No bandit so terrorized California as did Joaquin Murrieta. Yet, when one investigates the background of Joaquin Murrieta, he is difficult to pin down. There are few if any police records. Yet, according to history, California's Governor John Bigler sent out Captain Harry Love and his state rangers with orders to bring back the outlaw.

Captain Love brought back a head, ensconced in a keg of brandy to preserve it, which he claimed to be that of Joaquin, but others dispute this. Because of the lack of police and court records, the true story of Joaquin Murrieta may never be known.

Author Alton Pryor gives the reader enough information that they, themselves, can ultimately decide whether Joaquin was a true Mexican bandido, or simply the myth of an imaginative gold rush newspaper reporter.