The Joaquín Band: The History behind the Legend

[...]in this postwar Gold Rush era in the borderlands, Wilson has focused on what people in the past wrote, and why (p. 261), instead of centering entirely on Murrietas band or on twentieth-century mythmaking. [...]Wilson reminds us that, along with ethnic Mexicans, Chinese and Latin American immigrants, and Anglo Americans, Native peoples played significant roles in this story, highlighting important intersections in Chicana/o and American Indian history. At times, however, following the different versions became a difficult task. [...]a look at Mexican newspapers, particularly from Murrietas home province of Sonora, might have bolstered Wilsons analysis.