Summary: The Tough Life Of Legends

Jake Lapyuk

Professor Reyes Ortega

History 23

20 September 2014

The Tough Life of Legends Joaquin Murrieta a Young man out to seek revenge for his family and his country. Americans came and stole their land and now they are out to take their rights. Tuburcio Vasquez, the bandit that was lost. Two men, tired of Anglo men taking the rights of the Chicano people and forcing them to live lives of worry and horror, decided that they would have to stand up to defend their people. All Chicanos wanted is to be left alone and to preserve their rights, after all they were on their land that the Americans stole. Thought to have been born in either Alamos, Sonora, Mexico or Quillota, Chile in 1829; Joaquin traveled with his older brother, Carlos and

Joaquin Murrieta was a peaceful man he loved his family and his people. Joaquin turned into a new man full of anger and wanted to get his revenge after his brother was hung in front of him and his beloved wife was raped by a group of Anglo men. Joaquin promised that he would seek revenge and kill every single Anglo responsible for the death of his brother and the raping of his wife. He set out on his journey with his mind set on killing these men and soon became the leader of a group that consisted of five Joaquin’s, thought to be to confuse everyone so they wouldn’t know his true location. These men set out to form their own posse’s, still under the orders of Joaquin Murrieta, and were said to be responsible for the robberies, cattle stealing and murders of wealthier men who were mostly Anglo. Anglos thought of Joaquin as a man who would kill and steal from anyone wealthy, no matter race, while Chicanos looked at Joaquin as a Robin Hood, who would steal from the wealthy and give to the poor. Finally having had enough of the Five Joaquin’s as well as the rest of the lawlessness in California, its Governor, John Bigler, created the "California Rangers” in May, 1853. Lead by former Texas Ranger, Harry Love, their first assignment was to