Juan Flores (c. 1834 – February 14, 1857) 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
Flores Daniel Gang, was an outlaw gang also known as ''"las Manillas"'' (the Handcuffs), throughout Southern California during 1856-1857. Californio's Juan Flores and Pancho Daniel. Contemporary newspaper accounts of ''las Manillas'' all repo ...
, throughout
Southern California
Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most populous urban a ...
during 1856-1857. Although regarded by historians as a thief and outlaw, Flores was considered among
Mexican-Americans
Mexican Americans ( es, mexicano-estadounidenses, , or ) are Americans of full or partial Mexican heritage. In 2019, Mexican Americans comprised 11.3% of the US population and 61.5% of all Hispanic and Latino Americans. In 2019, 71% of Mexican ...
as a
folk hero
A folk hero or national hero is a type of hero – real, fictional or mythological – with their name, personality and deeds embedded in the popular consciousness of a people, mentioned frequently in folk songs, folk tales and other folklore; a ...
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
Salomon may refer to:
People
* Salomon (given name)
* Salomon (surname)
Companies
* Salomon Brothers
Salomon Brothers, Inc., was an American multinational bulge bracket investment bank headquartered in New York. It was one of the five la ...
and
Joaquín Murrieta
Joaquin Murrieta Carrillo (sometimes spelled Murieta or Murietta) (1829 – July 25, 1853), also called the Robin Hood of the West or the Robin Hood of El Dorado, was a Mexican-American figure of disputed historicity. The novel '' The Life and A ...
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 Bell, "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 (SQ) is a California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation state prison for men, located north of San Francisco in the unincorporated place of San Quentin in Marin County.
Opened in July 1852, San Quentin is the ...
. However, he soon escaped in October 1856 as part of a breakout led by himself and
Jim "Red Horse" Webster 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
San Luis Obispo (; Spanish for " St. Louis the Bishop", ; Chumash: ''tiłhini'') is a city and county seat of San Luis Obispo County, in the U.S. state of California. Located on the Central Coast of California, San Luis Obispo is roughly hal ...
- and
San Juan Capistrano
San Juan Capistrano (Spanish for " St. John of Capistrano") is a city in Orange County, California, located along the Orange Coast. The population was 34,593 at the 2010 census.
San Juan Capistrano was founded by the Spanish in 1776, when St ...
-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
Tomas Avila Sanchez (1826–1882), soldier, sheriff and public official, was on the Los Angeles County, California, Board of Supervisors and was a member of the Los Angeles Common Council, the legislative branch of the city.
Personal
Sanchez ...
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. Barton
James R. Barton (1810?– January 23, 1857) was the second sheriff of Los Angeles County, California, and the first to die in office, in the line of duty.
Biography Early life
James R. Barton was born in 1810 in Howard County, Missouri. He emigrat ...
and a posse of six well-armed men and set out to apprehend Flores.
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 Ranch, 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 ''
Californio'' ranchers,
Manuel Cota
Manuel may refer to:
People
* Manuel (name)
* Manuel (Fawlty Towers), a fictional character from the sitcom ''Fawlty Towers''
* Charlie Manuel, manager of the Philadelphia Phillies
* Manuel I Komnenos, emperor of the Byzantine Empire
* M ...
the
Temecula
Temecula (; es, Temécula, ; Luiseño: ''Temeekunga'') is a city in southwestern Riverside County, California, United States. The city had a population of 110,003 as of the 2020 census and was incorporated on December 1, 1989. The city is a ...
leader of 43
Luiseño
The Luiseño or Payómkawichum are an indigenous people of California who, at the time of the first contacts with the Spanish in the 16th century, inhabited the coastal area of southern California, ranging from the present-day southern part of ...
scouts, the
Monte Rangers former
Texas Rangers and members of the vigilante gang the "El Monte Boys", and posses from
San Bernardino
San Bernardino (; Spanish for "Saint Bernardino") is a city and county seat of San Bernardino County, California, United States. Located in the Inland Empire region of Southern California, the city had a population of 222,101 in the 2020 cen ...
and
San Diego
San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United State ...
. 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
Andrés Pico and
Tomas Avila Sanchez
Tomas Avila Sanchez (1826–1882), soldier, sheriff and public official, was on the Los Angeles County, California, Board of Supervisors and was a member of the Los Angeles Common Council, the legislative branch of the city.
Personal
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
John Boessenecker ( John Edward Boessenecker; born 27 February 1953) is an American historian and author, and a lawyer specializing in trust and estate litigation. He is based in San Francisco, California.
Fascinated by frontier history, he publ ...
, 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 Andrés 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.
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 California
Baja California (; 'Lower California'), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Baja California ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Baja California), is a state in Mexico. It is the northernmost and westernmost of the 32 federal entities of Mex ...
by its military frontier governor
Feliciano Ruiz de Esparza along with
Salomon Pico
Salomon may refer to:
People
* Salomon (given name)
* Salomon (surname)
Companies
* Salomon Brothers
Salomon Brothers, Inc., was an American multinational bulge bracket investment bank headquartered in New York. It was one of the five la ...
and 13 other California bandits.
Flores Peak
Flores Peak
Flores Peak is a mountain peak, overlooking the confluence Harding Canyon and Modjeska Canyon, within the Tucker Wildlife Sanctuary in Orange County, California. It rises to an elevation of . It is named for Juan Flores of the Flores Daniel Ga ...
, part of
Santiago Canyon
Santiago Canyon is a canyon and unincorporated community in South Orange County, California. According to the 2000 census, Santiago Canyon has several hundred residents living within its borders. Trabuco Canyon, Silverado Canyon, Modjeska Ca ...
located in
Orange County
Orange County most commonly refers to:
*Orange County, California, part of the Los Angeles metropolitan area
Orange County may also refer to:
U.S. counties
*Orange County, Florida, containing Orlando
*Orange County, Indiana
*Orange County, New ...
, was named after the outlaw leader to commemorate the capture of much of the Flores gang although Flores himself escaped. It is rumored that after fleeing up Modjeska Canyon, Juan Flores attempted to head up and over Saddleback Mountain. He started his up the hills a location near the current Modjeska Fire Station (OCFA Station 16) and ended up being cornered on a nearby peak overlooking Harding Canyon. He then, as legend has it, rode his horse down the face of the peak, which can be seen from Modjeska Canyon Road, and made his escape.
[Hoover, Mildred Brooke and Douglas E. Kyle. ''Historic Spots in California''. Stanford, California: Stanford University Press, 2002. (pg. 270) ]
Further reading
See Gold Dust and Gunsmoke: Tales of Gold Rush Outlaws, Gunfighters, Lawmen, and Vigilantes (1999) by John Boessenecker.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Flores, Juan
1830s births
1857 deaths
American folklore
Californios
Criminals from California
Fugitives
Mexican folklore
Outlaws of the American Old West
People from San Juan Capistrano, California