Expanding Westward during the 19th century aspired people to become wealthy.

Westward Expansion was ideal for the every man or woman trying to obtain a better and brighter
future. During the 19th century (Gold Rush Era) the Gold Rush of California brought an estimate
of about 300,000 people to California. Some of the first people who founded gold were Latin
Americans, people from Oregon also and people from what is now called Hawaiii. Than soon
after people from the rest of the US, Europe, Australia and then China all followed shortly after
to discover gold.ii In Visions of America it states By late 1849, they constituted a population
sufficient to apply to statehoodiii The book The Life and Adventures of Joaquin Murieta written
by John Rollin Ridgeiv or also known as Yellow Bird, takes place during this time and when
mining was a big part of peoples lives. Joaquin was a bandit who became a legend it is not
proven weather he was a real person or a fictional character. He decided to go to California to
see if he could succeed in getting wealthy during the California Gold Rush, but shortly after he
grew a strong hatred towards Americans. He was beaten by a group of Americans and his brother
was then violently killed by them. It was then he decided to sought out for revenge on these
people who had done all these horrible things. This book has many examples of how life was in
the 19th century in California and how these bandits lived and also how woman were treated and
affected by all the events going on during this time.v
Bandits were very common during the time of the Gold Rush as well as robbers,
highwaymen and vigilantes. Highwaymen were known to rob travelers who were most likely
coming to California to try and make a fortune off mining. Viligantes were also violent and they
are people who usually did not agree with the law. In one article it states Vigilantes were fairly
common during the Gold Rush boom in San Francisco In a way Joaquins character showed a

little bit of each of these descriptions although his reason for violence seemed to be for other
reasons for the most part. Some of the things needed for a traveler during
this time was a caravan party which included guide horses, these were also often stolen by
highwaymen. They also needed water, guns, food, compass and other supplies. All of these
things were usually necessary to have in order to make it to their destinations, it was very
dangerous and risky to travel during the 19th century. Not only did they have to worry about all
of these supplies lasting until they get there but also had to worry about the weather conditions.
For an example there is a story about eight families who were traveling to California, like many
people the reason was they were hoping to prosper there. A man named James Read organized
this particular journey. They decided to go on a newly discovered route that Read had heard
about from others that was supposed to get them there faster. But it was a new less traveled
route, and they came across very bad weather that caused the death of many people on that
journey.
Woman in this time started to earn higher wages sometimes working in cooking,
Cleaning, and health care jobs. But as stated in Visions of America, But many were forced into
prostitution to survive, a practice that flourished in the male-dominated society of California
Although Joaquin was a violent man he seemed to have respected woman more than most men
during this time. This could have some part to do with the fact that his wife was abused and
raped which also had to do with a lot of his hatred for Americans and another reason why he
wanted to get his revenge. Another instance in the book when Joaquin is defending a woman is
when a man named Reis who was a friend of Joaquins captures a lady that he was attracted to
and only because Reis did not hurt or take advantage of the woman does Juaquin not kill this
man but scolds him and brings the woman back to her home. Wives would sometimes travel with
their husbands and rest of the caravan party out to California, they played more of a role than one
would think. But there were not many women out west.

Someone in the Joaquin Murieta book that could be classified as an angry vigilante is
Three Fingered Jack. He was someone who was very violent and most of the time for no
reason at all, he was also one of Joaquins band members and he definitely was not
letting the law stop him from what he wanted to do which usually was to kill. In fact a lot of the
band members were like this, Joaquin seemed to be noble in a way, especially compared to the
other band members. This kind of behavior seem to be the norm with vigilantes during this time
especially in certain areas, as another source says The San Francisco vigilantes were so well
regarded that they took over the Democratic Party in the late 1850s and some became respected
politiciansvi At first the band members only go after the men who hurt and humiliated them
personally but it turns to the point that they start not only killing the Americans that they
originally sought after, then they started to go after and kill foreigners especially Chinese. They
also would steal from minors and others they came across but seemed to mostly steal horses and
gold form these people. Horses showed status of a person during the 19th century. If you had a
horse that meant you had something to barter with, horses meant survival during this era.
Californios (Mexicans living in California) had a lot at risk to lose during this time, they
could lose the title to their land through the American government, whereas in the early 1820s
they were running local governments and did not have to worry about a central government and
what they were going to do. It was around the 1850s when things took a drastic turn for
californios, they became powerless when it came to government and politics and they suffered
economically. And this is when they started losing their land and eventually cattle was becoming
scarce, one of the reasons being because of the huge drought California was experiencing.
Economic depression stuck causing unemployment and poverty for most Mexican-Americans.
Racial discrimination towards Caliornios was a norm during this time of the19th century this
included physical violence and mobs often got involved. Californios in all classes were treated
unfairly, they lost all say in anything that was going on. This ties into Joaquin Murrietas story

because he was a Californio bandit who was trying to defend himself and find some sort of
justice, although it might have not been the best way to go about it.vii
In conclusion it is obvious that there was a significant amount of violence during eh 19th
century and a lot if it happening during the time of the Gold Rush in California. From what I
learned, most came from discrimination and racism. An article in The New York Times
discusses a book titled Gunfighters, Highwaymen & Vigilantes written by Roger D. McGarth,
The book is about these kind of outlaws similar to the ones in The Life & Adventures of
Joaquin Merrieta McGarth talks about that violence during this time of the Gold Rush he says
The violence and lawlessness that visited the trans-Sierra frontiertook special forms: warfare
between Indians and whites, stagecoach robbery, vigilantism, and gunfights.viii This is the same
kind of violence that occurs in Ridges book about Joaquin Merrieta. Most of the violence at this
time rooted from discrimination of each others races. In The New York Times article when
talking about McGarths book it states he analyzed newspapers and legal and other records from
two California mining towns on the slopes of the eastern Sierra and catalogued every violent
incident during the towns brief boom years It was hard for people to survive when traveling
westward. There were so many obstacles they had to worry about for an example, sicknesses,
violence, starvation, harsh weather and many more other circumstances. As I have now learned
there are many books and articles written about all of the terrible violence, racism and
discrimination that went on during the 19th century.

ii

California Gold Rush Facts, Articles Featuring The California Gold Rush Form History New Magazines
http://www.historynet.com/california-gold-rush.

iii

Keen, Cornell, and Edward T. ODonnell. Visions of America A History of the United States A History of the United
States Pearson Education 2013,1014.
iv

John Rollin Ridge, The Life and Adventures of Joaquin Murieta ( University of Oklahoma Press,1955)

vi

Angry San Francisco vigilantes take the law into their own hands 2014. A&E Television Networks.
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history

vii

California Cultures, The 19 Century (The Regents of The University of California, 2014)
http://www.calisphere.universityofcalifornia.edu

viii

William Broyles Jr, Not So-Wild-Frontier, The New York Times. Sept. 9, 1984, http://www.nytimes.com

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