the state, the highest-ranking civilian servant in Chihuahua. Terrazas also took care of other important functions in Villa’s political machine in Chihuahua. In December 1915, he fled to Las Cruces, New Mexico. By early 1919, he had moved to El Paso and opened La Patria, a new newspaper that was not outspokenly pro-Villista but fiercely anti- Carrancista and anticommunist.25 Professor Matías C. García worked closely with the administration of Governor González.26 When military authorities arrested the governor, they imprisoned García but eventually released him, at which time García went to El Paso where he became the JC’s president.27 In addition to communi- cating with Carranza and other Constitutionalists, García sent recruits and military equipment to Constitutionalist commander Toribio Ortega in Ojinaga, Chihuahua, the only town close to the U.S.-Mexico border held by Chihuahuan rebels. Ortega joined Villa during the summer of 1913. Af- ter the Villista takeover in Chihuahua, García was the main speaker for a reception in honor of Villa at the state capital.28 Together with other intel- lectuals, García founded the Villista newspaper Vida Nueva in February 1914.29 By March he had been appointed director-general of education in Chihuahua.30 When the split between Villa and Carranza took place in 1914, García remained in the Villista camp. Some years later, he worked as the tutor for one of Villa’s sons.31 Aureliano González was born in Tepatitlán, Jalisco, in 1869. He worked as a judge in Chihuahua before the revolution.32 He joined the Maderistas in 1909 and was named interim governor of Chihuahua on 31 October 1911, when Governor Abraham González (no relation to Aureliano) joined Madero’s cabinet in Mexico City. As interim governor, he requested that Villa and other Maderista commanders organize auxiliary forces as a counterweight to the unreliable rural police troops in the state.33 When Abraham González 136 N new mexico historical review volume 85, number 2

resumed his duties as governor, Aureliano González became general secretary of the state. In January 1913, Governor González sent Aureliano González to El Paso to talk with Villa, who had recently escaped from prison in Mexico City.34 In early March, Aureliano González acted as the counsel for the defense of Abraham González in a short, phony trial that new authorities had arranged against the deposed governor.35 On 1 April, Aureliano González fled to El Paso, where he joined the JC.36 During 1914 he held various political and administrative positions within the Villista camp but outside Chi- huahua.37 Villa executed Aureliano González on 13 August 1915 because he doubted González’s loyalty and honesty.38 Miguel Baca Ronquillo fought with the Maderista revolutionaries in southern Chihuahua in 1910 and was elected to the Chihuahuan legisla- ture during the summer of 1911.39 He was among a few delegates who re- fused to endorse the Orozquista rebels’ takeover of the state government in March 1912.40 Baca Ronquillo probably cooperated with Villa when the Maderistas defended Parral, Chihuahua, against the Orozquistas in March and April 1912.41 As a member of the JC, he served many functions, includ- ing messenger between Villa and Terrazas and Villa and Carranza.42 When

ill. 2. venustiano carranza with sebastián vargas, april 1914 (Photograph courtesy Otis A. Aultman Photo Collection, Border Heritage Center, El Paso Public Library, A0219) spring 2010 løtveit N 137

Villa was installed as governor of Chihuahua, he appointed Baca Ronquillo chief clerk of the state.43 Baca Ronquillo, however, was replaced in Febru- ary 1914.44 After the break between Villa and Carranza, he withdrew from revolutionary activities.45 Sebastián Vargas Jr., the son of a relatively prominent Maderista politician in Chihuahua, became tax collector in Ciudad Juárez after the Madero revolution, a position he also held at the time of Huerta’s coup.46 Governor González sent Vargas Jr. to El Paso to talk with Villa in January 1913.47 Vargas Jr. apparently provided Villa with some funds before Villa joined the struggle in Chihuahua in March.48 When Villa became governor in December, Vargas Jr. was appointed general treasurer of the state, a position he held until August 1915, when he withdrew from political life.49 Eleuterio Hermosillo entered Chihuahua from the United States in Feb- ruary 1911 as one of Madero’s aides.50 During Governor González’s tenure, Hermosillo probably served as a voluntary Maderista officer, working closely with the González administration.51 As a member of the JC, Hermosillo operated as a messenger between Villa and the JC and occasionally took part in military operations during the spring of 1913.52 Hermosillo went to Santa Rosalía, Chihuahua, with Samuel Navarro in May to see Villa, and subsequently joined Villa’s force.53 In August Villa appointed Hermosillo as his chief of staff. In effective terms, however, he only held that position for a few weeks.54 Nevertheless, Hermosillo continued on Villa’s staff and participated in the Battle of Torreón and the attack on Ciudad Chihuahua in the fall of 1913, when he was injured for a second time in three months.55 Hermosillo then disappears from the historical record. Primitivo Uro, born in 1881, had been a member of the radical Mexican Liberal Party before joining Madero’s party.56 Uro was an aide to Governor González during his final months in office.57 The governor sent Uro, along with Aureliano González and Vargas Jr., to El Paso to confer with Villa in early 1913.58 By April Uro had joined the JC. In the fall, he fought alongside Villa in the battles of San Andrés and Torreón.59 By late November, he was a part of Villa’s staff. Uro was the general purveyor of the Division of the North in the spring of 1914.60 Uro’s activities during the next several years are difficult to follow. In 1926 he founded the Frente Nacional Villista with the purpose of rehabilitating the late Pancho Villa, who remained in dis- grace with the Mexican government.61 Several other members of the JC should also be mentioned. Juan B. Anaya, for example, served as a leading figure in the rebels’ takeover of the 138 N new mexico historical review volume 85, number 2 town of Ojinaga at the end of March 1913.62 Located on Mexico’s border with the United States, the town served as an important point of communication among the JC, Carranza, and rebel commanders in Chihuahua. Theodore Kiracopolus, a Jew of Greek descent and a U.S. citizen, owned and operated the Emporium Bar on South El Paso Street in El Paso, “a rendezvous for rebels,” according to a U.S. intelligence report.63 Villa saw Kiracopolus frequently when he stayed in El Paso.64 Kiracopolus may have assisted Villa shortly before he crossed the border into Mexico in early March 1913.65 Later, Kiracopolus was probably involved in recruiting men for the rebels in northern Mexico and assisting Villa’s smugglers.66

The JC Assists Villa

Although members of the JC engaged in a number of different activities, their assistance in bringing other Constitutionalist commanders under Villa’s control was arguably their most important contribution to the Villista movement. The following discussion will focus mainly on this particular aspect of JC activities. Villa’s position at the beginning of the anti-Huerta struggle was not particularly strong. He basically operated in western Chihuahua, away from the locus of the anti-Huerta struggle in southern Chihuahua. In contrast to the southern Chihuahuan rebel commanders, Villa did not en- gage in any major military operation during the first two months after he entered Mexico in early March 1913. In the spring of 1913, Villa was not an outstanding military figure in terms of performance or the number of men under his command. By late April or early May, Villa may have commanded between three hundred and five hundred out of approximately three thousand to four thousand Constitutionalist rebels in the state.67 The rapid growth of the Villista movement during the following months should be primarily attributed to other hitherto independent or semi-independent rebel bands becoming subordinate to Villa’s command. At this particular juncture, Villa profited from Carranza’s initial benevo- lence toward him. In May Carranza acknowledged Villa as brigadier general, the highest-ranking Constitutionalist officer in the state.68 This recognition did not mean, however, that Chihuahuan rebel commanders such as Manuel Chao, Maclovio Herrera, and Tomás Urbina accepted Villa’s leadership without objection. On the other hand, it probably made other commanders, such as Rosalío Hernández, more obliging toward Villa than before, and it paved the way for the integration of Villa and Ortega’s forces.69 spring 2010 løtveit N 139

Navarro, and possibly other JC members, likely convinced Carranza to send Villa a written acknowledgement of his rank as brigadier general. As the virtual head of the JC, Navarro had been deeply involved in the discussions leading up to the approval of Carranza’s Plan de Guadalupe at Monclova, Coahuila, on 18 April 1913. This agreement proclaimed Huerta’s government illegitimate, established the Constitutionalist Army with Carranza as its first chief, and promised elections would be held as soon as the overthrow of Huerta’s government occurred and peace resumed. Navarro proposed to add radical social and economic clauses to the Plan de Guadalupe, but withdrew his proposals during the discussions before the Monclova conference. When Navarro finally signed the agreement at Monclova, he had made considerable political concessions to Carranza. For his part, Carranza had every reason to feel politically indebted to Navarro because he had rejected Navarro’s proposals for the Plan de Guadalupe. Carranza argued that gaining support from as many Mexicans as possible was most important.70 Navarro was positively disposed toward Villa. At Monclova Navarro ex- pressed his wish to join Villa’s troops and his desire to bring Carranza’s confirmation of Villa as brigadier general to him.71 Some days earlier, however, Villa had robbed a Mexico North Western Railway train and stolen 121 bars of silver and 4 bars of gold near Chavarría, west of Chihuahua City. Carranza had hoped to form an orderly Constitutionalist Army that respected private property rights, so this raid probably caused him some headaches.72 In fact the train robbery proved to be a problem for Villa as well as the JC. Most of the silver bars belonged to U.S. mining companies, and Villa had promised in a statement in the El Paso Morning Times, a newspaper close to the JC, to protect U.S. interests.73 For the JC, based in the United States, the robbery proved particularly troublesome. Shortly after he returned from Monclova to El Paso, Navarro played an instrumental role in estab- lishing contact between the owners of the bullion and Villa, who entered into talks some days later.74 When information about the talks leaked to the press, Navarro publicly defended Villa’s course of action.75 When an agreement was reached, the El Paso Morning Times portrayed the incident in a way that favored Villa.76 Interestingly, information about the talks and the deal leaked shortly before the news that Villa would be acknowledged as the highest-ranking commander of the Chihuahuan Constitutionalists.77 One and a half weeks later, Villa entered Santa Rosalía, where the main Consti- tutionalist commander of the district, Rosalío Hernández, welcomed him.78 140 N new mexico historical review volume 85, number 2

Four days later, Hermosillo and Navarro arrived there with Carranza’s written acknowledgement of Villa’s rank as general.79 Whether the talks and the deal over the bullion were causally related to Carranza’s acknowledgement of Villa’s rank as general is, of course, difficult to ascertain. However, given the virtual simultaneousness of the two processes, Navarro’s involvement in both, and Navarro’s role at Monclova, it is reasonable to believe that these circumstances were linked.80 About the same time as the news of Villa’s rank surfaced, Villa ordered Ortega to move his force from Ojinaga in northeastern Chihuahua to Guadalupe, near Ciudad Juárez. Like many other leaders, Ortega was skep- tical of Villa at first.81 Although most of the main rebel leaders in Chihua- hua grudgingly accepted Villa’s leadership, they were still not effectively under his command. Ortega was the first major rebel commander to inte- grate his force with Villa’s. This merger resulted from a plan to capture Ciudad Juárez in the summer of 1913. For numerous reasons that will not be discussed here, the planned attack never took place. Still, the preparations for the attack, which occurred for several months, were crucial in the development of the Villista movement.82 Several figures of the JC were likewise involved in this process. On 7 April 1913, Anaya announced the plan to attack Ciudad Juárez. Anaya stated that five hundred men from Sonora would turn east toward Ciudad Juárez, and Ortega would send part of his troops west toward the city. Both of these forces would unite with Villa’s troops for the attack.83 At Agua Prieta, Sonora, Medina organized one of the forces preparing for the campaign. Villa promoted him to colonel in May, and Carranza subsequently confirmed Medina’s new position when he went to Carranza’s headquarters at Piedras Negras, Coahuila, some weeks later.84 About the same time, García informed Ortega that Carranza had promoted him to colonel as well.85 One or two weeks later, Navarro met with Ortega and one of Carranza’s representatives at Ojinaga to discuss a combined attack on Ciudad Juárez and Chihuahua City led by the forces of Ortega, Villa, and other rebel commanders in Chihuahua.86 During the following weeks, Villa and Ortega communicated with each other.87 A problem arose, however, on 6 June 1913, when U.S. authorities arrested Ortega during a short trip to Presidio, Texas. Nonetheless, Ortega notified Carranza that he had left Lt. Col. Porfirio Ornelas in charge of his troops with instructions that they should march as soon as they received orders from Carranza or Villa.88 When Carranza received Ortega’s message, spring 2010 løtveit N 141 he telegraphed García and asked him to go to Marfa, Texas, where Ortega was held in custody, and take the necessary steps to have him released. A lawyer was sent from San Antonio, Texas, and, on 13 June, Ortega was released on bail. “Influential citizens of Marfa who . . . are openly in sympa- thy with him” signed Otega’s seven-thousand-dollar bond.89 Part of Ortega’s force marched toward Ciudad Juárez a few days after Villa entered the northwestern part of the state in late June.90 Navarro, in charge of Villa’s medical service, crossed the border into El Paso to acquire medical equipment, recruit physicians, and send communications to Ortega’s force on the eastern side of El Paso.91 The JC’s role as a communication channel between Villa and Ortega was vitally important. In early July, Ortega admit- ted that he had not been in direct communication with Villa, but he was informed of Villa’s plans and movements through members of the JC, who visited Ortega daily.92 Navarro also served as a link between Villa and U.S. authorities.93 During June and July 1913, Terrazas, who addressed Villa as the “digno jefe en el estado (worthy chief in the state),” was making arrangements to purchase ammunition for Villa.94 Vargas Jr. and other JC activists collected money for Villa’s war efforts.95 In June the JC sent Jose María Macías as a commercial agent to Columbus, New Mexico, a town on the opposite side of the international border from Villa’s encampments.96 Members of the JC also operated as propagandists or a public-relations service for Villa.97 After staying close to the border for some eight weeks, Villa realized by early August that the conditions for a successful attack on Ciudad Juárez were not in place. He ordered Ortega and his troops to cross over from the eastern side of Ciudad Juárez to northwestern Chihuahua. There, in Namiquipa, the forces of Villa, Ortega, Medina, and other commanders who had prepared for the attack on Ciudad Juárez integrated into the Villa Brigade. Ortega was named second in command of the brigade, and Hermosillo was named chief of staff.98 Apart from Villa as commanding general, the brigade had two colonels, Ortega and Medina, and three lieutenant colonels, Porfirio Ornelas, Tomás Ornelas, and Hermosillo.99 None of these men belonged to the group of rebels that reportedly entered Mexico with Villa in March 1913.100 By August a new group of leaders had emerged. This group consisted of Villa; Medina and Hermosillo, with JC backgrounds; Ortega and Porfirio Ornelas, from the northeastern Chihuahua rebel force; and Tomás Ornelas, from the Camargo district of southeastern Chihuahua. Despite Villa’s apparent paralysis during the summer of 1913, his brigade proved surprisingly effective during the following weeks and months. This 142 N new mexico historical review volume 85, number 2 merger of revolutionary forces under Villa’s command occurred at the same time that a number of difficulties appeared in the relationship between Villa and Carranza. Carranza began to favor the leadership of rebel commander Manuel Chao in southern Chihuahua rather than Villa’s.101 The Villa Brigade, however, won a crushing victory over a large government force at San Andrés in late August. This military victory was not only Villa’s most important to date during the anti-Huerta struggle, it was also an important stimulus to the Constitutionalists in northern Mexico, who had suffered a number of defeats and setbacks during July and Au- gust. Villa’s great breakthrough as a leading commander in the Mexican Revolution followed a few weeks later during the Battle of Torreón in September and October 1913. In September thousands of rebels in the Laguna area between Durango and Coahuila encircled Torreón, the district’s principal city and an important industrial center and railway junction in northern Mexico. The rebels were primarily from Durango and had, during the last few months, been under the command of Tomás Urbina, a former outlaw companion of Villa’s.102 In the latter part of September, the Laguna rebels found them- selves in a hard-pressed military situation. Quite astonishingly Villa outma- neuvered Urbina for control. He united his own force with the Durango troops, in addition to troops from southern Chihuahua and southwestern Coahuila, and captured Torreón in the span of three days. How did Villa manage to bring all these rebel troops under his command and mobilize them for an attack on Torreón? Few firsthand sources exist to help answer the question, but a careful reading of Villa and Medina’s report on the battle and various secondhand accounts provide some clues.103 Together, they suggest that Villa initiated a meeting of rebel commanders that probably took place on 29 September 1913 at La Loma, some fifteen miles east of Torreón. The location of the meeting was significant: La Loma was virtually within reach of enemy fire. The situation called for quick and determined action. The central topic of the meeting centered on the election of a commander in chief for an attack on Torreón. Villa’s main rival was Urbina, but other candidates were mentioned as well. At first many of the leaders who spoke at the meeting refrained from giving a clear opinion. According to various sources, Medina favored a unified command with Villa as its commander in chief. His position won out, although some of the commanders might have had ambiguous feelings about the outcome.104 spring 2010 løtveit N 143

Medina appears not only to have played a principal part in the meeting that resulted in Villa’s election as commander in chief but appears, for all practical purposes, to have taken over the function as Villa’s chief of staff during the attack on Torreón.105 He was at this time undoubtedly close to Villa and played a vital part in organizing and disciplining the troops.106 This work continued as Villa brought a large part of the troops in Torreón into Chihuahua in October 1913. When they arrived at Jiménez in the middle of the month, Medina was formally appointed as Villa’s chief of staff. Medina immediately began improving and formalizing the organi- zational structure of the forces. Members of Medina’s staff were carefully selected in regard to competence. They introduced formal military regu- lations and took steps toward the creation of a war tribunal. They meticu- lously counted the number of troops in various entities and placed each soldier according to his position and qualifications in hopes of avoiding the misuse of salary funds. The work of Medina and his men caused dis- content among the commanders. They frequently complained about Medina’s measures to Villa.107 Medina also played a central part in Villa’s surprise attack on Ciudad Juárez in the middle of November. The Villistas captured the city in a few hours, and Villa and Medina immediately set out to restore order in the city.108 When the main body of the Villista troops left two days later to meet the advancing government forces south of Ciudad Juárez, Villa left Medina in charge of the city with about one thousand men under his command.109 Other JC members were also active during the fall, both inside and outside Villa’s Division of the North. Navarro took care of Villa’s medical service until he was killed by enemy fire in early November 1913.110 Although Villa had replaced Hermosillo, who was wounded in the Battle of San Andrés, with Medina as his chief of staff in September, Hermosillo was still part of Villa’s staff during the fall.111 Uro fought with Villa, who delegated to him the distribution of provisions among the troops and poor inhabitants of Torreón. This new assignment was probably the beginning of Uro’s career as general purveyor of the Division of the North.112 Furthermore, in Octo- ber, Villa entrusted Baca Ronquillo, who had arrived at Villa’s camp in Camargo, with the task of bringing a large sum in checks from various banks in the Laguna area to Terrazas in Ojinaga. Terrazas was to cash these checks at the First National Bank in El Paso and use the funds to purchase two thousand rifles and one million rounds of ammunition.113 In addition Baca 144 N new mexico historical review volume 85, number 2

Ronquillo functioned as a messenger between Villa and Carranza.114 Fur- thermore, after the Villista capture of Ciudad Juárez on 15 November, spouses of the JC members attended to wounded soldiers.115 Certainly, with the death of Navarro in early November and the flight of Medina (although he rejoined the Villista camp in 1914) at the end of the month, the JC’s two principal figures in Villa’s Division of the North were gone. By that time, however, the formative phase of the Villista movement had come to an end. Villa had already emerged as the most outstanding commander of the Mexican Revolution. He had thousands of troops under his command, he was one step away from controlling the whole state of Chihuahua, and he attracted enormous attention in Mexico and the United States. From December onward, JC members became more prominent in the Villista state administration in Chihuahua than in the Division of the North. Villa appointed Terrazas to the position of general secretary of the State of Chihuahua, Baca Ronquillo as chief clerk, and Vargas Jr. as general treasurer.116 A few months later, García became director general of education. Their contributions to the Villista cause as officials in the Chihuahua state administration is, however, beyond the scope of this text.117

Conclusion

After the fall of President Madero and Governor González, a number of González’s educated, middle-class associates and supporters fled to El Paso. Villa lived there at the time and he was already acquainted with several of these men. When Villa crossed the border into Mexico, these men formed the Junta Constitucionalista del Estado de Chihuahua in El Paso. In the following months, members of the JC played an important role in the formation of the Constitutionalist movement in Mexico under the leadership of Carranza. They also advanced Villa’s leadership of the Constitutionalist movement in Chihuahua and served as a bridgehead between Carranza and Villa. Navarro probably influenced Carranza to make Villa the supe- rior commander of the Chihuahuan Constitutionalists. Members of the JC were heavily involved, as was Carranza, in the process, which led to the integration of various forces into the Villa Brigade in August 1913. JC members joined the brigade and held important positions in its command structure and were important in the formation of Villa’s incipient Division of the North. JC members also served Villa in terms of logistics, fund-raising, recruiting, medical services, propaganda, communications, and “diplomacy.” spring 2010 løtveit N 145

After Villa took control in Chihuahua City, well-known figures of the JC were appointed to the most prominent positions in the state administration of Chihuahua. Although the JC members were few in number, the roles they played in the Villista movement in 1913 question the commonly held understanding that urban and educated middle-class figures were of mar- ginal importance in the initial development of Villismo. Furthermore, it makes it difficult to assume that the Villista movement matured in virtual isolation from the national leadership of the Constitutionalist movement.

NOTES

1. For the basis of this text, see Morten Løtveit, “The Rise of Pancho Villa, 1910–1914” (PhD diss., University of Oslo, 2004). Mari Lund Wright, Siri Wright, Durwood Ball, and an anonymous referee have commented on and made valuable sugges- tions to an earlier draft of this text. Lund Wright and Wright have also commented on the current version. I am deeply grateful to them all. 2. See Friedrich Katz, Life and Times of Pancho Villa (Stanford, Calif.: Stanford University Press, 1998), 203–28, 231–36, 259–86; Alan Knight, The Mexican Revolu- tion, vol. 2, Counter-revolution and Reconstruction (1986; repr., Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1990), 34–42, 109–29; Hans Werner Tobler, La Revolución Mexicana: Transformación social y cambio político 1876–1940, Raíces y razones (Mexico City: Alianza, 1994), 265–72; Arnaldo Córdova, La ideología de la Revolución Mexicana: La formación del nuevo régimen, Colección el hombre y tiempo (Mexico City: Ediciones Era, 1973); and Charles C. Cumberland, Mexi- can Revolution: The Constitutionalist Years, The Texas Pan American series (Aus- tin: University of Texas Press, 1972), 155–58, 26–29, 48–53, 129–31. 3. The best published study on the subject is Friedrich Katz, Life and Times of Pancho Villa. The author dedicates some twenty-five pages (pp. 203–28) to the emergence of the Villista movement between March and December 1913. Katz also returns to events from this period a few pages later. Surprisingly, he includes few references to contemporary sources dating from early March to late November 1913. Like- wise, other historians have not dug deeply into this period. For a discussion of the historiography of the early phase of the Villista movement, see Løtveit, “The Rise of Pancho Villa,” 13–15. 4. Katz is among a few historians who mention the Junta Constitucionalista (JC) but writes little more than a short paragraph on the subject. He pays considerable attention to Silvestre Terrazas but not as a member of the JC. Katz writes little on Juan N. Medina, one of the most important JC members in relation to Villa, and does not mention Medina’s association with the JC. See Katz, Life and Times of Pancho Villa, 212, 232–33, 254, 267–68, 299. 5. Junta Constitucionalista to Matías C. García, 12 November 1913, Ojinaga, Chihua- hua, folder “Chihuahua (state), Junta Constitucionalista,” box 18, Silvestre Terrazas 146 N new mexico historical review volume 85, number 2

Papers, BANC MSS M-B 18, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Ber- keley [hereafter STP, BL]; and Junta Constitucionalista to Miguel Baca Ronquillo, 12 November 1913, Ojinaga, Chihuahua, folder “Chihuahua (state), Junta Constitucionalista,” box 18, STP, BL. 6. All members of the JC are not mentioned here. See Junta Constitucionalista del Estado de Chihuahua, “Acta de Adhesión al Plan de Guadalupe,” 16 April 1913, Ojinaga, Chihuahua, folder “Carranza, Venustiano,” box 11, STP, BL; S[ebastián]. Vargas to Jesús H. Horcasitas, 12 April 1913, El Paso, Texas, folder “Chihuahua (State) Tesorería General,” box 18, STP, BL; [Author illegible] and Sebastián Vargas Jr. to Silvestre Terrazas, 29 June 1913, El Paso, Texas, folder “Chihuahua (State) Tesorería General,” box 18, STP, BL; José María Maytorena to Abraham Molina, 19 April 1913, Tucson, Arizona, in Documentos históricos de la Revolución Mexicana, 28 vols., ed. Isidro Fabela and Josefina E. de Fabela, Fuentes y documentos de la historia de México (Mexico City: Fondo de Cultura Económica, 1960–1976), 14:182–83; and Alfredo Breceda, México revolucionario, 2 vols., facsimile ed., La biblioteca de obras fundamentals de la independencia y la revolución series (Mexico City: Comisión nacional para las celebraciones del 175 aniversario de la independencia nacional y 75 aniversario de la revolución mexicana, 1985), 1:403. 7. Diccionario histórico y bibliográfico de la Revolución Mexicana, CD-ROM, version 3.0 (Mexico City: Instituto Nacional de Estudios Históricos de la Revolución Méxicana, 1990–1993), s.v. “Navarro Benítez, Samuel” (Chihuahua) [hereafter DHBRM]. 8. Alberto Calzadíaz Barrera, Hechos reales de la revolución, 2 vols., 2d ed. (Mexico City: Editorial Patria, 1961), 1:151; “Navarro Returns to Field,” El Paso (Tex.) Morn- ing Times, 2 July 1913; Federico Cervantes, Francisco Villa y la revolución, facsimile ed., La biblioteca de obras fundamentales de la independencia y la revolución series (1960; repr., Mexico City: Comisión nacional para las celebraciones del 175 aniversario de la independencia nacional y 75 aniversario de la revolución mexicana, 1985), 63–64; Francisco Guerrero Garro, “Elena Garro por dentro,” El universo de el búho 8 (March 2005): 6; Francisco Villa and J[uan]. N. Medina, “Relación que manifiesta los jefes y oficiales de las diversas brigadas que concurrieron al combate y toma de la Plaza de Torreón, Coah., el día 29 de septiembre y 1 de octubre de 1913,” 6 October 1913, in Juan Barragán Rodríguez, Historia del ejército y de la revolución constitucionalista, 2 vols. (Mexico: Talleres de la Editorial Stylo, 1946) 1:692–95; and Francisco R. Almada, Diccionario de historia, geografía y biografía chihuahuenses, 2d ed. (Chihuahua: Universidad de Chihuahua, 1968), s.v. “Navarro, Saulo.” 9. Francisco de P. Ontiveros, Toribio Ortega y la Brigada Gonzalez Ortega por Francisco de P. Ontiveros, Mayor, jefe de Detall de la Brigada Toribio Ortega (Chihuahua, 1914), 92; Martín Luis Guzmán, Memorias de Pancho Villa, Collecíon “Sepan Cuantos” (Mexico City: Editorial Porrúa, 1984), 135; and Luz Corral Vda de Villa, Pancho Villa en la intimidad, 4th ed. (Chihuahua: Centro Librero la Prensa, 1977), 61–62. 10. [Author illegible], “Juez del Registro del Estado Civil,” 13 February 1951, Puebla de Zaragoza, fol. 259, Juan N. Medina file, XI/111/3–1081, “Medina Mora, Juan N., spring 2010 løtveit N 147

Brigadier General,” Historical Archive of the Ministry of National Defense, Mexico City [hereafter ADN, Medina]. 11. MedinaJN [Juan N. Medina] to President of the Republic [Manuel Avila Camacho], 28 June 1943, Mexico City, fols. 239–46, ADN, Medina; and Carlos Reyes Avilés and Antonio Gómez Velasco to C. General de Brigada, Director de Guardia Regional, Reservas y Defensa Civil, 27 September 1943, fols. 239–46, fols. 250–52, ADN, Medina. 12. Juan C. Cabral, et al. to Pres. Manuel Avila Camacho, 8 February 1941, ADN, Medina, fols. 198–201. 13. MedinaJN [Juan N. Medina] to President of the Republic [Manuel Avila Camacho]; Juan C. Cabral, et. al. to Pres. Manuel Avila Camacho; “Medina Continues Mayor of Juarez,” El Paso (Tex.) Morning Times, 26 November 1912; and William H. Beezley, Insurgent Governor: Abraham González and the Mexican Revolution in Chihua- hua (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1973), 104. 14. MedinaJN [Juan N. Medina] to President of the Republic [Manuel Avila Camacho]. 15. General de Brigada Ignacio I. Pesqueira to Juan N. Medina, 10 March 1922, Mexico City, fol. 166, ADN, Medina; and “Medina Leads Men of Sonora,” El Paso (Tex.) Morning Times, 18 May 1913. 16. “Mocho’s End,” El Paso (Tex.) Morning Times, 2 August 1913; and “Medina Rein- forces Villa,” El Paso (Tex.) Morning Times, 2 August 1913. 17. Juan C. Cabral, et. al. to Pres. Manuel Avila Camacho; Ontiveros, Toribio Ortega, 79; Francisco R. Almada, La Revolución en el Estado de Chihuahua, 2 vols. (Chi- huahua: Biblioteca del Instituto Nacional de Estudios Históricos de la Revolución Mexicana, 1964), 2:40; Guzmán, Memorias de Pancho Villa, 122; and Francisco Villa and J[uan]. N. Medina, “Relación que manifiesta los jefes y oficiales de la Brigada ‘Villa’ que tomaron parte en el combate y toma de la Plaza de San Andrés el 26 de agosto de 1913,” in Barragán Rodríguez, Historia del ejército, 1:686–88. 18. Cervantes, Francisco Villa, 58; Calzadíaz Barrera, Hechos reales, 127; and Guzmán, Memorias de Pancho Villa, 123–25. 19. Luis Aguirre Benavides, De Francisco I. Madero a Francisco Villa: Memorias de un revolucionario (Mexico City: A del Bosque Impresor, 1966), 73; and “Medina is Twice Accorded Parole,” El Paso (Tex.) Herald, 6 December 1913; and “Medina Goes to Have Talk with Carranza,” El Paso (Tex.) Herald, 8 December 1913. See also Guzmán, Memorias de Pancho Villa, 151–52; and MedinaJN [Juan N. Medina] to President of the Republic [Manuel Avila Camacho]. 20. Juan C. Cabral, et. al. to Pres. Manuel Avila Camacho; and MedinaJN [Juan N. Medina] to President of the Republic [Manuel Avila Camacho]. See also Manuel Madinabeitia, “A pedimiento del interesado,” 20 July 1924, fol. 130, ADN, Medina; and Guzmán, Memorias de Pancho Villa, 347–48, 378–79, 603–4. 21. Robert L. Sandels, “Silvestre Terrazas: The Press and Origins of the Mexican Revolution in Chihuahua” (PhD diss., University of Oregon, 1967), 37–39, 75– 154, 199–226. 22. Beezley, Insurgent Governor, 107–8, 126, 149. 23. Silvestre Terrazas to Jean Prez, 1 March 1913, Mexico [City], folder “1913, January– June,” box 83, STP, BL; S[ilvestre]. Terrazas to Texas and Pacific Railway agent W. 148 N new mexico historical review volume 85, number 2

A. Scrivner, 29 March 1913, Mexico [City], folder “1913, January–June,” box 83, STP, BL; and El Paso Union Passenger Depot Company, railway ticket for Silvestre Terrazas from El Paso to Chihuahua City, 30 April 1913, folder “1913, January– June,” box 83, STP, BL. 24. [S. Terrazas] to J. Walter Thompson Co., 12 May [1913], El Paso, Texas, folder “1913, January–June,” box 83, STP, BL; and S[ilvestre]. Terrazas to Ignacio L. Pesqueira, 5 June 1913, El Paso, Texas, folder “1913, January–June,” box 83, STP, BL. 25. Victoria Lerner, “Exiliados de la Revolución Mexicana: El caso de los villistas (1915–1921),” Mexican Studies/Estudios Mexicanos 17 (winter 2001): 111, 114, 117, 118, 120; Elizabeth Broid Marek, “La Revolución Mexicana en el exilio: Silvestre Terrazas y su periódico La Patria, 1919–1920” (master’s thesis, University of Texas at El Paso, 1991); and DHBRM, s.v. “Terrazas Enríquez, Silvestre.” 26. See, for example, Francisco R. Almada, Vida, proceso y muerte de Abraham González (Mexico: Biblioteca del Instituto Nacional de Estudios Históricos de la Revolución Mexicana, 1967), 64; and “Special Conference Held,” El Paso (Tex.) Morning Times, 2 April 1913. 27. Almada, Vida, proceso y muerte, 145. 28. Jesús M. Dozal, Enrique Pérez Rul, Juan B. Rosales, Francisco Longoria, Enrique González, Francisco San Martin, invitation to a literary-musical party in honor of Francisco Villa, 15 January 1914, Chihuahua [City], folder “F. Villa,” box 77, STP, BL. See also Katz, Life and Times of Pancho Villa, 424. 29. M. Bauche Alcalde, S[ebastián]. Vargas Jr., Matías C. García, et al., copy of the minutes of the meeting in which the Compañía Editora Vida Nueva S.A. was established, 18 February 1914, Chihuahua, box 84, STP, BL. 30. “Directorio,” Periódico Oficial del Gobierno Constitucionalista del Estado de Chi- huahua, 15 March 1914 [hereafter POC]. This publication is available on microfilm at the Special Collections, Manuscript Collections, University of Texas at El Paso Library. 31. Katz, Life and Times of Pancho Villa, 902 n. 78. 32. Almada, Diccionario de historia, s.v. “González, Aureliano”; and Roderic A. Camp, Mexican Political Biographies, 1884–1935 (Austin: University of Texas Press, 1991), s.v. “González, Aureliano.” 33. Miguel A. Sánchez Lamego, Historia militar de la Revolución Mexicana en la época Maderista, 3 vols. (Mexico City: Biblioteca del Instituto Nacional de Estudios Históricos de la Revolución Mexicana, 1976–1977), 3:46–47. 34. Løtveit, “The Rise of Pancho Villa,” 221–24; and Katz, Life and Times of Pancho Villa, 188. 35. Beezley, Insurgent Governor, 157–61. 36. “Aureliano Gonzalez Gets Out of Chihuahua State,” El Paso (Tex.) Herald, 2 April 1913. 37. Camp, Mexican Political Biographies, s.v. “González, Aureliano”; and Almada, Diccionario de historia, s.v. “González, Aureliano.” 38. Katz, Life and Times of Pancho Villa, 520–21; and Silvestre Terrazas and Margarita Terrazas Perches, El verdadero Pancho Villa, Colección Problemas de México (Mexico City: Ediciones Era, 1985), 185–88. spring 2010 løtveit N 149

39. Rubén Rocha Chávez, Tres siglos de historia, 1631–1978: Biografía de una Ciudad Parral (Chihuahua: Talleres Gráficos del Gobierno del Estado, 1979), 209; and Almada, Diccionario de historia, s.v. “Baca Ronquillo, Miguel.” 40. Beezley, Insurgent Governor, 140 n. 3. 41. Francisco Villa to Abram Gonsalez [Abraham González], 30 September 1912, Penitenciaria del Distrito Federal, [Mexico City], in La correspondencia de Fran- cisco Villa: Cartas y telegramas de 1912 a 1923, ed. Rubén Osorio (Chihuahua: Talleres Gráficos del Estado de Chihuahua, 1988), 8–9. 42. Francisco Villa to S[ilvestre]. Terrazas, 26 October 1913, Camargo City, Chihua- hua, folder “Ve-Villa, Francisco,” box 77, STP, BL; Silvestre Terrazas to Francisco Villa, 4 November 1913, Chihuahua; and S[ilvestre]. Terrazas to Venustiano Carranza, 6 November 1914, 14 November 1913, El Paso, Texas, box 83, STP, BL. 43. “Directorio,” POC, 15 December 1913. 44. “Directorio,” POC, 1 February 1914, 8 February 1914, 15 February 1914. 45. Rocha Chávez, Tres siglos de historia, 209. 46. DHBRM, s.v. “Vargas, Sebastián,” (Chihuahua [two entries]); and Almada, Vida, proceso y muerte, 144–45. 47. Corral Vda de Villa, Pancho Villa en la intimidad, 43. 48. S[ebastián]. Vargas to Venustiano Carranza, 2 June 1913, El Paso, Texas, fondo XXI, carpeta 3, legajo 339, Archivo del Primer Jefe del Ejército Constitucionalista, Centro de Estudios de Historia de México, Condumex, Mexico City [hereafter AVC]. See also Terrazas and Terrazas Perches, El verdadero Pancho Villa, 64. 49. “Directorio,” POC, 15 December 1913; and DHBRM, s.v. “Vargas, Sebastián (hijo)” (Chihuahua). 50. DHBRM, s.v. “Madero, Francisco I. (Entrada al Estado de Chihuahua)” (Chihua- hua); and Calzadíaz Barrera, Hechos reales, 56; and Almada, Vida, proceso y muerte, 38–39. 51. Almada, Revolución, 2:17. 52. Ontiveros, Toribio Ortega, 64; and “Small Rebel Force has Taken Town of Coyame,” El Paso (Tex.) Herald, 10 May 1913. 53. Barragán Rodríguez, Historia del ejército, 1:240. 54. Ontiveros, Toribio Ortega, 79; and Cervantes, Francisco Villa, 53. 55. Barragán Rodríguez, Historia del ejército, 1:692–95; and Calzadíaz Barrera, Hechos reales, 137, 148, 151. 56. Francisco Naranjo, Diccionario biográfico revolucionario, facsimile ed. (1935; repr., Mexico City: Instituto Nacional de Estudios Históricos de la Revolución Mexicana, 1985), s.v. “Uro, Primitivo.” 57. Almada, Revolución, 2:17. 58. Corral Vda de Villa, Pancho Villa en la intimidad, 43. 59. Barragán Rodríguez, Historia del ejército, 1:686–88, 1:692–95. 60. Guzmán, Memorias de Pancho Villa, 146; and Alfredo S. Farias to Francisco Villa, 4 June 1914, Ciudad Juarez, folder “F,” wallet 1, Lázaro de la Garza Archive, Benson Latin American Collection, General Libraries, University of Texas at Austin. See 150 N new mexico historical review volume 85, number 2

also E. Brondo Whitt, La División del Norte (1914) por un testigo presencial (Mexico City: Editorial Lumen, 1940), 54–55. 61. DHBRM, s.v. “Uro, Primitivo” (Chihuahua). 62. “Ojinaga Falls to Loyal Band,” El Paso (Tex.) Morning Times, 26 March 1913. 63. Several sources spell Theodore Kiracopolus’s last name somewhat differently. Re- port from agent of the Bureau of Investigation at El Paso, 15 April 1913, microfilm 812.00/7288, Records of the Department of State Relating to Internal Affairs of Mexico, 1910–1929, U.S. Department of State [hereafter RDS]; and DHBRM, s.v. “Kiracólopus, Theodore” (Sección Internacional). 64. Terrazas and Terrazas Perches, El verdadero Pancho Villa, 64; and Corral Vda de Villa, Pancho Villa en la intimidad, 43. 65. Roberto Guzmán Esparza, Memorias de don Adolfo de la Huerta, según su propio dictado (Mexico City: Ediciones “Guzmán,” 1957), 57. 66. “In re Kyrincopolis et al. . . . [illegible] violation enlisting clause,” 15 April 1913, El Paso, Texas, microfilm 812.00/7288, RDS; and “U. S. vs. Guillermo Prieto,” 29 No- vember 1913, El Paso, Texas, microfilm 812.00/10072, RDS. 67. Løtveit, “The Rise of Pancho Villa,” 280–97. 68. For the most part, Venustiano Carranza accepted the ranks Constitutionalist officers previously held as voluntary Maderista officers. Gen. Victoriano Huerta promoted Villa to honorary brigadier general in the spring of 1912. After Villa’s imprisonment in June, however, Maderista authorities did not recognize his rank as brigadier general. Villa’s military rank was thus in limbo when the Constitution- alist revolution began. Ibid., 198–207, 324–28. 69. Løtveit, “The Rise of Pancho Villa,” 326–29. 70. José María Maytorena to Venustiano Carranza, 28 March 1913, Tucson, Arizona; Samuel Navarro to Venustiano Carranza, 5 April 1913, El Paso, Texas; Samuel Navarro, R. V. Pesqueira, and Alfredo Breceda to Jefes y Oficiales of the Consti- tutionalist Army, 7 April 1913, Agua Prieta, Sonora; Samuel Navarro to Venustiano Carranza, 10 April 1913, Piedras Negras, Coahuila; José María Maytorena to Abraham Molina, 19 April 1913, Tucson, Arizona, in Documentos Históricos, ed. Fabela and de Fabela, 1:20–21, 1:24–27, 1:545, 1:536–41, 14:182–83, respectively; “Political Freedom is Mexican Desire,” El Paso (Tex.) Morning Times, 4 April 1913; “Gov. Carranza Defines Policy,” El Paso (Tex.) Morning Times, 8 April 1913; [José María Maytorena] to Venustiano Carranza, 17 April 1913, Tucson, Arizona, folder 20, box 3, José María Maytorena Papers, Special Collections, Honnold/ Mudd Library, Claremont University Consortium, Claremont, California; Venustiano Carranza, R. V. Pesqueira, Samuel Navarro, Adolfo de la Huerta, Alfredo Breceda, minutes of the Convention of Monclova, 18 April 1913, Monclova, Coahuila, in Barragán Rodríguez, Historia del ejército, 1:137–40; and Breceda, México revolucionario, 1:403–26. 71. Guzmán Esparza, Memorias de don Adolfo de la Huerta, 67–68. See also Breceda, México revolucionario, 1:403. 72. Compañia Mexicana de Express superintendent [John J. Egan] to General Man- ager G. A. O’Brien, 19 April 1913, El Paso, Texas, Wells, Fargo and Co. Records, spring 2010 løtveit N 151

1907–1928, BANC MSS 96/82m, Bancroft Library, University of California at Ber- keley [hereafter WFR, BL]. 73. “Villa Nearing Chihuahua,” El Paso (Tex.) Morning Times, 14 March 1913. 74. Superintendent [John J. Egan] to E. R. Jones, 28 April 1913, El Paso, Texas, WFR, BL. 75. “Ask for Bullion’s Return,” El Paso (Tex.) Morning Times, 28 April 1913; and “Have Not Appealed to Villa,” El Paso (Tex.) Morning Times, 30 April 1913. 76. “Gen. Villa Returns 97 Bars of Bullion,” El Paso (Tex.) Morning Times, 8 May 1913. 77. “Parral is Surrounded by 4,500 Constitutionalists,” El Paso (Tex.) Morning Times, 9 May 1913; and “Villa is Made State Leader,” El Paso (Tex.) Morning Times, 17 May 1913. 78. Miguel A. Sánchez Lamego, Historia militar de la revolución constitucionalista, 5 vols. (Mexico City: Biblioteca del Instituto Nacional de Estudios Históricos de la Revolución Mexicana, 1956–1960), 1:216. 79. Barragán Rodríguez, Historia del ejército, 1:240. Carranza duly referred to Villa as general in a letter a few weeks later. See Venustiano Carranza to José de la Luz Blanco, 5 June 1913, Piedras Negras, Coahuila, fondo XXI, carpeta 3, legajo 370, AVC. 80. Løtveit, “The Rise of Pancho Villa,” 298–335. 81. Toribio Ortega to Venustiano Carranza, 10 June 1914, Gómez Palacio, Durango, in Ontiveros, Toribio Ortega, 156. See also p. 65; Toribio Ortega to Venustiano Carranza, 23 May 1913, Ojinaga, Chihuahua, fondo XXI, carpeta 2, legajo 244, AVC; Nicolás Fernández Carrillo, interview by Pindaro Uriostegui Miranda, in Testimonios del proceso revolucionario en México, ed. Pindaro Uriostegui Miranda (Mexico City: Instituto Nacional de Estudios Históricos de la Revolución Mexicana, 1987), 100; and Almada, Revolución, 2:33. 82. Villa’s capture of Ciudad Juárez in November 1913 took place in an entirely different setting and in a completely different manner than had been planned during the spring. 83. “Will Attack Juarez Next,” El Paso (Tex.) Morning Times, 7 April 1913. 84. “Villa Commissions Colonels,” El Paso (Tex.) Morning Times, 11 May 1913; “Medina is a Colonel Again,” El Paso (Tex.) Morning Times, 11 June 1913; U.S. consul Luther T. Ellsworth to Sect. of State William J. Bryan, 6 June 1913, Piedras Negras, Coahuila, microfilm 812.00/7745, RDS; and Juan C. Cabral, et. al. to Pres. Manuel Avila Camacho. 85. Toribio Ortega to Venustiano Carranza, 20 April 1913, Ojinaga, Chihuahua, fondo XXI, carpeta 1, legajo 111, AVC. 86. “Constitutionalists Gathering,” El Paso (Tex.) Morning Times, 30 April 1913. 87. Toribio Ortega to Venustiano Carranza, 23 May 1913, Ojinaga, Chihuahua, fondo XXI, carpeta 2, legajo 244, AVC. 88. Toribio Ortega to Venustiano Carranza, 7 May 1913, Marfa, Texas, fondo XXI, carpeta 2, legajo 132, AVC. Ortega probably wrote this document on 7 June instead of 7 May 1913. See Tasker H. Bliss, “Report of the Week Ending June 14, 1913, of General Conditions along the Mexican Border, Based on Reports from the Same Period from the Local Military Commanding Officers,” n.d., microfilm 812.00/7884, RDS. 152 N new mexico historical review volume 85, number 2

89. [Venustiano Carranza] to Toribio Ortega, 13 June 1913, Piedras Negras, Coahuila, fondo XXI, carpeta 4, legajo 449, AVC; and Bliss, “Report of the Week Ending June 14, 1913.” 90. “Today, Maybe,” El Paso (Tex.) Morning Times, 28 June 1913; Ontiveros, Toribio Ortega, 64–65; and “Mexican Revolutionary Matters,” 3 July 1913, San Antonio, Texas, p. 2, attached to a letter from the Assistant Attorney General to Sect. of State William J. Bryan, 7 July 1913, Washington, D.C., microfilm 812.00/7979, RDS. 91. Cervantes, Francisco Villa, 54; and “Navarro Returns to Field,” El Paso (Tex.) Morn- ing Times, 2 July 1913. 92. “Ortega Says ‘Next Week,’” El Paso (Tex.) Morning Times, 5 July 1913. 93. “Warning to Foreigners,” El Paso (Tex.) Morning Times, 1 July 1913; and S[ilvestre]. Terrazas to Adalberto Nava, 8 July 1913, El Paso, Texas, box 83, STP, BL. 94. S[ilvestre]. Terrazas to Francisco Villa, 26 June 1913, El Paso, Texas, box 83, STP, BL. 95. [Author illegible] and Sebastián Vargas Jr. to S[ilvestre]. Terrazas, 29 June 1913, El Paso, Texas, folder “Chihuahua (State) Tesorería General,” box 18, STP, BL. 96. Asst. Sect. of War Henry C. Breckinridge to Sect. of State William J. Bryan, 6 January 1914, Washington, D.C., microfilm 812.00/10467, RDS. 97. See, for example, S[ilvestre]. Terrazas to José Quevedo, 19 July 1913, El Paso, Texas, folder “1913, July–September,” box 83, STP, BL. 98. Ontiveros, Toribio Ortega, 79; and Almada, Revolución, 2:40. 99. Francisco Villa, J[uan]. N. Medina, “Relación que manifiesta . . . Plaza de San Andrés el 26 de agosto de 1913,” 6 October 1913, Torreón, in Barragán Rodríguez, Historia del ejército, 1:686–88. 100. See Guzmán, Memorias de Pancho Villa, 115; Almada, Revolución, 2:25; Cervantes, Francisco Villa, 49; and Ramón Puente, Villa en pie, 2d ed., Biblioteca de estudios históricos (Mexico: Editorial Castalia, 1966), 69. 101. Løtveit, “The Rise of Pancho Villa,” 369–76, 398–403. 102. Ibid., 411–42. 103. Pancho Villa and Juan N. Medina to Venustiano Carranza, 6 October 1913, Torreón, Coahuila, in Barragán Rodríguez, Historia del ejército, 1:688–92; Guzmán, Memorias de Pancho Villa, 123–25; Ramón Puente, Vida de Francisco Villa, contada por él mismo (Los Angeles: Linotipia C. G. Vincent y Compañía, 1919), 67–68; Puente, Villa en pie, 78–79; Cervantes, Francisco Villa, 58–59; and Calzadíaz Barrera, Hechos reales, 129–31. 104. For a more detailed discussion of this topic, see Løtveit, “The Rise of Pancho Villa,” 443–71. 105. Medina JN [Juan N. Medina] to President of the Republic [Manuel Avila Camacho]. 106. Guzmán, Memorias de Pancho Villa, 128; and Calzadíaz Barrera, Hechos reales, 142–43. 107. Guzmán, Memorias de Pancho Villa, 130; and Ontiveros, Toribio Ortega, 89–90. 108. Tasker H. Bliss, “Report of the Week Ending November 15,” 20 November 1913, microfilm 81200/9947, RDS; Sect. of War Lindley M. Garrison to Sect. of State William J. Bryan, 17 November 1913, Washington, D.C., microfilm 812.00/9770, RDS; and [U.S. consul Thomas D.] Edwards to Sect. of State William J. Bryan, 20 spring 2010 løtveit N 153

November 1913, El Paso, Texas, microfilm 812.00/9851, RDS. 109. Sect. of War Lindley M. Garrison to Sect. of State William J. Bryan, 24 November 1913, Washington, D.C., microfilm 812.00/9892, RDS; and [U.S. consul Thomas D.] Edwards to Sect. of State William J. Bryan, 22 November 1913, El Paso, Texas, microfilm 812.00/9881, RDS. 110. Calzadíaz Barrera, Hechos reales, 137, 151. 111. Ibid., 137, 148, 151. 112. Ibid., 142, 167–68. 113. Francisco Villa to S[ilvestre]. Terrazas, 26 October 1913, Camargo, Chihuahua, folder “Villa, Francisco,” box 77, STP, BL; and S[ilvestre]. Terrazas to Francisco Villa, 4 November 1913, Ojinaga, Chihuahua, folder “1913, October–December,” box 83, STP, BL. 114. S[ilvestre]. Terrazas to Venustiano Carranza, 6 November 1913, El Paso, Texas, folder “1913, October–December,” box 83, STP, BL. 115. Corral Vda de Villa, Pancho Villa en la intimidad, 62–63. 116. “Directorio,” POC, 15 December 1913. 117. The role of Terrazas in the Villista state administration of Chihuahua has been discussed in some detail elsewhere. See Katz, Life and Times of Pancho Villa, 229– 55, 267, 344, 402, 407, 418–19, 426–27, 536, 810; Friedrich Katz, The Secret War in Mexico: Europe, the United States, and the Mexican Revolution (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1981), 138; and Terrazas and Terrazas Perches, El verdadero Pancho Villa, 86–209. 154 N new mexico historical review volume 85, number 2