Page 5 - lw3413

years, he broke out in a mass escape. Making his way back to
the mother lode country, he decided he had been captured
because of the stupidity of his accomplice. He was proved
wrong when his second attempt at horse stealing ended as
badly as the first. Once again he was caught red handed with
stolen horses in his possession.
Convicted, he was returned to San Quentin in August of
1859. This time he served his full sentence, and when he was
finally released in 1863 he retreated to the rugged mountains
of the bonanza country of California.
Working for a living still hadn't occurred to Tiburcio, for
now he decided to become a gambler. Here, also, he was a
failure. So, at last, he turned to what was to be his major talent.
The record shows that in a small village of Enriquita, an
Italian butcher was found dead and $400 which the slain man
was known to have been carrying was missing. Sheriff Adams,
then a young captain, was assigned to investigate the murder.
Ironically, the law officer, who could not speak Spanish, hired
a young man named Tiburcio Vasquez to act as an interpreter
and aide. Given authority to do so, Vasquez quickly returned a
verdict which read, "The deceased came to his death from a
pistol bullet fired by some person or persons unknown." This
would have been fine, but right after the inquest, Vasquez
disappeared. It was then that other men came forward and in-
formed Adams that, actually, Vasquez and one Faustino Loren-
zana had committed the murder and robbery. However, evi-
dence was lacking and no attempt to pursue or make a later
arrest occurred.
From 1864 to 1866 Vasquez branched out in his continual
operation of crime. He became a journeyman at his trade. Sheriff Harry Morse captured bandit Redondo after holdup.
His rope was as busy as his gun. The wide loop and hot lead
were constantly offered in easy trade for the gold that he need-
Author's Photo.
ed to buy the pleasures of life. It was during these years that
Vasquez' name was associated with the infamous, Thomas
Redondo, alias Procopio, Alias Dick of the Red Hand and at
least one other colorful individual named "One-eyed Jim."
Riding with these scoundrels and alone, Vasquez plundered
trail and highway, village and town.
How many men were robbed and killed, their bodies hidden,
no one will ever know. Vasquez, himself, told the famous Cal-
ifornia historian, George Beers, that, he "had drawn the guns
too many times to remember."
One thing was certain. The old tradition of Spanish Ameri-
can California, which had taught that the "American Govern-
ment was that of a foreign nation," came to full flower in the
heart of Tiburcio Vasquez. He came, during these years, to
regard the killing of a gringo as a virtue to be practiced when-
ever it could be done without danger to himself. A Jewish mer-
chant, robbed, later to be reported missing; Vasquez remem- Invitation to VI P's to attend hanging of Vasquez.
bered this one.
Mountain men, found deep in the gorges and somber can-
yons dead, with their pockets turned out. Young and old, their new type of crime to his repertoire. Taken into the home of a
purses empty, left rotting in the underbrush, denied even the Mr. Salazar, as a guest, Vasquez, fresh out of prison, repaid
shelter of a shallow grave from the mountain storms. And along the friendship shown him by running away with the man's wife.
with these, the so-called lesser crimes . . . cattle and stock dis- The lady said she was "abducted." Vasquez soon tired of her
appearing with frustrating regularity. company and left her to her own devices in the mountains of
Vasquez could not have done it all; but as he later recalled, Natividad. The husband swore death to Vasquez. And, .several
what he had not had a hand in, he was aware of, for no other nights later in the town of San Juan, when the two men met
gang could operate in his area for long without his control. face to face in the street, hot words were quickly followed by
If it had not been for the nature of his other crimes, Vas- gun fire. Vasquez pulled his gun first, but his weapon misfired.
quez' continual lack of success as a horse and cattle thief would A slug from Salazar's gun found its mark and struck Vasquez
have been comical. For example, in 1867 he left Monterey in the neck, where the bullet drove down and came out below
County and, for a very short time, operated in Sonoma Coun- the shoulder.
ty. Here, working by himself, he tried to run off a very large Vasquez was taken to safety by his companions. (It should
herd of stock. Once again he was captured the first time out be noted here that Vasquez was wounded many times. That
by an alert posse. For the third time he entered San Quentin, he should survive each shooting is testimony either to his hardy
where he served three years and six months and was released spirit or to the poor quality of gunpowder that was used by his
on June 4, 1870. The first thing he learned was that his old opponents.)
running mate, Juan Soto, known as the· Mad Human Wildcat, Salazar later swore out a warrant for attempted murder and
had been killed in a gun fight by Sheriff Harry Morse, one of as Vasquez had pulled his gun and fired first, the jury found
the truly great lawmen of the West. a true bill, but Vasques was gone again, this time to the Pan-
Vasquez returned to Monterey County. Here, he added a oche Mountains. (Continued on page 70)
THE WEST 33