History Keepers: Knife and Trunk of Tiburcio Vásquez

Knife and Trunk of Tiburcio Vásquez, c. mid-1800s
San Fernando Valley Historical Society  

They are Los Angeles’s history keepers. They research, organize, store, repair, and care for historical artifacts and make them available to us online, at exhibitions, through publications, or in their homes. This summer, from August 5 to August 27, the California Historical Society celebrates Los Angeles’s history keepers with an exhibition at the historic El Pueblo National Monument: History Keepers: Traversing Los Angeles. This month, several objects from the exhibition will be featured through a series of blogs. We begin with the story of an infamous Californio bandido.

Tiburcio Vásquez 

Tiburcio Vasquez, c. 1874

Reproduction, California Historical Society

In the mid-1800s the legendary, controversial Tiburcio Vásquez—son of a prominent Californio family—traversed the passes and foothills of the state, robbing and terrorizing inhabitants and romancing others. Remembered for his womanizing and crimes purportedly committed in the name of justice for his people, the bandido/outlaw—and folk hero to some—traveled with this trunk packed with his personal effects. The knife is all that remains of its contents.

 

Knife and Trunk of Tiburcio Vásquez, c. mid-1800s
San Fernando Valley Historical Society 

Active in the Antelope Valley, Vásquez left the trunk with the first settler in the region, Timothy Nava of Barrel Springs, near Pear Blossom. He never returned for his possessions. He was captured (a woman was reputedly his downfall) at an adobe in the San Fernando Plains (present day Melrose Place in West Hollywood), and hanged for murder on March 19, 1875, at age 39, at the Santa Clara County jail in San Jose. Vásquez Rocks in the Antelope Valley, one of the bandido’s hideouts, and other landmarks bear his name today. 

  

Benjamin Truman Cummings, Map of the Scene of Vasquez’ Capture, 1874 
“Tiburcio Vasquez, The Life, Adventures, and Capture of the Great Californian Bandit and Murderer”; http://www.lamag.com/

Invitation to the Hanging of Tiburcio Vásquez, 1875 
California Historical Society

Noose used at Vasquez' Execution and the Cravat He Wore, which was removed to accommodate the Noose, 1875

California State Library. Tiburcio Vasquez Collection

Vasquez Rocks Natural Area County Park, Agua Dulce, California, 2009 
Courtesy Rennett Stowe

Timothy Nava’s granddaughter, Mrs. Lastenia Tapia Weatherwax of San Fernando, an artist with early California roots, preserved the trunk and the stories passed down by her grandfather. She donated the trunk (with portraits of President and Mrs. McKinley on the inside lid) to the San Fernando Valley Historical Society.  

 

Trunk of Tiburcio Vásquez, c. mid-1800s
San Fernando Valley Historical Society

History Keeper: San Fernando Valley Historical Society 

The San Fernando Valley Historical Society serves as caretaker of the historic Andrés Pico Adobe in Mission Hills and the Pioneer Cemetery in Sylmar. The society’s mission is to share and make known the organization’s significant archive and collections of San Fernando Valley history. 

Shelly Kale
Publications and Strategic Projects Manager
skale@calhist.org

Sources 

John Boessenecker, “Bandido: The Countless Love Affairs of Tiburcio Vasquez,” California State Library Foundation Bulletin, no. 102, 2012; http://www.cslfdn.org/pdf/Bulletin102.pdf  

Tiburcio Vasquez, Agua Dulce/Vasquez Rocks; http://www.scvhistory.com/scvhistory/aguadulce.htm 

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An exhibition by the California Historical Society and LA as Subject 

Presented in partnership with El Pueblo Historical Monument and the El Pueblo Park Association 

El Tranquilo Gallery & Visitor Center 

634 N. Main Street (entrance on Olvera Street, W-19) 

El Pueblo de Los Ángeles Historical Monument, Los Angeles, California 

Tuesday–Friday, 10:00 am–3:00 pm 

Saturday and Sunday, 9:00 am–4:00 pm 

Opening reception: Friday, August 5, 2016, 6:00–8:00 pm 

The 7th-Annual Los Angeles Archives Bazaar

Saturday, October 27, 2012, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The 7th-Annual Los Angeles Archives Bazaar

Free Event at Doheny Memorial Library, University of Southern California

3550 Trousdale Parkway, Los Angeles, CA 90089

Visit the California Historical Society at the LA History Bazaar at USC. Learn about our Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce Collection and the Title Insurance and Trust Company (TICOR) Collection as well as ongoing California Historical Society projects and our archives.

Los Angeles history comes alive at the 7th-annual Los Angeles ArchivesBazaar. Organized by L.A. as Subject and presented by the USC Libraries, the annual event celebrates the diversity of Southern California’s history. For scholarly researchers, journalists, history buffs, and those simply interested in exploring the stories of Los Angeles, discovery awaits everyone at the Archives Bazaar. This event is free and open to the public.

The Archives Bazaar draws its strength from the breadth and variety of its participants’ collections. Large institutions such as the Autry National Center of the American West and the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County will be represented at the bazaar along with smaller organizations and private collections whose materials fill the gaps left in the city’s official history. Other participating organizations include the ONE National Gay and Lesbian Archives, the California African American Museum, El Pueblo de Los Angeles Historical Monument, and the Japanese American National Museum. In all, more than 70 archives are expected to be represented.

Special Viewing and Reception of the California Historical Society Collections at the University of Southern California

W. Herbert Allen's family in a Tourist automobile, ca.1900, 

California Historical Society Collection at USC, CHS-13005

Saturday, July 21, 2012, 2:00 p.m.

Special Viewing and Reception of the California Historical Society Collections at the University of Southern California

Join us for a special viewing and reception in the Doheny Memorial Library. The California Historical Society collection at the University of Southern California includes over 20,000 photographs from the Title Insurance and Trust Company and the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce (LAACC), along with the records of LAACC documenting the development and promotion of the Los Angeles region.

Event begins at 2pm in the Friends Lecture Hall, Room 240
Doheny Memorial Library, University of Southern California
3550 Trousdale Parkway, Los Angeles, CA 90089

This is a free event, though reservations are required.
RSVP to chsatusc.eventbrite.com or 415.357.1848, ext. 233.

*Parking is available at Gate 3 on Figueroa Street and McCarthy Way for $8 for the day.