Santa Clarita Valley History In Pictures

The Scene of Vasquez' Capture.
San Francisco Chronicle (newspaper),
San Francisco, Cal.

Thursday, May 21, 1874.

[Page 1][Page 2]

THE SCENE OF VASQUEZ' CAPTURE.

EXPLANATION:
A—Los Angeles city.
B—Road to the west.
C—Arroyo (creek).
D—Mitchell's Bee Ranch.
E—The Trail to the Lookout.
F—The Lookout where the party commanded a view of Greek George's house and the ap­proaches.
G—Thompson's house.
H—Hancock's house.
I—Greek George's house.
J—The house of Valdez.
K—Clump of willows.
L—Arsenal with window on north end, command­ing view of the East and West.
M—Wing of Greek George's building.
N—Room in which Vasquez was eating when dis­covered, with door on east through which Harris entered.
0—Room used as kitchen with window in south end, whence Vasquez jumped as Harris fired.
P—Spot where the wagon halted.
Q—Spot where the wagon was pressed into service.
R—Spot where Vasquez' horse was picketed.
S—Cajunga Pass.
T—Mountains in which Vasquez lurked, with numerous trails leading to San Fernando Plains.
U—Position of George A. Beers, the CHRONICLE correspondent, who shot Vasquez after he leaped from the window.

THE VASQUEZ CAPTURE.

    The intense public interest manifested in the capture of the bandit Vasquez has in­duced the CHRONICLE to secure a map of the country surrounding Greek George's house, by consulting which every reader may ob­tain an accurate idea of how the capture was effected. A brief resume of the events of the pursuit and capture will serve to ex­plain the above map.
    On the night of Wednesday, May 13th, Sheriff Rowland received reliable informa­tion that Vasquez was lurking in the moun­tains about twenty-five miles from Los Angeles, and making the house of Greek George his headquarters. As the Sheriff was himself watched by spies of Vasquez, he determined not to take any part in the pursuit himself, but ordered his Deputies, Major Mitchell and Albert J. Johnson to organize a party and proceed at once. The company was soon formed. It comprised, besides the two Deputy Sheriffs, Emil Har­ris, Frank Hartley, Sam. Bryant, D. K. Smith, W. E. Rodgers, and Geo. A. Beers, the CHRONICLE'S special correspondent.
    The party started from Los Angeles at 1:30 on the morning of Thursday last. Greek George’s house (I) was the objective point. Before daylight Mitchell, Johnson, Bryant, and Smith had reached the lookout in the mountains (F), from which a view of the house and all its approaches could be had.The remainder of the party, Harris, Hart­ley, Rodgers and Beers, remained at the Ca­junga Pass (S). About 10 o'clock Vasquez was seen to enter the house. The two par­ties then came together again, and after crossing the Arroyo (Q) seized a wagon driven by two Mexicans. They packed them­selves closely into the wagon and compelled the Mexicans, under threats of instant death, to drive them to Greek George's house. They halted at the point marked P, and, jumping from the wagon, immediately surrounded the house. This was accomplished so swiftly and so noiselessly that no alarm was given to the inmates. Beers, the CHRONICLE correspondent, was stationed at the northwest angle of the house, where he could guard the two north windows and also lookout for those on the west side. Harris slipped around to the east side, and made or the, door, which a woman (Greek George's wife) attempted to close. She was not quick enough, however, for Har­ris forced the door open and sprang into the room (N), where Vasquez had just been eating his dinner. The bandit was taken completely by surprise, and was un­armed, having left his weapons in an adja­cent room. Quick as a flash he darted into the back room (0) and sprang through the open window in the south end, receiving a ball in the arm from Harris as he did so. The robber's only hope now was to reach his horse (R), and, bare-headed and wounded as he was, he turned the corner and bounded along the west side of the house. This brought him directly upon the CHRONICLE correspondent, who instantly fired his Henry rifle, lodging a ball in the shoulder of Vasquez. The robber threw up his hands in token of submission, and in another instant be was secured.

Newspaper images: 9600 dpi jpeg of 300 dpi jpg of original newspaper from the collection of Alan Pollack

RETURN TO TOP ]   RETURN TO MAIN INDEX ]   PHOTO CREDITS ]   BIBLIOGRAPHY ]   BOOKS FOR SALE ]
SCVHistory.com is another service of SCVTV, a 501c3 Nonprofit • Site contents ©SCVTV
The site owner makes no assertions as to ownership of any original copyrights to digitized images. However, these images are intended for Personal or Research use only. Any other kind of use, including but not limited to commercial or scholarly publication in any medium or format, public exhibition, or use online or in a web site, may be subject to additional restrictions including but not limited to the copyrights held by parties other than the site owner. USERS ARE SOLELY RESPONSIBLE for determining the existence of such rights and for obtaining any permissions and/or paying associated fees necessary for the proposed use.