Where The Village of 300 Widows Was Born

 October 22, 2024

   Grabbing at daggers of hope. That is a good sentence to describe where we are today.

Daily Scratchboard Whip Out:

"Sue Cuttin' A Rug"

   Thanks to Lynda Sanchez I just heard about a new series on the Centaur of The North: The Story of Pancho Villa on Hulu. The hats look damn good!

Pancho Villa, Centaur of The North

on Hulu

Speaking of Doroteo (A Bandit named Dorothy?):

Daily Whip Out: "Doroteo Arrango"

The Massacre at San Pedro de las Cuevas

   Stumbling from a devastating defeat at Agua Prieta in November of 1915, Doroteo Arrango, better known as Pancho Villa, proceeded to attack Hermosillo and was repulsed there as well. With morale shattered, his battered army headed for the Sierra Madres and making a beeline for home territory in Chihuahua. Strung out in the foothills, his advance guard was fired on by peasants from the village of San Pedro de las Cuevas. They feared the heavily armed riders were banditos coming to ravage their village once again. Several of Villa's men were killed and the villagers were horrified when they found out their victims were not bandits but soldiers of the Division del Norte. They tried to make amends and expressed their great regret to the commander of the advance guard, Macario Bracamontes, who was from Sonora and felt sympathy for the villagers. But when Villa rode onto the scene he was not amused. He ordered all the adult men to be rounded up and herded together. He then ordered them to be thrown in the jail and in the morning he ordered them all to be shot. The local priest came out and on his knees pleaded with Villa, begging him to take pity on the men. Villa at first spared a few lives but he angrily told the priest to never show his face again. When the priest would not desist, Villa pulled out his pistol and shot the priest at point blank range killing him instantly. Villa then executed 69 villagers (several managed to escape). It is from this tragic chapter in the Mexican Revolution that the legend of the Village of 300 Widows came to life in my mind. 

Daily Whip Out:

"The Village of 300 Widows"

      Soon to be a major project.

"I'm at the age when remembering something

right away is as good as an orgasm."

—Gloria Steinem