The Joaqu%C3%ADn Band: The History Behind the Legend

Much more than an account of the life of famed Mexican outlaw Joaqu%C3%ADn Murrieta, Wilson (The Salem Witch Trials: How History Is Invented) delves into a variety of historical sources to paint a vivid picture of life in California during the Gold Rush of the 1850s. Wilson provides a wealth of context in which to examine the complicated legend of Murrieta, who %E2%80%9Cbecame the historical symbol of Mexican banditry as rebellion against unjust laws and actions%E2%80%9D committed by Americans in California. As legend has it, Murrieta was a %E2%80%9Ca light-skinned romantic Robin Hood or Zorro type,%E2%80%9D who rebelled against %E2%80%9Csoutherners in the United States [who] coveted more land and felt manifestly destined to take it.%E2%80%9D Wilson includes profiles of John Rollin Ridge, the first writer to chronicle Murrieta in the quasi-fictional The Life and Adventures of Joaqu%C3%ADn Murrieta; and journalists Manuel Clemente Rojo and Francisco P. Ramirez who wrote extensively on the Murrieta band and tackled the political landscape of the time. The second half of the book explores the dangers of vigilantism and the fates of many other notorious Mexican criminals of the time like Juan Flores, Pancho Daniel, and Tiburcio V%C3%A1squez. Thorough and engrossing, this book will likely spark the interest of scholars and rabble-rousers alike. (June)