Joaquin Murrieta has been remembered as a Robin Hood of the California Gold Rush — a wronged miner turned avenging outlaw, the supposed inspiration for Zorro. The truth is far darker and more complicated: the real Murrieta led one of the bloodiest bandit gangs of the era. He was killed in 1853, and his severed head became its own strange piece of California history.
My guest is New York Times bestselling author John Boessenecker, and his book is called Bring Me the Head of Joaquin Murrieta: The Bandit Chief Who Terrorized California and Launched the Legend of Zorro. He returns to the show to separate the myth of Murrieta from the man.
Image: “Joaquin, the Mountain Robber” from the Paris Review
The author’s FB page: https://www.facebook.com/p/John-Boessenecker-100039302328585/
The author’s publisher page: https://www.harpercollins.com/blogs/authors/john-boessenecker