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1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, CA 91108
Manuscripts
My own experience with the Vasques Bandits
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- Description
- This manuscript is Snyder's account of his experiences in the mercantile business in Monterey County, California beginning in 1872. He ran a "branch store" and a "hotell." At length and in detail, Snyder describes an incident where his store was robbed by armed "Spanyards," the leader of whom he names as "Vasques." The bandits shot and killed a partially deaf man when he did not heed their demands for him to submit, and shot a second man hiding in a nearby barn. After killing a third man, Vasques declares that "he had only one way to make a living and that was by robbing, and as long as other people had any money he intended to have his Share of it if he had to kill a man to gett it." The bandits did not kill Snyder because he "submitted." The bandits stole eleven horses, including one that had been a present to Mrs. Snyder, loaded them with the stolen goods, and rode away. Snyder called the aftermath "a Mournfull looking Site." He reports that Vasques was eventually captured in San Jose and hanged. With typewritten card containing a brief biography of Snyder.
