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Tiburcio Vasquez in Mendocino County
Tiburcio Vasquez was a famous outlaw during the transition period after the United States of America acquired California by military force in the Mexican American War. In Bandido, The Life and Times of Tiburcio Vasquez, author John Boessenecker offers a detailed biography of Vasquez. While his life was centered in Monterey, Vasquez made excursions into Mendocino County when it had very few white settlers.
After a raid on Monterey on September 24, 1854, Tiburcio sought refuge at the Rancho de Sanel in Mendocino County. The ranch was owned by Fernando Feliz, who had married one of Vasquez's older cousins, Maria Aguila. At the time Mendocino County still had "a substantial and hostile Indian population," (this was before the massacres), few white settlers, and no county seat, government, or even a sheriff. The Rancho was just north of the Russian River near what would later become Hopland.
Tiburcio and his fellow outlaw Anastacio Garcia worked the ranch in return for shelter, as they were both experienced vaqueros.
A creature of habit, Vasquez stole a few cattle (probably not his relative's) and moved them up into the Ukiah Valley. Someone, possibly a Sonoma County sheriff, came looking for him and the cattle.
Vasquez fled south. "The details of this incident have been lost to history, and his subsequent movements are difficult to trace." In fact Vasquez was still young and relatively unknown. His fame would come later, after he emerged as the leader of a gang of outlaws who robbed sometimes killed many Californians.
