His first film was
Life of Villa (1912) by American Mutoscope and
Biograph Co., a documentary about the struggle of Mexican revolutionary
Pancho Villa. While filming a battle between Villa's forces and federal troops near Ojinaga, he
was captured by government soldiers and brought before their commanding
general. Rosher thought he was about to be executed as a spy, and
things didn't look too good for him until the Mexican general noticed
Rosher's Masonic pin in his lapel. The general then gave Rosher the
Masonic greeting; it turned out he was a Mason, too. Instead of being
shot as a spy, Rosher was treated as a guest, and was later released
after the Mexican government made a deal with the American government
that allowed their troops to cross into American territory in order to
outflank Villa's forces and attack them from the rear.