Much of Mexico's history for the decade of 1910-1920 was recorded by hundreds of photographers. Using glass plate cameras and early cut film cameras, primitive by today's standards, the photographers faced injury and death to take pictures that would serve as a remembrance to the people involved in the civil war or anyone on either side of the U.S.-Mexican border. Some of the views were obviously posed to portray certain views. Others showed the death and destruction resulting from the violence of a nation involved in a bloody civil war. These pictures help us to remember or learn about the past, but by far the most effective way to understand the Mexican Revolution is to hear the stories from a survivor. Tomas Zepeda is one such man. .

             Many times the revolution spilled across the border or involved U.S. military forces. The United States occupied Vera Cruz for nearly seven months in 1914 after Mexican officials arrested an American seaman. In 1916, Mexicans raided Glenn Springs, Texas, and Pancho Villa and his army crossed the border at Columbus, New Mexico, burned part of the town and killed seventeen soldiers and civilians. President Woodrow Wilson ordered General John J. Pershing to lead a "Punitive Expedition" into Mexico to kill or capture Villa. Villa eluded Pershing, and after eleven months the expedition returned to the United States. At age 13, Zepeda joined General Pablo Gonzales to fight for Venustiano Carranza.

             This article will tell the story of the Mexican Revolution through the eyes of the soldier who survived the war. For most of Mexico's developing history, a small minority of the people were in control of most of the country's power and wealth, while the majority of the population worked in poverty. The two prominent leaders of the revolution were Emiliano Zapata, in Central Mexico; and Pancho Villa in the North.

             Emiliano Zapata was born on Aug. 8, 1879, in Anenecuilco, Mexico.