For more than a century and a half, the name of Joaquin Carrillo Murrieta (Joaquin Carrillo Murrieta or Murietta) has been known throughout the world. He was a semi-legendary person in California in the 1850s, during the era of the so-called Gold Rush. Some consider him a Chilean Robin Hood and a Mexican patriot, while others consider him a gangster and a bloody killer. So who is Joaquin Murieta really: a real person or a fictional character from the John Rollin Ridge book?
True biography
Joaquin Murieta was born in 1830 in the south of Mexico, in the state of Sonora. Having married a girl named Rosa Feliz, he goes to California, taking with him three of her brothers. Then the Gold Rush was in full swing. One of his wife’s brothers, Claudio Felis, was seriously looking for a precious metal, and Joaquin himself worked as a mustang fisher, then a weakeiro (shepherd).
In 1849, Claudio was arrested on charges of stealing gold from another prospector. I must say that there was plenty of evidence of his guilt, so the punishment for such a crime could be very severe - execution by hanging. Claudio reasoned that he was unlikely to get out of this mess, so he developed an escape plan and successfully implemented it. A few months later he managed to put together his own gang of the same people as himself. A little later Joaquin Murieta will also join her, whose biography from that very moment will be closely connected with the criminal craft.
Raids and killings
At the end of 1850, the gang of Claudio Felisa committed her first crime. Her victim was John Marsh, whose ranch was attacked by a group of 12 people. They killed the owner, but did not touch other people. Later, the bandits realized that they had made an unforgivable oversight, leaving the witnesses alive. Subsequently, they tried not to make such mistakes anymore.
10 days after the robbery of John Marsh, the bandits raided the ranch of their next victim, Digby Smith, at night. In this house, they killed three people with particular cruelty: two of them had their skulls cut open, and the third was completely cut off. Leaving the scene of the crime, they set fire to the ranch, which was burned to the ground. A month later, the gang again attempted to rob another victim, but was rebuffed by a fairly well-armed wakeiro. It was then that the killers realized that the local settlers were now on their guard, so Claudio Feliz decided to move to the area where the gold mines were located. There, his people began to rob and kill lone travelers on the roads.
The hunt for Claudio Feliz
Joaquin Murieta has been in the gang of his wife’s brother since September 1851 and managed to take part in several robberies and murders. When the law began to literally breathe the bandits in the back, he left the criminal group and for some time settled in Los Angeles, while Felice and his accomplices continued their atrocities.
They were completely indifferent to whom to kill - their victims were not only blacks, Chinese and white, but also Mexicans, most importantly, that this would bring a good income. It was such actions that became the main mistake, since even compatriots turned away from Claudio Felis and his people. Now he could no longer count on their support. In addition, the Mexicans themselves began the hunt for the infuriated gang leader, and soon the whole group was squeezed. According to eyewitnesses, during the last battle with the thugs, Felis's pursuers literally riddled his body with bullets.
New gang
The peaceful life in Los Angeles quickly got bored with the former accomplice of Felis, and Joaquin Murieta again returned to his bloody craft. After some time, he, along with Reyes Feliz (another brother of his wife), was charged with the murder of Joshua Bean, the state major general. Shurin Joaquin was caught and executed, and he himself managed to escape. After this incident, it was rumored that Murieta shamelessly abandoned his relative without any help, and he cowardly fled.
Soon, a new gang appeared in the okrug, but no one knew for certain who its leader was. It was assumed that the structure of the criminal gang includes five Joaquins - Carrillo, Murieta, Botheliere, Valenzuela and Okormena. It is worth noting that the first husband of the mother of the famous bandit had the surname Carrillo, so the young man sometimes introduced himself by that name.
Among the members of the group was also a certain Manuel Garcia, nicknamed the Three-Fingered Jack. This gangster was distinguished by a particular hatred of gold miners of Chinese origin. In just a couple of months, the raiders killed 22 people, most of whom were from the Celestial Empire, stole about a hundred horses and stole up to 100 thousand dollars in gold. It is noteworthy that people from Asia, as usual, did not carry weapons, which is why they were easily robbed and killed. Sometimes the members of the so-called gang of five Joaquins cut the throat of the Chinese just to have fun. As you can see, the legend that made the fighter for the rights of the disadvantaged out of the thug Murieta has not the slightest foundation.
Government opposition
In May 1853, the then Governor of California, John Bigler, signed into law a law to create an armed squad to counter gangs, known as the California Rangers. His commander was appointed captain Harry Love.
I must say that the rangers had a very solid incentive - each of them was paid a monthly salary of $ 150. By the way, at that time it was good money. In addition, for the murdered bandit, a bonus of $ 1 thousand was also supposed. In addition, the local Chinese diaspora, frightened by the numerous killings of their compatriots, instituted an additional bonus for the capture of bandits.
Hunting a Gang of Five Joaquins
California authorities signed a 3-month contract with the Lava Rangers. When the time allotted for the liquidation of the gang was already drawing to a close, on July 25 they nevertheless attacked the trail of the criminals. In this they were helped by a group of Indians who recently saw Mexicans passing by them, who were very similar to people from the gang, whose leader was supposedly Joaquin Murieta. His photo was not preserved, although there are images made on the basis of a verbal description of this person.
Death of the leader
Rangers quickly attacked the trail of killers and caught up with them. A battle ensued, which soon ended in a complete victory for the representatives of the law. As evidence that the gang was eliminated, the Lava people provided two trophies. One of them is the brush of Three-Fingered Jack, as his face was disfigured beyond recognition. The second was the head of a Mexican who looked like a leader. These trophies were placed in containers with alcohol.
It was officially recognized that it was Joaquin Murieta who died in that battle. Cause of death: shot and then beheaded. The governor personally accepted and examined the trophies, after which he paid the rewards to the rangers the due reward. And this despite the numerous doubts that this is the head of Murieta. Be that as it may, the people rejoiced. The newspapers, in turn, praised the courage of the ranger commander Harry Love and his people, who were everywhere greeted as heroes. As you can see, the real Joaquin Murieta, whose biography was closely connected with crime, could have nothing to do with the Latin American rebel movement.
Legend Beginning
A year after the defeat of the gang and the assassination of its leader, John Rollin Ridge wrote an adventure novel about Murray, where he outlined a biography of his main character that he had invented. It was this book that became the main source of distribution of the legend. I must say that the fate of this work of art and its fictional character is very interesting. The fact is that after the publication in America about the Ridge novel, they quickly learned in Europe. The book was immediately translated into several languages. It was very popular among the European reader, so it was reprinted more than once.
For some coincidence, one of the French copies of the book ended up in Chile. Here Roberto Ninne as soon as possible translated the novel into Spanish and in the introduction to it added that he himself was allegedly in California during the Gold Rush and heard firsthand about Muriet. Thus, the impression was created that the events and characters described in the book were genuine.
Plot of the novel
The Rollin Ridge book, entitled “The Life and Adventures of Joaquin Murieta,” describes the story of a poor Mexican guy who, looking for a better life, travels to California, where he recently discovered gold. According to the plot, gringos (the so-called white Americans) always did not like immigrants from Mexico, so they dishonored his wife, and her brother was slandered, accusing him of stealing horses. The poor man was hanged on a nearby tree, not having begun to listen to his arguments, and the main character was tied to a tree and carved.
After such a brutal reprisal, the Mexican, together with his wife and several compatriots, hid in the mountains. There he vowed that he would kill any white American who fell in his way. So Joaquin Murieta, whose years of life were now devoted to revenge, gathered a small detachment of like-minded people and began to settle scores with the gringo for all the insults inflicted on him and his wife Rosita. The book ends with the fact that he was about to raise a real Mexican uprising against the atrocities of the white enslavers, but the rangers hired by the authorities under the leadership of Harry Love soon overtook his squad and dealt with him, killing the main character.
The fate of the book
There are several versions of the novel by John Rollin Ridge, which was originally sold in an incredible quantity at that time - 7 thousand copies. This work could take its rightful place in the Guinness Book of Records regarding plagiarism. 5 years after the Rollin-Ridge novel was published, a double of this bestseller appeared, redone by an unknown author, where Joaquin’s wife is already called Carmela, and not Rosita, who was not only dishonored, but killed. Later in San Francisco the play was created, created all on the same plot. In her, the wife of the famous avenger was already called Belloro, and he himself also had a scar on his face.
Joaquin Murieta: Latin American leader of the rebels or a simple robber and killer?
There were several more reincarnations of this adventure novel, until it was translated into Spanish. Now it was already called the "Chilean robber," where Joaquin Murieta was born from the same places. Here, the partially fictional character became so popular that he was erected a monument to him as a brave and uncompromising fighter against injustice!
The appearance of this novel in Chile and the perception of it as a biographical work led the historians so astray that some of them in their works indicate the town of Chilliet as the real birthplace of Murieta. But it is known for certain that in ancient church records that have been preserved in Mexico, there is a certain Joaquin Murieta, whose year of birth coincides with the birth of a brutal leader of a gang of thugs. Many historians are inclined to believe that these documents are proof that he was still a Mexican bandit, and not a Chilean leader of the rebels.
So who is Joaquin Muriette really? There is still no definite answer to this question, and, in truth, it is unlikely to be.