Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Castillo, Pedro, Ed
• Camarillo, Albert, Ed

Titel

Furia y Muerte: Los Bandidos Chicanos (Fury and Death: The Chicano Bandits). Monograph No. 4, Aztlan Publications

Ort / Verlag

University of California at Los Angeles, Chicano Studies Center

Erscheinungsjahr

1973

Quelle

ERIC

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• In the latter half of the nineteenth century five Chicano "bandidos" became prominant in Southwestern history. These "social bandits" were viewed by the dominant Anglo culture as outlaws and criminals; their people saw them as heroes and fighters for justice. Anglos had invaded Northern Mexico, disrupted the existing society, and established a foreign government upon the indigenous population. A new language, culture and economy were imposed and the Mexicans were dispossessed of lands and jobs, deprived and downtrodden. Each of the five "bandidos" was a revolutionary against the Anglos and each expressed his rebellion in a different way. Tiburcio Vasquez and Joaquin Murieta adapted banditry as a form of retribution and led gangs that terrorized Anglos in California. Elfego Baca of New Mexico was handy with a gun, but he chose to defend his people by working within the law, first as a U.S. marshal and later as a lawyer. Juan N. Cortina attempted to raise armies as he used armed forces in the Texas Rio Grande Valley to champion the cause of the oppressed Mexicans there. Gregorio Cortez killed a Texas sheriff who was trying to arrest him unjustly and, in his flight from the posses pursuing him, his courage, horsemanship and ability to embarrass the Anglos endeared him to his people. This anthology discusses the times and conditions producing each of these "social bandits," their individual deeds, and their ultimate ends. (DS)