Home of legends: Chihuahua's colorful past has visitors tripping into revolutionary history.

There's a statue of Anthony Quinn overlooking Chihuahua City, sharing space with a sculpture of a longhorn steer--a famous actor and a cash crop, both of which put the city on the map. A bustling industrial center with small-town values, its warm, frank-talking people are also known for their independent spirit.

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But more than this, the city is the tale of two men--one a saint and the other a sinner, depending on how you look at it. Both were heroes of a revolution. The father of Mexican independence, Miguel Hidalgo, was executed here in 1811 by Spanish loyalists. About 100 years later, Gen. Pancho Villa and his Division del Norte helped topple dictator Porfirio Diaz, which sparked the 1910-17 Mexican Revolution.

The Museum of the Mexican Revolution will give you a glimpse into Villa's complex yet charismatic personality. This, his home, is also referred to as the Casa de Pancho Villa and serves as a modern-day shrine to his bigger-than-life persona. Behind the nondescript facade, the visitor can browse through Villa's furniture, photos, letters, arms and other memorabilia from the Revolution. The home once served as a holding pen for cattle in Villa's days as a rustler. He would take his stolen goods to Texas to trade them for guns.

Besides a cattle rustler, Villa has been called Mexico's Jesse James and Mexico's Robin Hood. Robin Hood because he built schools and hospitals, lowered the price of corn and beans so poor people wouldn't starve and also granted loans to small business owners. And although he was an avowed atheist, he insisted that his men marry within the bounds of the Church.

The revolutionary hero also tried to persuade Americans to join his army by promising to "pay them in gold weekly," according to a flyer pegged to a wall. He also had a price on his head after he invaded Columbus, New Mexico in 1916. Pursued by Gen. John J. "Black Jack" Pershing, a US$5,000 reward was offered for his capture. Villa had the peculiar habit of ordering that the faces of his enemies be carved on his saddles and swords to bring him luck. However, we never heard of Pershing having had this honor.

The exhibit does not forget the heroines of the Revolution, either. Dozens of photos by the famous Casasola Brothers bring to life the "Adelitas," or women who followed the men into war to cook and nurse them. One of them was Valentina Ramirez, known as "La Valentina," who shed her skirts to wear trousers and carry a rifle alongside the men.

After Villa died, his second wife, Dona Luz, stayed on, later bequeathing the home to the state as a museum. She died in 1981. Villa, a notorious charmer of women, reputedly had 24 wives, but Dona Luz insisted he loved her most because he married her twice. She petitioned President Alvaro Obregon to recognize her as Villa's official widow, even though several other women stepped forward to claim his estate. He granted her wish and granted her a government pension to boot, thus legalizing her claim.

MURALS TO HIDALGO 

The Government Palace is most identified with Father Hidalgo. Built of lovely, ochre-colored quarry stone, it was originally built as a Jesuit monastery in 1882 but converted into the State House nine years later. Villa inhabited the building during his brief term as governor. Striking murals on the ground floor depict the history of Chihuahua starting with the Tarahumara Indian insurrection against the Spanish in 1627. A vivid portrait of Gabriel Tepoaca, a Tarahumara chieftain in full warrior dress, adds drama to the painting.

The main focus of the mural, however, is the spot where Hidalgo was shot by a firing squad by orders of the Spanish Crown. A shrine with an eternal flame has been set up in his memory to one side of it and a museum of his personal effects and papers is slated to open here later this year. The prison, called a calabozo, where Hidalgo was held after his capture, is on display at the Palacio Federal a few blocks away. Hidalgo was on his way to Texas to buy guns for his Army when he was taken prisoner.

His headless corpse was interred for 16 years in the Church of San Francisco, the city's oldest Catholic temple. (Hidalgo's remains were later transported to Mexico City and buried at the base of the Angel of Independence). Laid out in simple, mission-style design, the church was inaugurated in 1723 by the Franciscans, who dedicated it to their patron saint, St. Francis of Assisi. In contrast to the elaborately decorated cathedral, this house of prayer has a plain, cross-shaped inner nave with a beamed ceiling, cupola and Baroque altar surrounded by colonial paintings. A bell tower was added in 1740.

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MANSIONS AND MUSEUMS

Apart from these, the city boasts other appealing attractions such as the cultural center belonging to the University of Chihuahua. Quinta Gameros, as it's called, is a lavish mansion built by mining baron Don Manuel Gameros. Colombian architect Julio Corredor Latorre started the project in 1907, which was supposed to be a wedding gift for Gameros' fiance. Unfortunately, he neither occupied it nor married his betrothed because of the outbreak of the Revolution. Gameros fled into exile to El Paso, Texas, and by the time the fighting was over, he had already died. During the Revolution, the mansion also served as headquarters for Pancho Villa, who confiscated it at the outbreak of the war and used it as a blood bank of sorts for the soldiers.

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The mansion's French Rococo and Art Nouveau facade is a fitting compliment to the priceless antique furniture within, most of it custom built by local craftsmen.

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Among the contemporary artwork on display are pieces by potter Juan Quezada and sculptor Sebastian, both from Chihuahua, whose work appear in many international collections. Many of the Quinta Gameros furnishings are also on display at the Franz Mayer Museum in Mexico City as part of its current Art Deco collection.

Chihuahua's cathedral, also known as the Parroquia del Sagrado, is located on the Plaza de Armas, one of the most popular local gathering places on Sundays. The Jesuits started construction in 1726 but were later expelled by the government. Completion was delayed until 1825.

The cathedral features a very rich looking interior with a stunning Carerra marble altar, chandeliers made of Murano glass and a side altar covered in gold leaf. The facade is Baroque with Middle Eastern Salomonic pillars.

BULLET-RIDDLED BENZO

If you're following the trail of Pancho Villa, you'll definitely want to go to Parral. Located about two hours south of Chihuahua City, it was an important silver and gold mining town in the 17th century. King Felipe IV of Spain named it the world capital of silver in 1640.

More than its mining past though, Parral was where Pancho Villa lived as a hacendado when the Revolution ended. He was assassinated on July 20, 1923, as he drove into town with a small escort of bodyguards. His bullet-riddled 1919 black Mercedes is on display at the Casa de Pancho Villa in Chihuahua City.

Public opinion pointed the finger at President Obregon and Plutarco Elias Calles, an aspiring candidate for president. The two men were not on good terms with Villa, who threatened to mobilize an army against them should Calles become president. Oddly enough, a deputy from the state of Durango came forward and announced that he was behind the assassination. No one believed him, but he was sentenced anyway to 20 years in prison. Three months into his sentence, the governor of the state of Chihuahua released him.

Three years after Villa was buried in Parral, his tomb was desecrated. A groundskeeper discovered that the body that had been decapitated. One story said that Gen. Durazo, the father of "El Negro" Durazo, the Mexico City police chief involved in a scandal in the 1980s, was to blame.

It's claimed that he wanted to sell the head to an American soldier of fortune for US$10,000 but was offered only 10,000 pesos. Another version says that Obregon wanted the head to assure himself that Villa was really dead. In any case, the head was never found.

The people of Parral also swear that after the desecration, to prevent further harm to the corpse, Villa's remains were removed from his crypt and re-buried in a modest grave in another part of the cemetery. A woman's body was placed in Villa's crypt, according to local legend.

In 1976, the body was removed to Mexico City where President Luis Echeverria placed it in the Monument to the Revolution. Which means that a woman lies there in place of Villa if the story is true. Each summer in July, Parral celebrates the assassination of Villa with an elaborate three-day fiesta called Jornadas Villistas, which includes the funeral procession with over 700 horsemen portraying his soldiers.

CRUISING COPPER CANYON

Chihuahua is the gateway to one of the most fascinating attractions in Mexico--the Barranca del Cobre or Copper Canyon, which can be easily visited by train. But it wasn't always so. Not until 1961 did the canyon open, prompted by the inauguration of the Chihuahua al Pacifico railroad. No small feat, engineers built through some of the most impenetrable terrain in North America, through a canyon that was four times the size of the Grand Canyon in the United States.

It's here along the train route that you'll encounter lots of Tarahumaras, the largest of the indigenous cultures in the state. The elusive Indians are a pre-Hispanic tribe that inhabited the high sierra long before the arrival of Hernan Cortes.

They call themselves Raramuri or "men of winged feet" because they are sturdy long-distance runners. Although they guard their traditions jealously and scorn the mestizo way of life, many make a living selling handicrafts at tour stops like Divisadero and Creel. Of late, the Tarahumaras, mainly an agricultural society, have been migrating to Chihuahua City to find work because of a drought that ruined their crops.

Apart from the Copper Canyon, excursions can also be made to the Mennonite community in Cuidad Cuauhtemoc, where visitors can see how they work their fields and adhere to the age-old customs of their ancestors of 19th-century Germany. This rural community shuns many modern conveniences like automobiles, preferring to use a horse and buggy and seem right at home in a state so rich in history and living images of the past.

Story and photos by Patricia Alisau

Patricia Alisau is a travel writer based in San Antonio, Texas. She lived in Mexico for more than 20 years and still travels extensively throughout the country.