The history of the Man, Don Librado Casillas

Don Librado Casillas was born on August 2, 1895, in a small town called Canadas. Canadas is located in the region of Jalisco, Mexico, which is where the big city of Guadalajara, Mexico is located. This is where the Guadalajara Cafe came from.

Don Librado lost his parents at a very young age. He became an orphan and lived on the streets of Mexico. Story has it at a very young age he ran with Pancho Villa and his gang. One day he crossed Pancho Villa, so Pancho Villa sent a man to kill Don Librado, but Librado offered the hitman a meal and gave him shelter. Don Librado and the hitman became friends until the gentleman passed away in the 1930’s.

Another story has it that when Don Librado came to the United States around 1915, he joined the military. WWI was in full action at the time. He had no proper documentation papers, ID, SS number, etc., but the United States was not going to turn down any young man. With him being very light skinned, blonde hair, blue eyes, and looking like an American soldier, the US Military took Don Librado. Unfortunately, he could not speak English, so all he did in WWI was ride the train across the United States from coast to coast (Atlantic to Pacific Ocean. That is when he fell in love with San Diego.

When the war ended, he went back to his hometown region. The townspeople hailed him as a great American war hero even though he had never filed a rifle or left the United States and never went to boot camp.

He met Francis Huerta shortly after returning home and got married in Obregon, Jalisco. They settled in San Diego, a city he fell in love with as you will recall. Francis, however, wanted to be closer to her family. They settled in a small town in New Mexico, Clovis. And this is how the story began told by his grandson, Michael Mendoza.