In their bravado, they carved initials and dates on trees, on the leaves of the maguey, and on the doors of churches and haciendas. "Freedom!" they cried. Huddled around campfires, in their hideaways, they sang: "If I am to die tomorrow let them kill me right away." By now many hacienda mansions had disappeared. Weeds had taken over farmland, irrigation systems no longer functioned, wells had dried, mills had been dismantled, and cattle had been driven away or killed and eaten. Former laborers had fled or had been conscripted, jailed, or killed. Prices had climbed 300 percent. [Illustration: Hacienda de Pueblilla, Zempoala, Hidalgo: chapel tower, 1860.] Zapata took "Tierra y Libertad!" ("land and liberty") as his cry, and fighting every governmental force he demanded "Land for the Landless!," "Land and Water!," "Freedom for the People!" [Illustration: Hacienda de Tepa-Chica, Hidalgo: chapel, 1864.] Zapatismo meant business everywhere and at all times. As revolutionist, Zapata was a lean, moustached young man; without more than rudimentary schooling, he led his countrymen against the hacienda system. He had promised his father, whose property was stolen by an hacendado, that he would recover it for him. When his home village of San Miguel Anonecuilco was appropriated, Zapata fled to the mountains, hoping for support from the peasantry. In time he commanded several thousand armed men. Ideologically, the revolution was American- and European-inspired since it was focused on freedom and equality. The goal of this conflict was in a major sense Utopian. But it lacked intellectual leadership: a Napoleon, to serve as figurehead. Under a single military leadership the revolution might have been shortened, saving thousands of lives. Following the collapse of the Porfirio Díaz regime, leaders tottered like dominos, and local revolts involved years of quixotic terrorism. Zapata, Villa, Madero, Carranza, Huerta, and Obregón attempted to form a government or attempted to attain power for the sake of power. Greed and chicanery took their toll. Almost every community felt the impact as governments failed. The Church did its best to retain the feudalism of the hacienda; hacendados, lobbying in the capital, attempted to retain their old status. [Illustration: Hacienda la Gavia, Estado de Mexico: carved figure on library door.] Zapata and Villa joined forces briefly, because they sought the same goal. They met in Mexico City but could not reach an accord or coordinate their military "hordes." While they held the capital under their control, they dreamed of power, and yet it is doubtful whether either man thought constructively of the future of the nine million peasants remaining on the haciendas, earning from nothing to thirty cents a day. Suspecting betrayal, both men returned to their native regions. [Illustration: Hacienda de Arenillas, Puebla: chapel gateway.]