Joaquin Murieta was a Gold Rush-era Mexican immigrant who was thwarted in his pursuit of fortune and happiness by white settlers who murdered his family and drove him off his land. In The Life and Adventures of Joaquin Murieta - the first novel written by a Native American and the first novel published in California - he organizes a band of two thousand outlaws who murder and steal in their quest to reconquer California.

First published in 1854, the novel speaks to the ways in which ethical questions of national security and racialized police violence have long been a part of U.S. history. This edition features excerpts from popular rewritings of the novel, including Johnston McCulley’s first novel about Zorro, The Curse of Capistrano.