Joaquin Murrieta

Joaquin Murrieta Carrillo (sometimes spelled Murieta or Murietta) (1829 – July 25, 1853), also called The Robin Hood of the West or the Robin Hood of El Dorado, is a Sonoran forty-niner, a vaquero and a gold miner who becomes a famous outlaw in California during the California Gold Rush of the 1850s.

The popular legend of Joaquin Murrieta is that of a peace-loving man driven to seek revenge when he and his brother were falsely accused of stealing a mule.

His brother was hanged and Joaquin horsewhipped.

His young wife was gang raped and in one version she died in Joaquin's arms.

Swearing revenge, Joaquin hunted down all who had violated his sweetheart.

He embarked on a short but violent career that brought death to his Anglo tormentors.

The state of California then offered a reward of up to $5,000 for Joaquin "dead or alive."

He was reportedly killed in 1853, but the news of his death were disputed and myths later formed about him and his possible survival.

In 1919, Johnston McCulley supposedly received his inspiration for his fictional character Don Diego de la Vega—better known as Zorro—from the 1854 book entitled The Life and Adventures of Joaquín Murieta: The Celebrated California Bandit by John Rollin Ridge.

Ridge had heard about a Mexican miner who had turned to banditry and was intrigued by the story.[

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