Gold Country - California - page 866

JOAQUIN MURRIETA: VILLIAN OR ANTIHERO?
In a land where tall tales tower, none casts a darker shadow than Joaquin Murrieta's, the
infamous Mexican miner long known by some as the Robin Hood of the Gold Rush. Stor-
ies of the vengeful Murrieta are as ubiquitous as they are incongruous: he was born in
either Sonora, Mexico or Quillota, Chile and, after immigrating to California in 1850 to find
gold or maybe trade horses, he became a treacherous villain - or was it, a heroic vigil-
ante? In the soft focus of historical hindsight, his fiery vengeance - real or not - forged
Gold Country's most intriguing antihero.
Much of his legend is shaped by dime novels written at the time, but from what histori-
ans can gather, his life might have gone like this: Murrieta and his brother had a claim
near Hangtown (now known as Placerville). They had some luck but were either forced off
by a mob of Anglo miners who beat him and raped his wife, or the land was stolen after he
refused to pay the Foreign Miners Tax levied by the state against resourceful non-Anglo
prospectors. Either way, with no hope for justice, Murrieta formed a posse to kill his as-
saulters and began a life of banditry that left a trail of slashed throats and purloined gold.
His band of highwaymen, known as the Five Joaquins, terrorized miners (ironically,
mostly Chinese) in the countryside between 1850 and 1853.
Governor John Bigler put a large price on Murrieta's head, and in July of 1853 a Texas
bounty hunter named Harry Love produced a jar containing the severed head of a man he
claimed was Murrieta. Love toured cities of Northern California charging audiences $1 to
see his trophy but, even in death, Murrieta's legend grew: a woman claiming to be Murri-
eta's sister disputed the kill and sightings of the bandit continued long after his supposed
death. Joaquin Murrieta was celebrated as a peoples' hero by many Mexican and Chileno
people who were enraged by the oppressive, racist laws of the Gold Rush, which are
largely unmentioned today.
Sights & Activities
The center of downtown Sonora is the T-shaped intersection of Washington and Stockton
Sts, with Washington the main thoroughfare with boutiques, cafes and bars. If you're look-
ing to get out of town, stroll the Dragoon Gulch Trail , a 2.5-mile loop through the oaks
found just northwest of the main drag on Alpine Lane.
Sonora is also a base for white-water rafting : the Upper Tuolumne River is known for
class IV and V rapids and its population of golden eagles and red-tailed hawks, while the