Historic Pinole: Gunfight Between Chilean Desperado and Rancher

This week's Historic Pinole reads like a crime drama involving a gang of outlaws and a rancher. It also reads like slapstick comedy, with wayward gunshots and some choice dialogue that belongs in a spaghetti Western movie. The headlines above the article are about Civil War battles far away, but a Sacramento newspaper judged this event worthy of reporting. We can only guess the exact location of the ranch in question and the rancher's first name. Neither are mentioned. The article is from the June 29, 1864 editon of the Sacramento Daily Union newspaper, which relayed an account from the Oakland News. We post it with the original spelling and punctuation, but we've changed the spacing to make it easier on the eyes. As always, the vocabulary adds entertainment value...more