Pete Kelley

The Quick and the Dead Pete Kelley

Between May 13 and June 28, in the year 1858, seven Californios were hung by vigilantes at the San Luis Obispo Mission. Another Californio was hunted down and shot by the same vigilante posse. Previously citizens of Mexico, these men were all Americans when their necks were stretched. The official story is that the vigilantes rid the county of murderous bandits, the so-called Powers-Linares Gang. My story is a little different. I focus on three main players: Walter Murray, Pio Linares, and Jack Powers. Was Walter Murray "The Good?" Jack Powers "The Bad?" and Pio Linares "The Ugly?" Let us dig deeper into that tumultuous time when California was taken from Mexico and bring those events into sharper focus.