Juan Flores

Juan Flores
Born	1834
Died	February 14, 1857 Los Angeles
Cause of death	Hanging
Known for	19th century Californio bandit

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, throughout Southern California during 1856-1857. Although regarded by historians as a thief and outlaw, Flores was considered among Mexican-Americans as a folk hero 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 and Joaquín Murrieta 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.

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. 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- and San Juan Capistrano-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 all of whom later participated in the capture of Flores.

...
Wikipedia