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This week in SF History - The Head of Joaquin Murieta
Timecapsule: September 24, 1855
The preserved head of Joaquin Murieta and the hand of Three-Fingered Jack were sold at auction today to settle their owner's legal problems.
Joaquin Murieta was a notorious and romantic figure in the early history of California. With Jack, his right-hand man, Murieta led a gang of Mexican bandits through the countryside on a three-year rampage, brutally "liberating" more than $100,000 in gold, killing 22 people (including three lawmen), and outrunning three separate posses. After posse #4 tracked him down and chopped off his head - or at least the head of someone who might possibly have maybe looked like him - Murieta's story entered California folklore.
The backstory-legend of the man known as the "Mexican Robin Hood" sprouted from a fictional account written after his death. This novel spun the tale of a Mexican nobleman whose wife was raped, brother hung, and he himself horsewhipped by a group of white miners - and a racist court system which allowed no Mexican to testify against them.
Murieta vowed to avenge his family's dishonour himself, and with a small group tracked down and killed all six attackers. Since this act had turned his gang into outlaws, so the story goes, a life of crime was the natural consequence.
Murieta's head - preserved in a jar - became a lucrative public attraction, until the public's fancy turned to other affairs. While alive, the reward for his capture had risen as high as $5000. At auction, the pickled head of the outlaw brought a mere 36 bucks.