User:Asiaticus/sandbox/Jack Powers Gang

Jack Powers Gang was a California bandit gang, named for its alleged leader, Jack Powers a professional gambler and famed horseman, that plagued the southern central coastal region of California, along the El Camino Real with robberies and murders in San Luis Obispo County and Santa Barbara County between 1853 and 1858. The leaders of its known crimes were Pio Linares a Californio and "El Huero" Rafael Herrada a Chilean. Its other known or suspected members were native Californios and others born in northern parts of Mexico, New Mexico or Sonora.

The identity of the members of the gang long remained hidden from justice by their policy of conducting their robberies in remote places along the El Camino Real. They also had a policy of killing their robbery victims and any other witnesses that they could not intimidate or corrupt with a payment or share of the proceeds.

Jack Powers
The leader of the Jack Powers Gang was alleged to be John Power, later better known as "the notorious Jack Powers", an Irish native, that immigrated as a child with his family to New York and grew up there. John Power, his brother and his brother in law with his sister came to Santa Barbara, California with Company F, of the 1st Regiment of New York Volunteers during the Mexican American War. He and his company remained as a garrison there, until the disbanding of the Regiment in September 1848, soon after the beginning of the California Gold Rush. Jack Powers remained in the town as a gambler until late in the year when he left for the mines with his brother in law in a party of other men of his regiment. One of those men, James Lynch, later wrote an account of that journey to the goldfields and of their return to San Francisco for the winter of 1848 in his 1882 book, With Stevenson to California, 1846-1848.

When John Power went to San Francisco for the winter, he became a gambler there and also became a member of the San Francisco Society of Regulators and was accused of being one of The Hounds by the popular vigilante movement organized to rid the city of them after a particularly violent episode against a Chilean settlement in the city in the summer of 1849. On Monday, July 23, 1849, the vigilantes arrested and made prisoners of 20 of the "Hounds", who were then arraigned on charges of conspiracy, riot, robbery, and assault with intent to kill, including John Powers, and all plead "Not guilty." While several others were convicted of various charges, John Powers, was found not guilty on all the charges.

Despite being acquitted of all the charges in a trial, Powers subsequently left San Francisco for the gold fields. There he was said to have had some success. That fall he then went to Stockton, the gateway to the southern mines, where in a spectacular run, he broke the bank of several large gambling establishments acquiring a fortune variously said to be $50,000 or $175,000, sufficient to make him a wealthy man. He intended a return by steamboat to San Francisco, to then take steamships to New York, to take care of his widowed mother who had remained there when he and his brother had left for California. However, persuaded to attempt to make his fortune larger by gambling, he lost most of it, and never left for New York. In 1851 Powers returned to Santa Barbara, continuing his profession gambling and horse racing. After an incident were he was nearly killed by the family of a young woman at a fandango, he decided to reform his life and also tried his hand at ranching, squatting on public land along the Arroyo Burro formerly belonging to the Mission Santa Barbara. This brought on a lawsuit with wealthy rival rancheros, claimants to the same Mission Santa Barbara land.

Powers eventually lost his suit over the Mission lands in the state supreme court in 1853. Refusing eviction, claiming the land was under federal jurisdiction, Powers gathered a body of armed friends and supporters to defend it. On the day the Sheriff was organizing a posse in Santa Barbara to force him from the land, a civil disturbance ensued, that left the Sheriff injured, his assailant dead and one of Powers supporters dead and two others injured. After a stand off between the forces of the law and Powers, he was persuaded to give up his claim by ? de la Guerra.

Nascimiento Murders 1857

 * "Testimony in this case was taken by Jose Maria Muñoz, County Judge; W. J. Graves, Notary Public, and J. J. Simmler and James White, Justices of the Peace. Francois Abadie testified that he was in the employment of Pedro Obiesa and M. Graciano, two men natives of the Basque Provinces of southern France, and known as the Basque Frenchmen, and was driving cattle for them in November, 1857. He related the circumstance of their receiving some cattle in a suspicious manner near Paso de Robles, and afterwards the disappearance of the two Basques. These men he had never seen again alive, but at the time of his deposition, in December, 1857, recognized the remains of Graciano, one of them, having a bullet hole in the head. After this Nieves Robles was arrested, and recognized by Abadie as one of the men who had sold the cattle.


 * "Jesus Zamorano testified to robberies and murder in which Nieves Robles had participated in San Mateo County in 1852 and 1853. Juan Herrada testified, confirming the previous witness, and told of Jack Powers, Pio Linares, the Huero Rafael, Nieves Robles, Jose Antonio Garcia, and Eduviquez following the Basques. Nieves Robles confessed his crimes, and stated the agreement with Powers and the others to murder the Basque Frenchmen, and detailed the manner of the murder as told him by Linares, who, with the Huero Rafael, had committed the deed. This confession was made and sworn to before W. J. Graves, Notary Public, June 28, 1858. Jose Antonio Garcia confessed to participating in the spoils of the murder, but was horrified upon being shown the dead bodies, and fled to his home in Santa Barbara. Robles had been tried for this murder and acquitted by a jury in the court of San Luis Obispo. One of the jury was one of the murderers, and another was a fugitive under the charge of murder."

Known and Suspected members of the Jack Powers Gang

 * Jesus Luna, a New Mexican, former county judge, ran a local fandango and gambling house across from the Mission in San Luis Obispo.  Suspected in the murder of George Fearless, his partner in a ranch, in 1856.  Luna claimed Fearless had left for the Eastern United States, and after disposing of all Fearless' property for him, Luna left for New Mexico, never to return. Fearless' body was subsequently found on their ranch months later.


 * Santos Peralta, the first caught in San Luis Obispo, identified by one of the two ranch hands from the Rancho San Juan, found in possession of stolen property. Later identified as the murderer of her husband by Mrs. Baratie.  Hung on the door of the San Luis Obispo jail after refusing to talk to the vigilantes, on the night of May 14, 1858.


 * Joaquin Valenzuela, also known as Joaquin Nacomorena, recognized and arrested by a San Luis Obispo vigilante posse, at Rancho San Emigido, as Joaquin Ocomorenio, thought to be an alias of Joaquin Valenzuela. Hung at San Luis Obispo May 23, 1858, for crimes committed years earlier in the San Joaquin Valley while with Joaquin Murrieta.


 * Luciano Tapia, "El Mesteno", confessed to being a party to the Baratie and Borel robbbery and murders at Rancho San Juan, also for the kidnapping of Mrs. Baratie. He also identified the participants in the crime. Hung at San Luis Obispo May ?, 1858.


 * Jack Powers, implicated in Nacimiento murders by the confession of Jose Antonio Garcia. With the help of friends he fled from San Francisco to Guaymas, Sonora, June 3, 1858.


 * Jose Antonio Garcia, after capture by San Luis Obispo vigilante posse, at Rancho San Julian?, he made confession to being party to the murder of the two Basques on the Nacimiento River, also implicated Jack Powers, Pio Linares, Rafael Herrada, El Huero Rafael and Nieves Robles, Eduriquez in the same crime. Hung, at San Luis Obiso, Tuesday June 8th, 1858.


 * Pio Linares, the leader of the gang in San Luis Obispo, implicated in the Nacimiento Murders by confession of Jose Antonio Garcia. Implicated in the Rancho San Juan murders.  He was shot in the head and killed in a shootout with the vigilante posse during the Los Osos seige, June 12, 1858.?


 * Miguel Blanco, a step nephew of Pio Linares, killed Borel, wounded Baratie at Rancho San Juan, captured in the Los Osos seige by the San Luis Obispo vigilante posse. Hung at San Luis Obispo, with Desiderio Grijalva, June 14, 1858.


 * Desiderio Grijalva - one of the robbers at Rancho San Juan, killer of John Gilkey, a witness to their presence near the Rancho San Juan at the time of the crime. He was captured in the Los Osos seige by the San Luis Obispo Vigilance Committee. Hung at San Luis Obispo, with Miguel Blanco, June 14, 1858.


 * Rafael Herrada, also known as Rafael Money, nicknamed "El Huero Rafael", was said by Luciano Tapia in his confession to be a Chilean. Rafael was implicated as one of the killers in the Nacimiento Murders by confession of Jose Antonio Garcia.  He was the source of information on the Rancho San Juan money that he brought down to San Luis Obispo from the Bay area, and was in charge of the Rancho San Juan robbery and murders according to the confession of Luciano Tapia.  With Desiderio Grijalva, killer of John Gilkey. He escaped from the San Luis Obispo vigilante posse siege at Los Osos by himself.  Chased by a posse led by Romualdo Pacheco with the Sheriff of Santa Barbara as far as Los Angeles, but he escaped southward a day ahead of them. They returned to San Luis Obispo instead with Nieves Robles.


 * Nieves Robles (nicknamed Eduriquez by his compatriots), tried for participation in the Nacimiento Murders, but not convicted. Later implicated in the Nacimiento Murders by the confession of Jose Antonio Garcia.  Caught in Los Angeles, returned by the Romualdo Pacheco posse, where he was hung July 12, 1858 at San Luis Obispo.


 * Froilan Servin, implicated in Rancho San Juan robbery and murders by the Tapia confession. Caught in Santa Barbara. Tried, and found guilty of robbery. Imprisoned in 1860 where he died in 1863.


 * Jesus Valenzuela alias "Ochomorena", brother of Joaquin Valenzuela, accused member of the gang, thought to have fled after the San Juan Murders were discovered, never caught.


 * Juan Pedro Oliveras, mentioned in Jose Antonio Garcia confession as telling him about the plan to rob and murder the Basques on the Nacimento. Another witness testified to Oliveras telling him the same thing.  Never prosecuted.


 * Fernando Linares, brother of Pio Linares, mentioned in Murray's articles in the newspaper, suspected of being involved in giving a horse to Rafael Herrada to make his getaway after he escaped the siege at Los Osos. Never prosecuted.