Joaquin Murrieta
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Joaquin Murrieta (sometimes spelled Murieta or Murietta) (1829–ca. 1853), also called the Mexican Robin Hood or the Robin Hood of El Dorado, was a semi-legendary figure in California during the California Gold Rush in the 1850s. He was either an infamous bandit or a Mexican patriot, depending on one's point of view. Whatever the truth of the matter, his name has, for some political activists at least, symbolized resistance against Anglo-American economic and cultural domination in California.
The site of his birth is disputed: either Alamos, in the northwestern state of Sonora, Mexico, or in Quillota, Chile (near Valparaiso). It is said he first went to California in 1850 to seek his fortune in the California Gold Rush. Instead of opportunity, he instead encountered racism and discrimination. Unable to make a living legally, Murrieta became one of the leaders of the band called The Five Joaquins, which included Joaquin Botellier, Joaquin Carrillo, Joaquin Ocomorenia, and Joaquin Valenzuela. Between 1850 and 1853 these men, along with Murietta's right hand man "Three-Fingered Jack" (Manuel Garcia), were said to be responsible for the majority of cattle rustling, robberies, and murders that were committed in the Mother Lode area of the Sierra Nevadas. They are credited with stealing more than $100,000 in gold, over 100 horses, killing 19 people (mostly Chinese mine workers), and having outrun three posses, killing three lawmen. At the time no one was certain of the name of the leader, so he was simply called Joaquin, and it was further uncertain if it was one band or more than one. The band was supposedly supported by Californios, who protected them, Robert Livermore among them.
On May 11, 1853, John Bigler, who was Governor of California at the time signed a legislative act creating the "California Rangers", lead by Captain Harry Love (a former Texas Ranger), whose purpose was to arrest the Five Joaquins. The California Rangers were paid $150 a month and stood a chance to split a $5000 reward for the capture of Murrieta. On July 25, 1853 a group of these rangers encountered a group of Mexican males near Panoche Pass in San Benito County, about 100 miles away from the Mother Lode and 50 away from Monterey. A confrontation occurred and two of the Mexicans were killed—one claimed to be Murrieta and the other thought to be Garcia.
The Rangers took Garcia's hand and Murrieta's head as evidence of their death and displayed them in a jar, preserved in brandy. The jar was displayed in Mariposa County, Stockton and San Francisco and traveled throughout California, where spectators could, for $1, see the remains. Seventeen people, including a priest, signed affidavits identifying the remains as Murrieta's and Love and his Rangers received the reward money. However, a young woman claiming to be Murrieta's sister said she not recognize the head and argued that it could not be his since it did not have a characteristic scar on it. Additionally, numerous sightings of Murrieta were reported after his reported death. Many people criticized Love for showing the remains in large cities far from the mining camps, where Joaquin might have been recognized. It has even been claimed that Love and his Rangers killed some innocent Mexicans and made up the story of the capture of Murrieta to claim the reward money. The head was lost in the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake.
Soon after his reported death, Murrieta became the subject of story and legend. In 1854 the first fictionalized account of his life appeared in a San Francisco newspaper and in a book by Cherokee author John Rollin Ridge. It tells a story of how his wife was raped and killed, his brother hanged for a crime he did not commit and how Murrieta swore to avenge them by killing all the Yanquis or gringos he could find. Although there is no evidence to confirm that this actually happened to a man named Joaquin Murrieta, similar things did happened to other Mexicans living in California at that time. This fictional account also inspired corridos depicting him as a fierce avenger of injustices against Mexicans.
The siting of his birthplace in Chile seems to be a result of reports that Murrieta sided with Chilean miners during the "Chilean War". A portion of Ridge's novel was reprinted in 1859 in the California Police Gazette. This story was then subsequently translated into Spanish, which was translated into French, and finally the French version was translated back to Spanish by Roberto Hynne, who claimed to have been in California during the gold rush. This final version had Murrieta born in Chile instead of Mexico.
The University of California, Berkeley has a housing cooperative named in his honor, "Casa Joaquin Murrieta." However, the city of Murrieta, California is not named after him.
[edit] Murrieta in media
Since then, he has been a widely used romantic figure in novels, stories, films and on TV.
- Murrieta is depicted as a largely sympathetic character in the 1936 William A. Wellman film The Robin Hood of El Dorado [1].
- The fictional character of Zorro was in part inspired by the stories about Murrieta. In fact, a person with his name appears in The Mask of Zorro, as do characters based on Three-Fingered Jack and Harry (here Harrison) Love. In the film, after Joaquin's death, his brother, Alejandro (Antonio Banderas) becomes the new Zorro, and later kills Captain Love in revenge.
- Throughout the Mother Lode region of California, there are dozens of saloons, bars, hotels and places where Murrieta is said to have robbed, slept or been.
- He makes a cameo appearance in the novel by Isabel Allende, Hija de Fortuna (Daughter of Fortune).
- His story is told in the play, Fulgor y Muerte de Joaquin Murieta, (The Splendor and Death of Joaquin Murrieta), by Pablo Neruda.
- The Russian rock opera, Zvezda i smert´ Khoakina Mur´ety (The Star and Death of Joaquin Murrieta), by Alexei Rybnikov and Pavel Grushko, based on the play.
- A tribute song to this Chilean rebel can be heard in Premonicion de la Muerte de Joaquin Murieta, performed by Quilapayún
- Victor Jara, Chilean singer-songwriter assassinated by the Pinochet regime in Chile, also wrote the songs El Aparecido and Asi Como Hoy Matan Negros paying homage to Joaquin Murieta.
- The Sons of the San Joaquin included a song called The Ballad of Joaquin Murrieta on their Way Out Yonder album.
