Pancho Villa had knowledge of botany, astronomy and veterinary medicine.

This series continues on the “Memoirs of Francisco Villa” published by him graphic universal A week after the assassination of the leader, in 1923. This episode shows how the young Doroteo Arango acquired the knowledge that would help him in the military campaigns of the Mexican Revolution in the north of the country.

Thus, Villa’s story continued thanks to the notes of his friend, doctor and revolutionary Ramon Puente, “while he fled to adventure on the back of my cuaco,” said the general. One morning, very early, he stopped in front of some unknown horsemen “who turned out to be Ignacio Parra’s men.”

Also read: “Memories of Francisco Villa” Part 3 of 6: This was young Pancho Villa’s first escape

Villa assured that by then, despite his young age of 16, he knew that, after the famous Heraclio Bernal, Parra was the bandit who “gave the most war to the government” in that region of northern Mexico.

The leader recognized this by joining this group among criminals He felt safe, given that the outlaw was breaking the law “like no one else” in those countries. Despite the above, when he heard about the lives of his companions, he concluded that lifestyle This will not be permanent for him.

He declared, “I wanted something else, and I felt like I was born for something different.”

One of these unexpected facts Memories Villa highlighted this: “Those people with the hardest and most stubborn spirits than me taught me something, because wherever I go there is always someone Learn,

In this way, everyone attempted to ensure that the boy Doroteo Arango learned some of his skills, from fixing broken saddles and handling weapons and cartridges to taming animals and butchering cattle.

As if that was not enough, the young man will not sit quietly until he learns a new lesson. Thanks to this, he acquired the habit of “paying attention to everything” when he started on a new path with the people of Mercury.

So it happened that in no time I was already distinguishing between the tracks of different vehicles, their routes and the paths left by snakes and other wild creatures of the mountains.

“Inquiring here and asking there,” he said, he came to know about many herbs and their properties: “He knew one that heals wounds by stopping the blood, one that heals wounds by sucking out the pus. and one knows that putting it in a poultice relieves horse cramps.”

On the other hand, he assured that it was not only “earthly things” that attracted his attention. In this way, he said, he managed to distinguish between the direction of the winds, as well as the clouds that brought water and “those that were about to pass away without leaving the blessing of rain”.

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As an adult, Francisco Villa, as the media knew him after the revolution, did not hesitate to speak openly about what filled him with pride. With the same clarity, he said that “he knew exactly the height of the sun and the time of day by looking at the stars and the moon.”

Although the memoirs do not specify how long it took him to learn this, he mentions that the night sky had become so familiar to him that if he turned his gaze upward he could see himself even at night. Could guide, so that over time Ignacio Parra’s band came to an end. Data he has.

If you liked this episode about the restless mind of Pancho Villa, you can subscribe To universal Read the story of his “first robbery” and how he was reunited with his family in the next installment.