Whats the story on Joaquin Murieta, the Robin Hood of California?
Dear Straight Dope: Would you help us sort fact from fiction regarding California’s version of Robin Hood, the outlaw Joaquin Murieta? — Jennifer Karlsson That’s not too difficult, Jennifer: Fact: In the early 1850s, a cattle thief by the name of Joaquin Murieta apparently existed. Fiction: Most everything else you’ve heard about him. Well, it’s not quite THAT simple. But almost. I obtained much of the following information from Bad Company: The Story of California’s Legendary and Actual Stage-Robbers, Bandits, Highwaymen and Outlaws from the Fifties to the Eighties, by Joseph Henry Jackson, written in 1939. An excellent read. By the early 1850s, the gold rush in California was in full swing. There were lots of gold mines, mined by lots of gold miners. Where there’s smoke, there’s fire, and where there’s loot, there’s bandits, and so it was in California’s gold country. Not much was known about even the most notable bandits, save the fact that many of them seemed to be named Joaquin. A
