Joaquin Murrieta created by Ezequiel Zuniga

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Joaquin Murrietacreated by Ezequiel Zuniga

• The Mexican Robin Hood

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The Life of Joaquin Murrieta

• Joaquin was born in 1829 in Sonoma Mexico
• He lived during the time when California became
  part of the United States
• During that time he felt that many Mexicans had
  unfairly lost their lands, so he fought for
  justice.
• He encountered discrimination and he and his wife
  were brutally attacked.
• Joaquin used the legal system to seek justice but
  that failed.
• As a result he began to take justice into his own
  hands.

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Bandit or a Mexican patriot ?

• Murrieta fought for resistance against
  Anglo-American domination in California.
• He fought rich land owners and gave what he took
  to the poor and less fortunate.
• Murrieta started a gang called The Five
  Joaquins they turned to a life of crime and
  became bandits to some and heroes to others.

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• The gang was credited with stealing more than
  100,000 in gold, cattle and over 100 horses
• On May 11, 1853, Governor of California John
  Bigler signed a legislative act creating the
  "California State Rangers," led by Captain Harry
  Love, whose mission was to arrest the Five
  Joaquins. The California Rangers were paid 150 a
  month and stood a chance to split a 5000 reward
  for the capture of Murrieta.

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• On July 25, 1853, a group of these rangers killed
  Joaquin Murrieta
• The death of Joaquin Murrieta was hard on the
  people of California because their hero had been
  killed.
• Joaquin Murrieta later became more popular in
  death because the people spoke of him as a hero
  who fought for justice.
• Murrieta became immortalized in stories and the
  character of El Zorro is loosely based on his
  life.