Juan Flores
Encyclopedia
Juan Flores was a 19th century Californio
bandit who, with Pancho Daniel
, led an outlaw gang known as "las Manillas" (the Handcuffs) and later as the Flores Daniel Gang
, throughout Southern California
during 1856-1857. Although regarded by historians as a thief and outlaw, Flores was considered among Mexican-Americans as a folk hero
akin to Jesse James
and who was thought of as a defender against vigilante movements
in the years following the American settlement of California and its incorporation into the United States
. However, the activities of Flores and other insurrectos such as Salomon Pico
and Joaquín Murrieta
against American and foreign-born settlers not only created long-lasting suspicion and hostility towards Mexican-Americans but also divided the traditional Spanish class structures of the Californios and the poorer peasants as well.
, "Juan Flores was a dark complexioned fellow of medium height slim, lithe and graceful, a most beautiful figure in the fandango or on horseback, and about twenty-two years old. There was nothing peculiar about Juan except his tiger-like walk—always seeming to be in the very act of springing upon his prey. His eyes, neither black, grey, nor blue, greatly resembling those of the owl—always moving, watchful and wary, and the most cruel and vindictive-looking eyes that were ever set in human head."
Flores was first arrested in 1855 for horse stealing and imprisoned in San Quentin
. However, he soon escaped in October 1856 as part of a breakout that seized a brig tied up at the prison wharf that the convicts sailed across the bay and escaped into Contra Costa County (although other sources claim he served his prison term ). Flores joined forces with Pancho Daniel
and a dozen or so ranch hands, miners and other Angelinos such as Anastasio García, Jesus Espinosa, Andrés Fontes, Chino Varelas, Faustino García, Juan Cartabo and "One-eyed" Piguinino among others. During the next two years, Daniel, Flores and their "los Manilas" gained a following among the Mexican-American population in the San Luis Obispo- and San Juan Capistrano-areas with his numbers growing to over fifty men. One of the largest gangs in the state, "los Manilas" terrorized the area for the next two years primarily stealing horses and cattle but also committing armed robbery, murder and conducting raids against towns and homesteads in the area. Due in part to attention by newspapers, opposition to what became known as the "Flores Revolution" began to take form by public officials and law enforcement as well as upper-class Californios such as Andrés Pico
, José Antonio Andres Sepúlveda and Tomas Avila Sanchez
all of whom later participated in the capture of Flores.
and a posse of six well-armed men and set out to apprehend Flores.
Whore
, Barton and his posse were on their way to apprehend Flores for George Pflugardt's murder when they were ambushed at Barranco de los Alisos and killed by Flores and members of his gang. The surviving members of Barton's posse who managed to escape the ambush and pursuit by the gang, fled back to Los Angeles.
ranchers, Manuel Cota the Temecula leader of 43 Luiseño scouts, the Monte Rangers former Texas Rangers
and members of the vigilante gang the "El Monte Boys", and posses from San Bernardino
and San Diego. A large group of the gang were discovered by the Luiseño scouts in their hideout in the Sierra de Santiago
. A posse led by the Californios Andres Pico
and Tomas Avila Sanchez
, surrounded and apprehended them, however Pancho Daniel and Flores himself managed to escape northward through the mountains. The Monte Rangers moving to cut off escapees, captured Flores and Pancho Daniel after a shootout, but they managed to free themselves and escape that night.
Numbers ranging from fifty to seventy Mexican-Americans were arrested on having connections with Flores and between February 1857 and November 1858, eleven others suspected of being members of the Flores gang were lynched, most by the "El Monte Boys". According to historian John Boessenecker, only four of these men were confirmed as members of the gang.
After eleven days on the run, Flores was brought in by a 120-man posse led by Andres Pico. with "practically every man, woman and child present in the pueblo" numbering an estimated 3,000 people, Flores was tried for murder and hanged near the top of Fort Hill
in what would later be present-day downtown Los Angeles
on February 14, 1857; Addressing the crowd from the scaffold, he stated "he bore no malice, was dying justly, and that he hoped that those he had wronged would forgive him". When his execution was carried out, his noose being too short, Flores instead died from suffocation instead of having his neck broken as intended.
by its military frontier governor Feliciano Ruiz de Esparza along with Salomon Pico
and 13 other California bandits.
Flores Peak, part of Santiago Canyon located in Orange County
, was named after the outlaw leader to commemorate the capture of much of the Flores gang although Flores himself escaped.
Californio
Californio is a term used to identify a Spanish-speaking Catholic people, regardless of race, born in California before 1848...
bandit who, with Pancho Daniel
Pancho Daniel
Pancho Daniel was a Californio bandit, 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....
, led an outlaw gang known as "las Manillas" (the Handcuffs) and later as the Flores Daniel Gang
Flores Daniel Gang
Flores Daniel Gang, was an outlaw gang also known as "las Manillas" , throughout Southern California during 1856-1857. It was led by Californio's and Pancho Daniel...
, throughout Southern California
Southern California
Southern California is a megaregion, or megapolitan area, in the southern area of the U.S. state of California. Large urban areas include Greater Los Angeles and Greater San Diego. The urban area stretches along the coast from Ventura through the Southland and Inland Empire to San Diego...
during 1856-1857. Although regarded by historians as a thief and outlaw, Flores was considered among Mexican-Americans as a folk hero
Folk hero
A folk hero is a type of hero, real, fictional, or mythological. The single salient characteristic which makes a character a folk hero is the imprinting of the name, personality and deeds of the character in the popular consciousness. This presence in the popular consciousness is evidenced by...
akin to Jesse James
Jesse James
Jesse Woodson James was an American outlaw, gang leader, bank robber, train robber, and murderer from the state of Missouri and the most famous member of the James-Younger Gang. He also faked his own death and was known as J.M James. Already a celebrity when he was alive, he became a legendary...
and who was thought of as a defender against vigilante movements
San Francisco Vigilance Movement
The San Francisco Committee of Vigilance was a popular ad hoc organization formed in 1851 and revived in 1856. Their purpose was to rein in rampant crime and government corruption. They were among the most successful organizations in the vigilante tradition of the American Old West.These militias...
in the years following the American settlement of California and its incorporation into the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. However, the activities of Flores and other insurrectos such as Salomon Pico
Salomon Pico
Salomon Maria Simeon Pico was a Californio, the cousin of Pío Pico, who led a bandit band in the early years of the California Gold Rush in the counties of the central coast of California. Considered by Mexicans as a patriot who opposed the American conquest of Alta California from Mexico and...
and Joaquín Murrieta
Joaquin Murrieta
Joaquin Carrillo Murrieta , also called the Mexican or Chilean Robin Hood or the Robin Hood of El Dorado, was a semi-legendary figure in California during the California Gold Rush of the 1850s...
against American and foreign-born settlers not only created long-lasting suspicion and hostility towards Mexican-Americans but also divided the traditional Spanish class structures of the Californios and the poorer peasants as well.
Early life
Born to a prominent family, according to Horace BellHorace Bell
Horace Bell , Los Angeles Ranger, Filibuster, soldier, lawyer, journalist. Author of an 1881 memoir, Reminiscences of a Ranger: Early Times in Southern California and some more of his memoirs were included in On the Old West Coast: Being Further Reminiscences of a Ranger...
, "Juan Flores was a dark complexioned fellow of medium height slim, lithe and graceful, a most beautiful figure in the fandango or on horseback, and about twenty-two years old. There was nothing peculiar about Juan except his tiger-like walk—always seeming to be in the very act of springing upon his prey. His eyes, neither black, grey, nor blue, greatly resembling those of the owl—always moving, watchful and wary, and the most cruel and vindictive-looking eyes that were ever set in human head."
Flores was first arrested in 1855 for horse stealing and imprisoned in San Quentin
San Quentin State Prison
San Quentin State Prison is a California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation state prison for men in unincorporated San Quentin, Marin County, California, United States. Opened in July 1852, it is the oldest prison in the state. California's only death row for male inmates, the largest...
. However, he soon escaped in October 1856 as part of a breakout that seized a brig tied up at the prison wharf that the convicts sailed across the bay and escaped into Contra Costa County (although other sources claim he served his prison term ). Flores joined forces with Pancho Daniel
Pancho Daniel
Pancho Daniel was a Californio bandit, 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....
and a dozen or so ranch hands, miners and other Angelinos such as Anastasio García, Jesus Espinosa, Andrés Fontes, Chino Varelas, Faustino García, Juan Cartabo and "One-eyed" Piguinino among others. During the next two years, Daniel, Flores and their "los Manilas" gained a following among the Mexican-American population in the San Luis Obispo- and San Juan Capistrano-areas with his numbers growing to over fifty men. One of the largest gangs in the state, "los Manilas" terrorized the area for the next two years primarily stealing horses and cattle but also committing armed robbery, murder and conducting raids against towns and homesteads in the area. Due in part to attention by newspapers, opposition to what became known as the "Flores Revolution" began to take form by public officials and law enforcement as well as upper-class Californios such as Andrés Pico
Andrés Pico
Andrés Pico was a Californio who became a successful rancher, served as a military commander during the Mexican-American War; and was elected to the state assembly and senate after California became a state, when he was also commissioned as a brigadier general in the state militia.-Early...
, José Antonio Andres Sepúlveda and Tomas Avila Sanchez
Tomas Avila Sanchez
Tomas Avila Sanchez , Californio soldier and public official. He served on the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors and served as Los Angeles County Sheriff.-Biography:...
all of whom later participated in the capture of Flores.
Raid on San Juan Capistrano
In late-December 1856 or early-January 1857, Flores attempted to pursue and rob a wagon traveling from Los Angeles to San Juan Capistrano. Missing the wagon somewhere on the road, Flores instead led a group of outlaws on a raid against San Juan Capistrano looting the shop of a local Russian-Polish merchant Michael Krazewski. Wounding a store assistant, they carried nearly all the goods in the store on two horses promising to return to the town. The next day, Flores made another raid on the town in which German shopkeeper George Pflugardt was murdered and several stores were looted. They had been after an informant who had previously testified against him for horse stealing years earlier and, when the man was able to escape before their arrival, they proceeded to loot the town and spent the night "in drunken revelry" until leaving sometime around 2:00 am. When authorities in Los Angeles were alerted of the incident, they dispatched Sheriff James R. BartonJames R. Barton
James R. Barton was the second sheriff of Los Angeles County, California, and the first to die in office, in the line of duty.Barton was born in Howard County, Missouri, emigrated to Mexico in 1841 and moved to Los Angeles in 1843. He served in the Mexican-American War. A carpenter, he was the...
and a posse of six well-armed men and set out to apprehend Flores.
Whore
Death of Sheriff Barton
After leaving San Juan Capistrano, Flores was visiting a female companion "Chola" Martina Burruel in the Burruel Adobe outside the town. During his stay, Sheriff Barton was killed along with his constables William H. Little and Charles R. Baker while traveling down the road to San Juan Capistrano. Only 12 miles south of San Joaquín RanchRancho San Joaquin
Rancho San Joaquin, the combined Rancho Cienega de las Ranas and Rancho Bolsa de San Joaquin, was a Mexican land grant in present day Orange County, California given to José Antonio Andres Sepúlveda...
, Barton and his posse were on their way to apprehend Flores for George Pflugardt's murder when they were ambushed at Barranco de los Alisos and killed by Flores and members of his gang. The surviving members of Barton's posse who managed to escape the ambush and pursuit by the gang, fled back to Los Angeles.
Capture and death
Barton's death caused a backlash against outlaw violence in the region as members of Flores' gang were hunted down and captured by authorities with a Los Angeles posse that included 51 American merchants and CalifornioCalifornio
Californio is a term used to identify a Spanish-speaking Catholic people, regardless of race, born in California before 1848...
ranchers, Manuel Cota the Temecula leader of 43 Luiseño scouts, the Monte Rangers former Texas Rangers
Texas Ranger Division
The Texas Ranger Division, commonly called the Texas Rangers, is a law enforcement agency with statewide jurisdiction in Texas, and is based in Austin, Texas...
and members of the vigilante gang the "El Monte Boys", and posses from San Bernardino
San Bernardino
San Bernardino, California is a large city in the Inland Empire Metropolitan Area of Southern California.San Bernardino may also refer to:-Landforms:*San Bernardino , a torrent that flows through the Italian province of Verbano-Cusio-Ossola...
and San Diego. A large group of the gang were discovered by the Luiseño scouts in their hideout in the Sierra de Santiago
Santa Ana Mountains
The Santa Ana Mountains are a short peninsular mountain range along the coast of Southern California in the United States. They extend for approximately 36 mi southeast of the Los Angeles Basin largely along the border between Orange and Riverside counties.- Geography :The range starts in the...
. A posse led by the Californios Andres Pico
Andrés Pico
Andrés Pico was a Californio who became a successful rancher, served as a military commander during the Mexican-American War; and was elected to the state assembly and senate after California became a state, when he was also commissioned as a brigadier general in the state militia.-Early...
and Tomas Avila Sanchez
Tomas Avila Sanchez
Tomas Avila Sanchez , Californio soldier and public official. He served on the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors and served as Los Angeles County Sheriff.-Biography:...
, surrounded and apprehended them, however Pancho Daniel and Flores himself managed to escape northward through the mountains. The Monte Rangers moving to cut off escapees, captured Flores and Pancho Daniel after a shootout, but they managed to free themselves and escape that night.
Numbers ranging from fifty to seventy Mexican-Americans were arrested on having connections with Flores and between February 1857 and November 1858, eleven others suspected of being members of the Flores gang were lynched, most by the "El Monte Boys". According to historian John Boessenecker, only four of these men were confirmed as members of the gang.
After eleven days on the run, Flores was brought in by a 120-man posse led by Andres Pico. with "practically every man, woman and child present in the pueblo" numbering an estimated 3,000 people, Flores was tried for murder and hanged near the top of Fort Hill
Fort Hill
Fort Hill is a hill overlooking downtown Frankfort, Kentucky, where military fortifications were built during the American Civil War to protect the city and its pro-Union state government....
in what would later be present-day downtown Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
on February 14, 1857; Addressing the crowd from the scaffold, he stated "he bore no malice, was dying justly, and that he hoped that those he had wronged would forgive him". When his execution was carried out, his noose being too short, Flores instead died from suffocation instead of having his neck broken as intended.
Legacy
Pancho Daniel would later be hanged on November 30, 1858. The last surviving member of the Juan Flores gang, Andrés Fontes, was believed to have instigated the events leading to the shooting death of Barton and his party due to a personal disagreement with Sheriff Barton. Fontes was reportedly killed in Baja CaliforniaBaja California Peninsula
The Baja California peninsula , is a peninsula in northwestern Mexico. Its land mass separates the Pacific Ocean from the Gulf of California. The Peninsula extends from Mexicali, Baja California in the north to Cabo San Lucas, Baja California Sur in the south.The total area of the Baja California...
by its military frontier governor Feliciano Ruiz de Esparza along with Salomon Pico
Salomon Pico
Salomon Maria Simeon Pico was a Californio, the cousin of Pío Pico, who led a bandit band in the early years of the California Gold Rush in the counties of the central coast of California. Considered by Mexicans as a patriot who opposed the American conquest of Alta California from Mexico and...
and 13 other California bandits.
Flores Peak, part of Santiago Canyon located in Orange County
Orange County, California
Orange County is a county in the U.S. state of California. Its county seat is Santa Ana. As of the 2010 census, its population was 3,010,232, up from 2,846,293 at the 2000 census, making it the third most populous county in California, behind Los Angeles County and San Diego County...
, was named after the outlaw leader to commemorate the capture of much of the Flores gang although Flores himself escaped.