User:Asiaticus/sandbox/Francisco "Pancho" Daniel

Francisco "Pancho" Daniel (1834-1858) was a Sonoran bandit, best known as Pancho Daniel the leader of the Flores Daniel Gang who was lynched in November 1858 while awaiting trial for his involvement in the murder of Los Angeles County Sheriff James R. Barton.

Biography
Francisco Daniel was born in Sonora, Mexico sometime in 1834. He had a brother Bernardino Daniel with whom he traveled to California during the California Gold Rush.

Early crimes of the Daniel brothers
Details of the early crimes of the Daniel brothers come from Teodor Vasquez, a fellow Sonoran, who was invited to join in stealing with the two Daniel brothers and another Sonoran man, Juan Jose, sometime after May 1851. Prior to Vasquez joining the band, the two brothers had robbed a man of $7,000 and nine horses in Los Angeles. Later Bernardino alone, had robbed and murdered a Sonoran, near the Rancho Las Positas the Livermore Valley, leaving a few dollars under his head after killing him. He had then joined his brother Francisco and Juan Jose in Stockton. When Francisco asked about the bag he carried on the back of his horse Bernadino did not answer, later he told Juan Jose what he had done, and he in turn told Francisco. Francico who was furious at not being informed at once, parted ways with his brother, stole two trunks and left for Los Angeles. By the time Vasquez was invited to join the brothers and Juan Jose the two had reconciled and set about stealing five mules from San Juan Bautista, sold them giving $50 each to Vasquez and Juan Jose who remained behind, keeping the balance for themselves. Next they went on a robbery expedition against the rancho of a Senor Pacheco but were driven off by force of arms with no return for their efforts. The group then broke up and separated. A month later Vasquez rejoined with Juan Jose, to commit other crimes, but not with the two Daniel brothers.

A few months later after being arrested and jailed, Vasquez revealed what he knew of these early activities of the Daniel brothers at the begining of an hour long confession before he was to hang for grand larceny, at San Jose in January, 1852. The complete confession, which also included the statements made by his fellow prisoner Claudio Feliz to Vasquez about his exploits while in prison. This confession was later published in the California Gazette, February 21, 1852.

pp. 185-186, NOTE 2. Francisco Daniel -- alias Pancho Daniel or "El Guerro" -- would continue his criminal ways for several more years. He and others where believed to have murdered Sheriff Barton of Los Angeles and three deputies in January, 1857. California's governor offered a reward of $1,000 for him for that killing. He was finally caught in January, 1858 and hung at age 24 in Los Angeles. Daniel was born in Hermosillo, and was once descibed as looking like a "well-bred Mexican gentleman." (San Jose Tribune, April 2, 1858); also eds. of Mar. 6, Nov. 20, 1857, Jan. 1,8,15, 1858; Nevada City, California Democrat Mar. 11, 1857, Dec. 15, 1858.

NOTE 26. NOTE 27. LA STAR OCT 4, NOV 15, 1856; JAN 31, MAR 14, 1857; PLACER HERALD FEB 21, 1857.

Together with Juan Flores, Pancho Daniel led a band of fifty robbers in California. In 1857, the gang was reported to have robbed and murdered a German shopkeeper named George W. Pflugardt. Sheriff James Barton investigated the murder and, despite being warned against pursuing the band, he began to search for them. They were ambushed by the gang and Barton was killed, along with four of the men with him. Pancho Daniel was eventually captured in January 1858, and brought to Los Angeles to await trial.

Daniel's defense attorney, Captain Cameron E. Thom, was dissatisfied with the jury that had been appointed for Daniel's trial, on the basis that he considered them unable to deliver an impartial verdict. When Judge Benjamin Ignatius Hayes dissolved this jury and appointed a new one, Thom insisted that the judge dissolve this one as well. Upon examining the third jury, Thom asserted that no jurors from Los Angeles would be able to be impartial in the case and requested for a trial in Santa Barbara County.

On 30 November 1858, a group of citizens of Los Angeles County gathered at the Los Angeles jail where Daniel was being held, dissatisfied with the delay in bringing Daniel to justice. Obtaining the keys from the jail keeper by force, some individuals brought Daniel out and hanged him from the cross beam of the jail gate. At the inquest, the judge returned a verdict of 'death from strangulation, by a crowd of persons to the jury unknown'.

California Governor John B. Weller labelled this lynching as a 'barbarous and diabolical execution', issuing a reward of $1000 for the arrest of the perpetrators. Despite this, those responsible were never identified.