| JOAQUIN
MURIETA |
|
 Joaquin
Murieta was born in 1830, in the Mexican province of Sonora. In 1850,
Murieta along with his bride, Rosita Feliz , he moved to Northern
California. The Murietas were lured by the mine fields. The white miners
didn't like the thought of the sharing the gold fields with Mexicans, so
they assaulted the couple. Murieta was beaten and his wife was raped. They
left Stanislaus County and moved to Calaveras County, where they were
joined by Joaquin's half-brother. Joaquin borrowed his half-brother's
horse not knowing it had been stolen from a member of the community. The
horse's owner accused Murieta of the theft. Joaquin told the owner he had
borrowed the horse, and his half-brother could explain. A mob formed and
wouldn't listen to the explanation. They hung the half-brother, and
Joaquin was horse whipped. Murieta vowed to get revenge.
Soon afterwards, a miner, who was involved with the hanging was found dead
outside his campsite. Another man was shot as he was walking down a road.
Many of the townspeople were so afraid, they fled the county. The
remaining members of the lynch mob were all slain by Murieta and other
Mexicans, he had recruited. Murieta and his gang became one the most
feared bands of outlaws in California. His gang included Manuel Garcia,
also know as "Three Fingered Jack" and Reyes Feliz, his wife's
brother. The gang terrorized Northern California, robbing miners, holding
up stagecoaches, and raiding farmhouses. They murdered seven people in
twelve days near Marysville, California. They moved north to Shasta
County, where they killed some miners and stole their horses. Murieta was
captured by Chief Sapatorra while he and his men were trying to steal the
Indian's horses. The chief reported capturing the Mexicans to the
authorities. The authorities unaware it was Murieta that had been
captured, ordered the Chief to release his prisoners. After punishing the
men, he let them go. With a reward against Murieta and his gang, many
lawmen were after the outlaws.
g avoided capture for awhile, but then California Governor John Bigler
authorized Captain Harry Love to organize a posse to hunt down the
bandits. Love's posse cornered the bandits in June 1853 along Arroyo
Cantoova. They came upon the gang's camp as Murieta was watering his
horse. Murieta saw the posse and yelled to the rest of his men to
"run for it!", both "Three fingered Jack" and Murieta
jumped on their horses and road furiously out of camp. The
The ganposse opened up upon the fleeing outlaws with their weapons,
Murieta and his horse were shot to pieces and Murieta fell to the ground.
As the Posse crowded around the fallen Murieta, he tried to say something,
but didn't have the strength. A few minutes later, he succumbed to his
wounds. "Three Fingered Jack" had rode off in the opposite
direction, but his luck had also run out. The posse shot him several times
as he was trying to escape, but he continued riding for five miles until
he fell off his horse mortally wounded. The posse found his body an hour
later. To collect his reward and not have to drag the bodies back to town,
Captain Love cut off the head of Murieta and the hand of "Three
Fingered Jack" for identification. Father Dominic Blaine identified
the head on August 11th, 1853. Captain Love was paid $6,000 by the
California State legislature. Murieta's head was placed in a jar and taken
to San Francisco. The head was put on display and sent to local fairs and
celebrations, where for a dollar you could see the notorious bandit king
(along with the hand from "Three Fingered Jack").
|
|
Do you have questions or suggestions?
Send us .
This site is best viewed with I.E. 5.0 and more, and
resolution of 1024x768 pixels |
| |