Vasquez (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9781939986504)

In this fictional novel, I endeavor to delve deep into the character of the bandit, Tiburcio Vasquez.

In the 1800's California, still a Mexican Territory saw the Gold Rush bring in immigrants from all over the world who spoke hundreds of different languages. The Mexicans referred to them as Anglos.

Tiburcio Vasquez was just a boy when he witnessed the legacy of violence and crime that this change would bring, shaping his destiny. He grew up in the dusty streets of Monterey, California, watching as foreigners encroached on his homeland, bringing with them greed and destruction.

As he honed his skills as a horseman and a marksman, he saw firsthand the injustices suffered by his people. He witnessed families torn apart, land stolen, and women abused, and he knew that he could not stand idly by. So, he took up arms by becoming a bandit against those who sought to oppress his people, becoming a legend among the Mexican community.

But with each robbery and each murder, Tiburcio could feel the darkness creeping into his soul. He was caught multiple times and escaped multiple times from San Quentin Prison. Loved by the ladies, an educated poet and dancer but feared by all men, the novel is a dramatic fictional account of his life from birth to his hanging at the young age of thirty-nine. At the time, the Mexican community saw him as a Robin Hood character. To this day, there are monuments that bear his name.