Two versions of a news report from 1865.
            Transcribed and translated by Cynthia L. Chamberlin. 
 

1.  El Nuevo Mundo (2:137), 13 January 1865, p. 2.  Report of a woman who brought her lover’s murderer to justice in Mariposa County. Reprinted from the local newspaper Snellings Record, 7 January.

Title:  ‘An Amazon. How a Spanish-speaking woman¹ arrested the murderer of her lover and delivered him to justice.’

 

2.  La Voz de Méjico (3:433), 19 January 1865, p. 2.  Report on the murder of Antonio López y Camacho by Ramón Rosas in Merced, the latter arrested by Anita García.

Title:  ‘Treacherous Murder’.

 

History in the Raw Archives

El Nuevo Mundo (2:137), 13 January 1865, p. 2.  Report of a woman who brought her lover’s murderer to justice in Mariposa County. Reprinted from the local newspaper Snellings Record, 7 January.

Title:  ‘An Amazon. How a Spanish-speaking woman arrested the murderer of her lover and delivered him to justice.’

We have translated the following from the newspaper titled Snelling’s Record, of 7 January:

            “The Mexican man Ramón, the presumed killer of a countryman of his—an account of which event we printed in our previous issue—has been arrested and now is in the jail of this county. The circumstances undre which he was arrested do not fail to be romantic, due to the fact that the arrest was made by a Spanish-speaking woman called Anita. It seems well established that she was very much in love with Antonio—the dead man—and had sworn vengeance for his murder. Having learned that the agents of justice had determined to abandon pursuit of the murderer, this past Saturday she dressed in man’s clothing, mounted a magnificent horse, and—arming herself with pistol, rifle, and dagger—began her journey towards the mountains. A decisive Mexican accompanied her as an aide-de-camp. They first went to Hornitos, where they were given some indications as to Ramón’s lodgings. They followed the road to Coulterville, and from there to a Mexican camp situated upon the Merced River. Some way below that community, they found the individual they were seeking, in a cabin belonging to some Mexican miners. Anita and her comrade threatened him with their pistols; and, reflecting that discretion was the better part of valor, [Ramón] surrendered peacefully... Anita departed with her prisoner for Snelling; arriving there on Tuesday night, she delivered him immediately into the sheriff’s hands. Her entry into this town caused considerable surprise and wonder, a large number of people surrounding her. Some citizens went to the extreme of offering her their votes in the next election for sheriff. She conducted herself with dignity and decorum in everyone’s presence, and she left the town, doubtless much contented with the outcome of her expedition. Any young woman who desires to write a novel might be able to begin with the narration of these facts, taking as her heroine the amazon Anita, and send the story to the Ledger in New York. As for the unfortunate Ramón, he is enduring the horrors of jail and without a doubt is in agreement with the old saying that goes:  ‘There is no vengeance more terrible than that of a woman!’” 

La Voz de Méjico (3:433), 19 January 1865, p. 2.  Report on the murder of Antonio López y Camacho by Ramón Rosas in Merced, the latter arrested by Anita García.

Title:  ‘Treacherous Murder’.

On the 28th of December, a Mexican named Antonio López y Camacho was treacherously murdered in Río de la Merced by one Ramón Rosas, alias Bigmouth. 

            Rosas had a quarrel with Camacho, during which he suddenly took out a pistol and discharged a shot at him, and thereafter a fusilade into his face, causing him to die instantly. The dead man was a native of the state of Sinaloa, where he leaves many relatives.

            Some newspapers are reporting, as a notable incident, the arrest of the murderer and his delivery to the jail in Snellings by a Mexican woman named Anita García, the victim’s lady friend; who, as soon as she learned of the event, armed herself and went in pursuit of Rosas, succeeding in apprehending him and handing him over to the authorities.

            Once in jail, the guilty man appealed to several of his friends, asking for their protection in taking up a collection to pay the honorarium of a lawyer who might defend his case. We are written to from Hornitos for this purpose, urging us to open a subscription for his benefit; and indeed we have urged public charity on other occasions for the benefit of some innocent person. We cannot make this request, for by doing so we would be condoning crime.

            For when an individual of our race finds himself in trouble, and we hasten to help him, it is a noble act; it is moral; it is obligatory. But when we protect a criminal in any way, it is an act worthy of censure, immoral, which good sense and society condemn. We Mexicans, like all other people, must be jealous of our honor, in order to be respected by the public and protected by the laws of the country in which we are living. And if we wish to have the respect that is owed to us as industrious and civilized citizens, it is necessary for us to give a good example, providing demonstrations of our good sense and enlightenment.