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Life & adventures of the celebrated bandit

Joaquin Murrieta His exploits in the state of California

Translation:  Francis P. Belle

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Introduction:  Luis Leal

Here is the biography of the most infamous bandit in the history of the West, for decades a source of fear and legend in the newly-founded state of California.  To both Mexicans and Indians, Murrieta became a symbol of resistance to the displacement and oppression visited on them in the wake of the Mexican-American War (1846-1848), particularly by the "Forty-Niners" who flooded into the region during the California gold rush.

In his introduction, literary critic Luis Leal has researched and written the first definitive history of the Murrieta legend in its various incarnations.  The Ireneo Paz biography was first published in Mexico City in 1904; it was subsequently translated into English by Frances P. Belle in 1925.  This edition includes several line-drawings that appeared in the original publication, adding to the strong sense evoked here of this turbulent period in U.S. history.

Juan Cortina & the Texas-Mexican Frontier 1859-1877

Author:  Jerry T. Thompson

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Juan Cortina and the Texas Mexico Frontier, 1859-1877 is the story of an illiterate Brownsville ranchero who rose to become a rugged and fearless frontier "caudillo" and governor of Tamaulipas.  Jerry Thompson has compiled the first scholarly work on Cortina in 40 years.  Using nine of Cortina's "pronunciamentos," Thompson sees his subject as more than a "social bandit," someone who simply reacted to the evils of a racist society that suppressed the Mexican-Texans socially, economically and politically.

Thompson says, "He shot the Brownsville marshal, ambushed Texas Rangers, captured the U.S. mail, defeated the Matamoros militia, battled the U.S. army, harassed the Confederate Army, ambushed French Imperialists, attacked Mexican liberals, and fought anyone who dared get in his way." He shows Cortina to have been among the most important political and military figures on the border during much of the 19th century, a folk-hero to many Tejanos and Mexicanos, a man whose disputed legacy remains an integral part of the history of both Texas and Mexico.

Julian Nava My Mexican-American Journey

Author:  Julian Nava

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Julian Nava's previously untold story is finally available to inspire young and old toward study, commitment and perseverance, not only for one's self, but for the community and nation.

Nava is one of the most renowned and distinguished elder statesmen in the Hispanic community of the United States.  The child of poor Mexican immigrants, Nava rose through years of hardship and hard work to achieve what no other Latino in the United States had achieved before him:  Nava became the first Mexican American to serve as ambassador to Mexico.

This unsolicited but deserved appointment by President Jimmy Carter followed a life of commitment to education and community development.  Nava was a civil rights activist during the height of the Chicano Movement; he also became the first Mexican American to serve on the Los Angeles school board when it was embattled, facing the challenges of school walkouts and boycotts, desegregation, bilingual education, and a series of issues brought on by the changes in education during the 1970s.

The recipient of a Ph.D. in History from Harvard Nava has been on the front lines of urban education and politics, while simultaneously building a successful career as a university professor celebrated throughout the United States, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Colombia and Spain.