The Life and Adventures of Joaquín Murieta

John Rollin Ridge

• Publisher: Mint Editions
• Year: 2021
• Print ISBN: 9781513288437
• eBook ISBN: 9781513288437
• Topic: Literature
• Subtopic: Westerns
• Index: Literature

The Life and Adventures of Joaquin Murieta (1854) is a novel by John Rollin Ridge. Published under his birth name Yellow Bird, from Cheesquatalawny in Cherokee, The Life and Adventures of Joaquin Murieta was the first novel from a Native American author. Despite its popular success worldwide—the novel was translated into French and Spanish­—Ridge's work was a financial failure due to bootleg copies and widespread plagiarism. Recognized today as a groundbreaking work of nineteenth century fiction, The Life and Adventures of Joaquin Murieta is a powerful novel that investigates American racism, illustrates the struggle for financial independence among marginalized communities, and dramatizes the lives of outlaws seeking fame, fortune, and vigilante justice. Born in Mexico, Joaquin Murieta came to California in search of gold. Despite his belief in the American Dream, he soon faces violence and racism from white settlers who see his success as a miner as a personal affront. When his wife is raped by a mob of white men and after Joaquin is beaten by a group of horse thieves, he loses all hope of living alongside Americans and turns to a life of vigilantism. Joined by a posse of similarly enraged Mexican-American men, Joaquin becomes a fearsome bandit with a reputation for brutality and stealth. Based on the life of Joaquin Murrieta Carrillo, also known as The Robin Hood of the West, The Life and Adventures of Joaquin Murieta would serve as inspiration for Johnston McCulley's beloved pulp novel hero Zorro. This edition of John Rollin Ridge's The Life and Adventures of Joaquin Murieta is a classic work of Native American literature reimagined for modern readers.

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Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Contents
• Preface
• Editor’s Preface
• I. His Boyhood, Early Education, And Personal Appearance—His Acquaintance With Americans In Mexico—His Winning of the Beautiful Rosita—His Arrival in California—His Honest Occupation As a Miner—His Domicil Intruded Upon By Lawless Men—Their Outrages Upon Him and His Mistress—His Removal to a New Locality—New Intrusions and Oppressions
• II. A Change in Joaquin’s Character—Mysterious Disappearances—Murders Upon the Highway—An Organized Banditti—Ranches Lose Their Stock—The Killing of the Deputy Sheriff of Santa Clara County—Encounter With the Bandits By the Sheriff of Yuba County
• III. Departure of the Robbers for the Coast Range—Mount Shasta the Great Landmark—The Robbers Among the Indian—The Tall Misourian a Dead Shot—Bleaching Skeletons and Perforated Skulls—Reyes Feliz and the Faithless Spouse—Old Peter and His Two Daughters—The Lassoing of an Elk By the Eldest Daughter—She Falls Into the Hands of the Robbers—Her Timely Escape
• IV. Trip of the Bandits to Sonora—They Take Up Headquarters at the Arroyo Cantoova—Joaquin’s Felicity Under the Evergreen Oaks—He Divides His Company into Three Bands, Under Claudio, Valenzuela and Three-Fingered Jack, Leaving Himself Only a Few Attendants—The Women Dressed in Male Clothes—Joaquin a Visitor in the Towns, Unrecognized—His Daring Feat at Mokelumne Hill—Return of Ruddle—Comic Adventure Among the Digger Indians
• V. Movements of the Naked Party—Reyes Feliz Meets with a Grizzly Bear—Self-Sacrificing Female Devotion—Sudden Relief From Distress—The Robber Chief Armed Again—Convenient Harboring Places at the Ranches of Wealthy Mexicans—Death of Pedro Gonzalez—Joaquin’s Cold Assassination of the Deputy Sheriff of Santa Barbara County—Murder of Gen. Bean by Three-Fingered Jack and Joaquin—Meeting Between Joaquin and Joe Lake—Death of the Latter
• VI. Joaquin Seeks a Respite From Annoyances—He Travels into Hitherto Unexplored Regions—Finds the Mysterious Lake of Mono—Strange Sights and Wonders—A Marvelous Mountain, Since Seen By Others—Description of its Singular Aspect and Phenomena—Discovery of Sculptured Antiquities and Ancient Burial Places—Singular Domicile For a Toad—A Weird Realm
• VII. The Banditti Leave Their Resting Place—Indian Guide—Arrive At Tulare River—Valenzuela Despatched on a Special Mission—Reyes Feliz Hung—Anguish of Rosia—Fate of Carmelita—Desperate Conflict Between the Robbers and a Pursuing Party—José Ramune Carrejo’s Rancho a Harboring Place for Joaquin—Capture and Execution of Mountain Jim—Messenger Sent to Valenzuela—Robbery Near Dead Man’s Creek—Terror of a Chinaman—The Robbers Go Into San Joaquin County—Generosity of Murieta
• VIII. Arrival at Stockton—Joaquin Rides Boldly Through the City—Daring Attack On a Schooner in the Slough—Depature for Arroyo Cantoova—Happy Reunion of the Bandits—Joaquin Reveals His Future Plans—Guerra’s Wife Becomes Restive—American Hunters Fall Into a Trap—How They Got Out of It
• IX. Arrivals from Sonora—The Mysterious Death of Guerra—Operations in Calaveras County—Hair Breadth Escape of Joaquin
• X. Jim Boyce and Companions Make Ready and Follow On the Track of Joaquin—Brilliant Stratagem of the Robber Chief—His Ingenious Management in Releasing Luis Vulvia—He Passes Himself Off as S. Harrington, of San Jose—The Quien Sabe Rancho, Munos, and Joaquin Guerra’s Rancho Harboring Places for Joawuin Murieta—The Robbers in an Abandoned Tunnel—Love Scene on the South Fork of Stanislaus River, and How it Was Broken in Upon—Girl Abducted By the Robbers—Her Subsequent Fate
• XI. Terrible Scenes in Calaveras County—More Harboring Places for the Robbers Named—Desperate Conflict of Deputy Sheriff Ellas with Joaquin and Eight of His Men
• XII. Attack of Joaquin Upon Americans in Yackee Camp—Joaquin Empties His Six-Shooter, and Throws His Sword in the Fight—Capture of Joaquin’s Friend, the Gambler Bill, and His Summary Execution—Harboring Places and Dens of the Robbers Mobbed and Burned
• XIII. Three Companies of Americans Or Ganized—Pursuit of Robbers—Desperate Conflict at the Phoenix Quartz Mill—One of the Robbers Wounded and Taken Prisoner—His Harborer Shot and Killed—A Mexican Hung For Confession—He Confesses—A Spy Captured—He Falls Into the Hands of Cherokees—Murders and Hanging—Digger Indian and “Paper Talk”—Bad Judgement of Two Americans and a German—Chinamen Suffer—Three-Fingered Jack Has Two Tremendous Races On Horseback—More Hanging—Slaughter of Chinamen—Combat Between Prescott and Joaquin
• XIV. Combat Between Prescott and Joaquin—Robber Transactions in Yube County
• XV. Advancing to a Close—State Legislature Taking Action to Protect the Country—Mounted Rangers Organized—Harry Love in Command—On Track Of the Bandits—Rangers Divide Into Two Companies
• XVI. Captain Love With Only Eight Men Comes Upon the Encampment of Joaquin—Remarkable Coolness of the Bandit—Desperate Leap on Horseback—Death of Three-Fingered Jack—Subsequent Movement of Rangers—Conclusion
• A Note About the Author
• A Note from the Publisher