He was the bandit scourge of early California, one of the most enigmatic figures in American history, a man whose name alone once sent tremors through the gold fields of the Sierra Nevada and beyond. Even now, the echoes of Joaquin Murrieta’s story reverberate through Sonoma County.

In “Bring Me the Head of Joaquin Murrieta” (Hanover Square Press, 2025), New York Times bestselling author John Boessenecker revisits the man behind the myth, tracing the life of an outlaw whose legend outlasted the Gold Rush and is said to have inspired the creation of Zorro, the swashbuckling Californian vigilante of pulp fiction and Hollywood films .

Over the decades, Murrieta’s image has shifted like a shadow at dusk, elusive, changing shape with each retelling. To some, he was a ruthless killer; to oth

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