Tiburcio Velasquez — A Pinnacles National Park Story

[Transcript]

California After the Gold Rush

Picture California in 1849. With the Mexican-American war over, California exchanged hands from Mexico to the U.S. And at the same time, the gold rush had brought tens of thousands of newcomers, mostly Anglo-Americans. For the Spanish-speaking families who had lived here for generations, known as Californios, their world was changing fast. 

The Making of an Outlaw

And that was especially true for a man named Tuburcio Vazquez. Vazquez grew up in Monterey, but as he grew, so did his resentment of how his people were marginalized, cheated out of land, and looked down upon by the new Anglo settlers. By 1852, at just 17 years old, Vazquez fell in with his cousin, a notorious bandit named Anastasio Garcia. 

Vazquez Takes to the Hills

Together, they attended a party where a fight broke out and a constable was killed. Though Vazquez was not the killer, he fled with Garcia into the hills. That moment, a night of violence and a flight from the scene, set him on a path to becoming an outlaw.

Some say he was motivated by revenge. Others say it was the thrill of adventure. Whatever the reason, his course was set. 

Vazquez was a bandit. He roamed up and down Central and Southern California, robbing Anglo settlers rich and poor alike. With charisma and daring, Vazquez began to draw followers. 

He was bright, charming, and well-educated. And he had a pretty incredible mustache. Stories told of him raiding across the Salinas Valley in hiding in the caves here in Pinnacles.

He cast himself as a defender of his people, a kind of California Robin Hood. Whether that was the truth or myth didn't matter. It gave him purpose, and it gave him power.