Joaquin Murrietta

Down the California Outlaw Trail

Joaquin Murrietta, born about 1830, was a California bandit during the Gold Rush years. What he was like before fame and sometimes a moderate amount of ill gotten wealth propelled him on to the pages of California's wild days is hard to say. But like other men who became notorious outlaws, such as Jesse James and the Dalton Brothers, historical events played a major role in the direction that Murrietta's life took. That is not to say that these men did not have a choice of which side of the law they operated on. They all had a choice, but all to often events clouded their judgement and nudged them in the wrong direction.

Joaquin had one other trait in common with his outlaw kind. He was a true gunslinger. The only difference with Murrietta was that his weapon of choice was an old model French cap-and-ball large bore pistol. But unlike the Wes Hardins and Bill Doolins, Murrietta didn't sport a low-slung holster. Instead, this swarthy Mexican whipped out his weapon from the sash he wore.

Murrietta came to California, from Mexico, shortly before he reached the grand old age of twenty years. And he didn't come alone. With him, into the rugged gold camps, came his pretty wife, Antonia Molinera. And that's where most, if not all, of the trouble started.

The first few years of California's gold rush there were few women in area, and it was a pretty vast area. That fact was bound to cause trouble for any man who had his own woman, pretty or not. Also, most white miners had little regard for miners of other nationalities such as, and especially, Mexicans as well as Chinese. That was the second strike that set Joaquin down the outlaw trail.

Joaquin Murrietta continued.

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