Los Angeles herald., 1891-07-08
WEDNESDAY, JULY 8. 1891
THE HERALD AT THE BEACH.
THE FIcrIoNs OF HISTORY.

Ih6 UT h1SlOhI
That the "truths'' of history are fire.
quently fictions is admitted by all the
historians. We can place reliance in
the great central facts OF history as hav-
ing occurred, but when it comes to the
details, we may well take them with a
great many grains of salt. Tradition
furnishes the material for nearly all
ancient history, and whilst tradition for
the central facts may be relied upon, the
credence that may be placed in the col
lateral or side issues is very slim.
We can we'll imagine how the details OF
history, founded on tradition after the
lapse of centuries, can be so enveloped
in fiction that it would be impossible to
separate the wheat from the chaff, when
we see in our own day how unreliable
are the reports of transactions which
took place in California only a few
years ago. If the truth is lost to the
collator of events in thirty or forty
years, what portion of it could possibly
survive the lapse of several centuries?
These reflections frequently force
themselves upon us when we see fanciful
articles IN newspapers about events that
trAnspired in California within the
memory of thousands of living men.
But apocryphal argonautic history is not
confined to the newspapers. Bancroft's
pretentious annals of pioneer events
bristle with errors and misleading color
ing. The future historian who will take
his narration Of the events OF the Sec
ond vigilance committee for the facts of
that stirring and dramatic time, and be
Bwayed by the manifest partialities and
prejudices OF Bancroft, will hand down
q very inaccurate picture of the period.
But it is surprising strange that even
the most conspicuous dates OF local his
tory are lost sight of by the newspaper
writers who deal out our annals in great
globs. Our eye just now rests upon an
article in a San Francisco paper an
nouncing the death of L. G, Chapman,
at Oakland, one of the gold-seekers who
came here in 1S49. He is there de-
scribed as one of the oldest pioneers, who
started for this state with Senator Gwin
and Governor Weller long before gold
was discovered. AS gold was discovered
in January, 1S4S, and Gwin and Weller
came here in the spring OF 1S49, at
tracted by the fact of that discovery and
the political possibilities of territory
to which an unprecedented immigration
was flocking, the error OF Mr.. Chap
mans biographer becomes manifest.
This, however, is trivial mistake
compared with others that have re-
Gently come under our notice. In a
long and apparently carefully prepared
paper, which appeared in the Examine r
q few days ago, writer tries to demolish
the personality of Joaquin Murietta,
and to merge the identity of that noto-
rious individual in the no less notorious
personality OF Jack Powers. He brings
forward Captain 1. w. Lees and John
Wilson, of circus fame, to sustain his
theory that Murietta was a myth, and
that Jack Powers was the real joaquin.
One of the editors of the HERALD was
in the southern mines when Murietta
was in the zenith of his infame and
had reached the acme of his mal-glory.
He was the terror of the road and OF iso-
lated camps. In personal appearance
and in physique he bore no resem-
blance whatever to Jack Powers. Joa-
quin was dapper little fellow. trim
built, with dark straight hair, piercing
black eye, and a foot that showed off in
the dance like woman's. Jack Powers
was heavy, thick-set man, with broad
shoulders, large, full face, out of which
beamed saucer and saturnine dark grey
eyes, the whites of which were streaked
with red blood lines. His head was COW
cred with dark hair, which he wore in
glossy ringlets. If it were not for fur
tive and uneasy habit of his eyes, Jack
would have been pronounced a fne-look-
ing man, and been taken for first mate
ashore.
There is no doubt whatever that Joa-
quin Murietta was killed by Jim Burns,
OF Harry Loves rangers, in 1854. His
head was identified by thousands in Cal
averas county who knew him we'll.
"Yellow Bird" John R. Ridge). lit
erary gentleman of the time, wrote a
careful and laboriously collated biogra-
ply of the dead bandit.
One evening in May, 1856, two years
after Murietta had been dispatched,
Jack Powers was seated at faro table
in Steve Whipple's, on Commercial
street in San Francisco, when man
entered and whispered some
thing in his ear. He turned pale, and
Suddenly left the gambling room. That
vas the last seen in San Francisco of
Jack Powers. On that afternoon James
King Of VIM. had been shot down by
James P. Casey, and, vigilance com
mittee was being formed. 1t transpired