Pancho Daniel (?–1858) was a
Californio
Californios (singular Californio) are Californians of Spaniards, Spanish descent, especially those descended from settlers of the 17th through 19th centuries before California was annexed by the United States. California's Spanish language in C ...
bandit
Banditry is a type of organized crime committed by outlaws typically involving the threat or use of violence. A person who engages in banditry is known as a bandit and primarily commits crimes such as extortion, robbery, kidnapping, and murder, e ...
, leader of the
Flores Daniel Gang who was
lynched in November 1858 while awaiting trial for his involvement in the murder of
Los Angeles County Sheriff James R. Barton.
Biography
Together with
Juan Flores, Pancho Daniel led a band of fifty robbers in California.
In 1857, the gang was reported to have robbed and murdered a German shopkeeper named George W. Pflugardt. Sheriff James Barton investigated the murder and, despite being warned against pursuing the band, he began to search for them. They were ambushed by the gang and Barton was killed, along with four of the men with him. Pancho Daniel was eventually captured in January 1858, and brought to Los Angeles to await trial.
[
Daniel's defense attorney, Captain Cameron E. Thom, was dissatisfied with the jury that had been appointed for Daniel's trial, on the basis that he considered them unable to deliver an impartial verdict. When Judge Benjamin Ignatius Hayes dissolved this jury and appointed a new one, Thom insisted that the judge dissolve this one as well. Upon examining the third jury, Thom asserted that no jurors from ]Los Angeles
Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
would be able to be impartial in the case and requested for a trial in Santa Barbara County
Santa Barbara County, officially the County of Santa Barbara (), is a county located in Southern California. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 448,229. The county seat is Santa Barbara, and the largest city is Santa M ...
.[ At the inquest, the judge returned a verdict of 'death from strangulation, by a crowd of persons to the jury unknown'.][
California Governor John B. Weller labelled this lynching as a 'barbarous and diabolical execution', issuing a reward of $1000 for the arrest of the perpetrators.][ Despite this, those responsible were never identified.][
]
Further reading
See ''Gold Dust and Gunsmoke: Tales of Gold Rush Outlaws, Gunfighters, Lawmen, and Vigilantes'' (1999) by John Boessenecker.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Daniel, Pancho
1858 deaths
Lynching deaths in California
Outlaws of the American Old West
Criminals from California
Year of birth missing
Racially motivated violence against Hispanic and Latino Americans in California
Deaths by hanging
People murdered in 1858
People murdered in Los Angeles