Blog Post #3

So after finishing Joaquin Murieta I thought I'd look into a sort of comparison between the author and the persona of Joaquin Murieta. Both share some similarities. John Rollin Ridge was a member of one of America's minority populations, just like Joaquin Murieta. In addition to this, he ran away from a murder in which he committed over stealing a horse.... a similar circumstance to the early events of the Joaquin Murieta story. Not only that, but John Rollin Ridge was chased off his own land several times and was involved in several violent disputes (The Indian Removal and the Cherokee factional wars). Again, very similiar to Joaquin Murieta's forced removal from his own land and his move to become a rogue criminal.

I think it is entirely possible that John Rollin Ridge took the character of Joaquin Murieta to write one of his first books in order to have a character he might be familiar with. He may have even modeled parts of Joaquin Murieta's past after his own, some of the characters may bear a similar resemblance to his own friends and companions over the years. A little research using the class website shows that the actual life of Joaquin Murieta is quite disputed, much of it based off of John Rollin Ridge's book, which is obviously a fiction and not a true to form biography.

And, just in case anyone was wondering, Joaquin Murieta was indeed featured in the first Zorro film. Zorro's exploits were also based mainly off those of Joaquin Murieta. And just like John Rollin Ridge, bear a sharp resemblance to each other. Each fighting against the white settlers of California who were often seen abusing the mexican population and exploiting them.


-Brian Rush