Joaquin Murrieta

Joaquin Murrieta Carrillo is a legendary figure in California history, taking on the role of a social bandit.

Born in Sonora Mexico, Joaquin moved to California in the last 1840s to pursue riches during the gold rush. Legend has it that around 1850, after witnessing the murder of his brother and rape of his wife he became an outlaw, taking revenge against the white Californian's who destroyed his life.

Called the Mexican Robin Hood, Joaquin is said to have fled to the hills where he took his revenge, robbing the rich and rewarding his fellow Mexicans. This legend became a symbol for resistance to the racism and classism experienced by poor latinos during this time.

This legend formed largely thanks to the publication of a 1854 book by John Rollins Ridge, a part-Cherokee journalist who went by his Indian pen name Yellow Bird. The author portrayed Murrieta as a noble victim seeking to right the wrongs of the world. This book was then republished in a number of different languages around the world. There are at least 21 different published versions of this legend.

The truth is that Joaquin Murrieta Carrillo was a real bandit in California during the gold rush. He robbed and killed ranchers and others in Contra Costa County and throughout the state. However, there is no historical evidence that this banditry was due to revenge for being wronged. At least there is no mention of rape of his wife or murder of his brother.

Racism against non-whites was alive and well in California and the idea that Murrieta did not experience this first hand would be unlikely. Another famed chicano social bandit, Tiburcio Vasquez, was active in Southern California explicitly stated the political and social reasons for his taking up arms.

However, there is no evidence that Murrieta's banditry was due to ideological reasons. Murrieta robbed and killed members of any racial group, including at least one Mexican. In fact his favorite victims seemed to be Chinese miners not white ranchers. Eventually the California governor ordered a posse be formed to go after Murrieta. They claimed to have found and killed the bandit, and preserved his head in a glass jar as evidence. Though a number of individuals recognized the head as that of Murrieta, legend has it that the posse was never close to capturing the real Murrieta. Instead the head was said to be that of a random Mexican, and the real Murrieta lived well into old age.

Over time, Murrieta along with other latino social bandits became symbols of resistance against Anglo-American economic and cultural domination in California. In 1970 activists named a Chicano student cooperative in UC Berkeley Casa Joaquin Murrieta. Many have written poems and songs in his honor, including Chilean musician Victor Jara.