Salomón Pico
Salomón Pico | |
---|---|
Born | September 5, 1821 Rancho del Rey San Pedro (now Execution |
Known for | 19th century Californio bandit |
Salomón María Simeon Pico (Sept. 5, 1821
Early life
Salomón Pico was a member of the
José Pico had spent a long career with the military, but by 1821 was partially retired as a manager for the King's Ranch, which provided food, leather, and other supplies to the Presidio. Salomón's mother, Maria Ysabel Cota, came from Santa Barbara. Salomón spent his early life on the Rancho del Rey, but returned to Monterey pueblo with his mother when his father died in 1827. Monterey was the capital of Alta California, and here Salomón was exposed to education and international influences not available on the Rancho.
By 1840, Pico was courting a young lady who lived near his brother's home in
Mexican American War and the Gold Rush
Pico fought with the Mexican army against the United States during the Mexican–American War. His name appears with the rank of Ensign on a captured, September 7, 1846, letter by General José Castro to the Minister of War and Marine. He is listed as one of the officers accompanying Governor Castro back to Mexico.[7]: 29 There are family stories that indicate he served as a scout and soldier during this time.
By the time California had been annexed to the United States, he was probably back on his ranch with his family. With a population of around 10,000 non-Indians in the territory of California, it was still a small community in 1847.[8] On January 24, 1848, gold was discovered at Sutter's Mill. In August of that year, the gold rush flooded onto Pico's land. Exactly what happened isn't known, but Juana did not long survive. Salomón took her to Monterey to get medical help, but on November 19, 1848 she died there.[9]
Outlaw years
Central Coast
Salomón Pico is said to have vowed revenge.
By night, Salomón Pico with his gang, worked
The gang avoided conflicts with county officials, who in turn seemed to let the bandits alone. Although on one occasion, when delivering a writ to a local rancho, the
Pico had a land grant he could not enforce against the many squatters on the land he couldn't use, he wasn't ready to remarry yet, and his lifestyle precluded luxury. It is not known exactly what happened to all that gold he took, but it is known that his popularity soared very quickly among his own people.[14] By 1851 he was fully established as a flamboyant outlaw with a loyal gang and a following among his people. He had become so popular, that with a knock on the door and an urgent request for shelter, he could ride his horse right into people's homes and so elude the pursuit of any posse.[15]
Salomón Pico's career as a bandit around Rancho Los Alamos came to its end in 1851, after John Caldwell, a mail rider between Monterey and Los Angeles, was murdered in the lower
Los Angeles County
Salomón Pico thought to have moved south to
In November 1852, following the murder of Major General
- Solomon Pico, the notorious horse thief, whose robberies and acts were at one time almost as notorious in the lower country, although not so bloody, as those of the celebrated Joaquin have been above, is lying very sick at the town of Santo Tomas, in Lower California.[20]
Pico became an associate of José Castro who had been living in San Juan Bautista until 1853, when he returned to Mexico and was made political chief of the Baja California frontier in 1856.
Life in Mexico
Pico had made frequent visits south of the border, and by 1857 he moved to Santo Tomas, Baja California, Mexico,[21] where he accepted a position as captain of the guard for the military commander of the frontier of Baja California, Colonel José Castro (former governor of Alta California and Pico's superior in the war).[22] Castro made many land grants in Baja California to friends and supporters including a grant to Salomón Pico of 11 Leagues of vacant lands of La Frontera.[23]
It was in his official capacity that Pico was guarding the jail when four American businessmen from
On April 14, 1860, Col. Castro was killed by a man named Marquez, who was under indictment for murder at Los Angeles. His successor in command of the Baja California frontier, Feliciano Ruiz de Esparza, decided to rid La Frontera of California outlaws infesting the region. On May 1, 1860, he rounded up and executed 15 such men including Solomon Pico.[26]
Legacy
Pico is one of the historical figures associated with the Zorro character. The author, Johnston McCulley, drew inspiration from the tales of the exploits of bandits in California in the 1850s.[11] Some have claimed the resemblance of Pico to the fictional Zorro is strong.[27] Like Zorro, Salomón lived a dual life, defending justice by night, riding a powerful steed and trusting to the loyal support of his people. Some of the stories from his outlaw years connect clearly with certain aspects of the Zorro legend.[28]
There is a restaurant in current day
A newspaper article published in 1925, claimed Pico carried with him a string of ears, removed from his victims to mark them forever; proof that they had met him.[29] Contemporary accounts of Pico make no such claims. Collecting the ears of his victims seems to have been borrowed from Hubert Howe Bancroft's account of the conduct of Domingo Hernandez, a California bandit contemporary with Pico, that operated from the vicinity of Monterey northward.[30]
Further reading
See Gold Dust and Gunsmoke: Tales of Gold Rush Outlaws, Gunfighters, Lawmen, and Vigilantes (1999) by John Boessenecker.
See also
- Andrés Pico (1810–1876)
- Solomon Hills
References
- ^ Mission San Juan Bautista baptism #2901
- ^ Dana, Rocky and Marie Harrington. The Blond Ranchero. Los Angeles, Dawson's Book Shop, 1960.
- ^ J. D. Conway, Monterey: Presidio, Pueblo, and Port, Arcadia Publishing, Charleston, SC, 2003, p. 49.
- ^ Mission Santa Cruz, marriage #844
- ^ Land Commission records, BANC MSS Land Case Files 245 NDL and Case 245 ND Eleven Leagues, San Joaquín and Estanislao Rivers (also called "Land, Tuolumne") (Stanislaus County). Claimant: James L. Ord, Grantee: Soloman Pico, Associated Case Numbers: Docket 632, 245 ND, Associated Maps: None, Coordinates: Unknown, Rancho Name: None. Land Case 246 ND 246 ND transferred to 286 SD. See 286 SD.
- ^ Tristan Maria Simeon Pico, Mission Santa Clara baptism #10524
- ^ Iddings, Ray, Joaquin Murrieta, The True Story from News Reports of the Period, Create Space, 2016. Includes military reports and news reports from 1846 - 1931. The translated letter appeared in the December 4, 1846 issue of The Daily Union
- ^ Jackson, Joseph Henry. Bad Company: The Story of California's Legendary and Actual Stage-Robbers, Bandits, Highwaymen and Outlaws. New York: Harcourt, Brace and Co., 1949. and Nevis, David. The Mexican War. Alexandria, Virginia: Time-Life Books, 1978.
- ^ Mission San Carlos death record
- ^ Gregory, Jim. "California's Legendary Robin Hood was a Guerrilla-Bandit in the Santa Barbara Hills," The Santa Barbara News and Review, May 18, 1973.
- ^ a b Redmon, Michael (August 18, 2015). "Did Zorro Once Live in Santa Barbara?". The Santa Barbara Independent. Retrieved April 6, 2021.
- ^ Tompkins, Walker. Santa Barbara's Royal Rancho: The Fabulous History of Los Dos Pueblos. Berkeley: Howell-North, 1960.
- ^ Reproduction of Thompson and West’s History of Santa Barbara & Ventura Counties California, Published 1961 by Howell North Books, Berkeley, California. Transcribed by June Worsham – Pages 84–87
- ^ Geiger, Maynard. History of Santa Barbara County, California. Oakland: Thompson & West, 1883. and Phillips, Michael James. "Salomon Pico, Bandit", Los Angeles Times, June 14, 1925.
- ^ Hill, Laurance L. Santa Barbara, Tierra Adorada. Los Angeles: Security-First National Bank of Los Angeles, 1930. and Waid, Beverly Hendrickson. Dynasty of the Dons. Communication from the Los Angeles Historical Society.
- ^ Phil Reader, A Brief History of the Pajaro Property Protective Society: Vigilantism in the Pajaro Valley During 19th Century – Part 2, Copyright 1995 Phil Reader. Originally published by Cliffside Publishing, 1995. Archived July 11, 2011, at the Wayback Machine accessed on Feb. 7 2011, on Santa Cruz Public Libraries website http://www.santacruzpl.org/
- ^ Storke, Yda Addis, A Memorial and Biographical History of the Counties of Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, and Ventura, California Lewis Publishing Co., Chicago, 1891, p. 41.
- ^ Daily Alta California, Volume 3, Number 345, 15 December 1852, p.2, col.2 Later from the South. --- Execution of Reyes Feliz. --- Discovery of another Murder. --- Conviction of the Murderer. --- One hundred horses stolen.
- ^ Sacramento Daily Union, 8 December 1852, p.3, col.1 Later from Southern California.
- ^ New York Times April 26, 1853
- ^ LA Star 8/29/1857
- ^ Wagner, Henry Raup. "Annals of Los Angeles", Calif. Histo. Soc. Quarterly. San Francisco, Dec. 1939.
- ^ [1]Benjamin Ignatius Hayes, Pioneer notes from the diaries of Judge Benjamin Hayes, 1849–1875, Privately Printed at Los Angeles by Marjorie Tisdale Wolcott, 1929, p. 248.
- ^ El Clamor Publico 9/9/1857
- ^ An opinion expressed by Judge Benjamin Hayes in "El Clamor Publico", 9/9/1857
- ^ Hayes, Pioneer notes, p. 198.
- ^ Magill, Frank N. "Magill's Survey of Cinema: Silent Films". Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Salem Press, 1982. and Tompkins, Walker. Decade of the Desperado. Santa Barbara Magazine Vol. 8 No. 4, Santa Barbara. 1982.
- ^ e.g. see Bell, Alexander, Reminiscences of a Ranger. Santa Barbara: Wallace Hebberd, 1927.
- ^ Phillips, Michael James. "Salomon Pico, Bandit", Los Angeles Times, June 14, 1925.
- ^ Hubert Howe Bancroft, The works of Hubert Howe Bancroft, Volume 34, California Pastoral 1769–1848, San Francisco: The History Company, 1888. pp. 684–686.