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| Joaquin Murrieta |
Most of what we know about Joaquin Murrieta is pure horse hockey. A California journalist, John Rollin Ridge (Yellow Bird), created the legend most people know as Joaquin Murrieta in his 1854 book, The Life and Adventures of Joaquin Murieta.
Ridge’s book makes it sound like Murrieta was a modern-day Robin Hood forced into outlawry by racist whites. It says he turned to stealing horses, robbery, and murder—robbing the rich and distributing his plunder among poor Mexican families.
The only problem is that there’s no evidence to support this. The Semi-Weekly Messenger said Murrieta was “as merciless as a hyena. He tied men to trees and left them to perish in the unfrequented forests; he raided towns and spared neither age nor sex; he raided Chinese mining camps, and on one occasion, cut the throats of eleven Chinese in a camp near Sutler’s Creek.”
We know very little about Joaquin Murrieta other than that he came to California from Old Sonora, Mexico, in 1850 to try his luck in the goldfields. It’s likely his wife, Rosa, several of her brothers, and his brother Carlos came with him.
The clan staked a claim near Hangtown and lost their property because of the Foreign Claim Tax (a penalty imposed on non-white miners to keep them out of California).
In 1851, Murrieta joined his brother-in-law, Claudio Feliz’s gang. That was his introduction to outlawry. No matter how you slice it, these guys were no angels. They robbed and murdered lone travelers. Claudio’s band terrorized the minefields for two years until they were recognized as they tried to rob the John Kottinger Rancho near Pleasanton. Shortly after that, they changed their MO and robbed a native Californian rather than their usual prey of Chinese immigrants. Vigilantes tracked the gang down, and Claudio was killed fighting off his pursuers.
Joaquin Murrieta assumed leadership of the band after the death of Claudio Feliz. Manuel Garcia, better known as Three Finger Jack, served as his headman. Together they began a six-month reign of terror in Calaveras County, beginning in 1853.
Governor John Bigler organized the California Rangers on May 11, 1853. They were an elite group led by former Texas Ranger Harry Love and charged with taking down Murrieta’s band, known as The Five Joaquins. The group comprised Joaquin Murrieta, Joaquin Botellier, Joaquin Carillo, Joaquin Ocomorenia, Joaquin Valenzuela, and Three Finger Jack.
“Three Finger Jack was a monster of vice and maniacal cruelty.” The Yale Expositor said, “He seemed to take a special delight in murdering Chinese. On one occasion, he rounded up six Chinese on the road, tied their ques together, and cut their throats one at a time—laughing at the terrified yells of the living as the dying men struggled in their blood.”
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| Joaquin Murrieta on horseback |
During their brief career, the Five Joaquins rustled 100 horses, stole over $100,000 in gold, and killed anywhere between 19 and 22 men (most of them Chinese).
Their operations centered on the San Joaquin Valley. No road was safe. “The solitary horseman rounding a clump of chaparral was quite likely to hear the sing of a Riata through the air and feel the rope settling around his shoulders with a jerk that dragged him from the saddle. The Riata and the Bowie knife were the principal weapons of Murrieta’s men. “Many of Murrieta’s victims were dragged from the saddle and had their throats slit.”
Harry Love and the California Rangers received a break in July 1853 when they captured Jesus Feliz, a brother of Claudio Feliz. He ratted Murrieta out and gave the Rangers the location of his hideout.
Love’s posse came across Murrieta’s band near Cantua Creek on the morning of July 25, 1853. While scouring the countryside for the band, they found a party of Mexicans eating breakfast. Love asked what they were doing, and the Mexicans said they were on their way to Los Angeles.
The posse most likely would have ridden on, but as one ranger who knew Murrieta by sight rode up, the Mexicans made a run for it. Three Finger Jack was shot and killed along with several other gang members. Joaquin jumped on a horse and fled for his life. He was shot in the wrist and fell off his horse. Murrieta dropped his gun and threw up his hands. The posse disregarded his attempt to surrender and filled him with lead.
After the posse killed Murrieta, Love had them chop off his head and Three Finger Jack’s signature hand. They preserved them in jars of whiskey and brought them back to Governor Bigler as proof they had earned their reward of $1,000. State legislators were so happy to bring an end to the band’s reign of terror that they awarded the posse an additional $5,000 reward the following year.
After they collected their reward, Harry Love and the California Rangers displayed the jar containing Murrieta’s head around the Mariposa mining camps for $1.00 a peek. Murrieta’s head eventually made its way to the back bar at the Golden Nugget Saloon and was later destroyed in the San Francisco earthquake in 1906.
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