So yesterday we talked about the short-lived presidency of Francisco Madero. I suggested the tragedy was due to him forgetting his bandit roots, once he took the presidency. Well, most people do not know that Francisco had a brother, Raoul, who was also a bandit. Raoul is pictured above. He is standing in the center, and is the man with the cigar. While he is not sporting traditional bandit gear, he definitely projects an overall look that just screams Bandit. He does not have a sombrero, but I like the way he has that hat tipped way back. Then the cigar over in the side of the mouth shows he is a man who means business. Finishing off his look is a really menacing expression on his face. Also pictured in the photograph is Pancho Villa. As you know, I am a great admirer of Pancho Villa, the man who literally defines the "Mexican Bandit" look. But, even the best sometimes have an off day, and today must have been an off day for Pancho. He is the one in the picture that looks like he is dressed as a Trolly Car driver or something.
We now must ask, what is going on in the picture? If you look closely the men are holding a chicken upside down. Well, anytime you have 8 men pictured with one rooster, that can only mean one thing . . . there is fixing to be a cock fight. Notice the man on the left is holding the rooster upside down, and there is a string on the rooster's leg. Also note that Raoul is holding a cock-fighting blade in his hand, that he is about to connect to the spur on the back of the rooster's leg. Yep, Raoul, Pancho and the boys are getting their rooster ready for a cock fight.
Now most people don't know this, but there were few things Pancho Villa liked better than a good cock fight. Look at the grin on his face. Pancho had actually worked for a while as a professional cock fighter. I guess the proper term would be professional trainer of fighting game birds. He actually worked for the Cadillac dealership in El Paso. The owner had a cock fighting business on the side, and he hired Pancho Villa to train the roosters. I realize at this point that you probably think I am making all this stuff up, but I am not . . . I could not make up stuff like this. Well, actually I could make up stuff like this, but in this case I did not. Do some research and you will find that Villa did work for as a rooster trainer for a Cadillac dealer in El Paso.
Well, as I look at this picture of Madero and Villa having a good old time, I wonder if perhaps they put the wrong Madero brother in as President of Mexico. Perhaps if they had made Raoul president instead of Francisco, the universal bond of cock fighting would have held him closer to his bandit roots, and he would have remained in power, and all the useless bloodshed would have been avoided in the latter revolution.
