William W. Jenkins: Profile of a Ranger

This is the first of a series of profiles focusing on the life and times of Los Angeles lawmen during the 1850’s. While history books are filled with stories of how the west was won, they all seemed to have stopped at the O.K. Corral in Arizona. Unfortunately, little attention is given to the contributions of California lawmen, which lived in an equally violent environment. Most of the Los Angeles lawmen lived a violent life and died violently. Such is the case of Marshal Getman, who is introduced in this article. Jenkins is of interest because of his role in the first race related riot of Los Angeles and his colorful life afterwards.
 

Probably one of the most interesting characters in the early history of law enforcement for Los Angeles was William Wirt Jenkins. Born on October 12, 1833, in Circleville, Ohio, Jenkins and his family moved to California when he was 16. He is directly responsible for starting the first riot in Los Angeles, and later becoming involved in a dispute over land, which resulted in a two decade long feud complete with gunfights, nightriders, and house burning that left 21 people dead. Jenkins was skilled with guns, horses, cards and a knife; in fact, he always wore a vest that covered a sheathed knife. Skilled in the game of poker, he won his best hand on a pair of deuces for $1,000.00.
 

At age twenty, Jenkins began his career in law enforcement as a Deputy Constable in Los Angeles and later joined the famous Los Angeles Rangers, riding with notable local gunfighters like Horace Bell and William Getman.
 

In the book Reminiscence of a Ranger, Horace Bell recalls a Ranger excursion with Jenkins. It happened in the month of May 1853, when the Rangers were in pursuit of some Indians who stole horses from a ranch owned by Don Benito. Horace Bell remembers the incident as follows: We marched out in column of four, the brave author forming a column with the lamented Billy Reader, Bill Jenkins, and Cy Lyon. A more gallant quartette, judging from our respective opinion of ourselves, never rode forth to uphold civilization or cut down an infidel. Cy wanted to know if we thought we could scalp an Indian without dismounting. Poor Billy Reader said our commander was a Christian gentleman, and would not permit such barbarous acts. Billy Jenkins, who always had an eye to the substantial, said he had no intention of either killing or scalping, but he would like to capture about a dozen or so of stout young bucks, as he proposed to commence the planting and cultivation of a vineyard, and he begged us, his three comrades, to spare our prisoners for his sake.”
 

THE RIOT OF 1856

On Saturday morning July 20, 1856, Los Angeles City Marshal Billy Getman accompanied Court Constable William Jenkins to the residence of Antonio Ruiz for the purpose of searching the location for a stolen guitar. Mr. Antonio Ruiz happened to be a very popular and well-known man within the Mexican Community. Just a few months earlier, he had the honor of delivering the Mexican Independence Day speech at the Cinco de Mayo celebration.

Marshal Getman decided to wait outside while Jenkins entered the residence to look for the guitar and Ruiz. The landlady told Jenkins that Ruiz was not there, but would be back shortly.
 

While waiting for Ruiz, Jenkins did a quick search of the residence and found the guitar. On his way out, Jenkins showed the landlady his search warrant along with the guitar. The landlady remembered she had a few letters from her mother that she placed inside the guitar and asked Jenkins to remove them. Jenkins informed her that he could not do so without the Judge’s approval. The landlady was not happy with this and tried to grab the guitar from Jenkins, resulting in a struggle.
 

Antonio Ruiz now entered the room and upon observing the struggle, grabbed Jenkins from behind. Startled by the attack, Jenkins fired his pistol over his shoulder, striking Ruiz in the chest and mortally wounding him.
 

Needless to say, Ruiz’s death created an immediate uproar in the Mexican community that viewed his death as inexcusable and needless. They already felt Mexicans were overly harassed by law enforcement and used this tragic incident as a prime example.
 

The funeral for Ruiz was held on Monday morning, just two days after his death and had one of the largest processions the city ever witnessed. During the funeral, angry Mexican citizens gathered together to express their dismay at the unfortunate incident and felt oppressed by what seemed to be a double standard of justice. Since the incorporation of the city just six years earlier, it seemed that almost all of the hangings were of Mexican descent.
 

The next day, Jenkins surrendered himself to the Marshal and was placed in the city jail for safe keeping until he could post bail or go to trial. Later in the day, while Marshal Getman was making his usual checks around town, he discovered a plot to attack the city with the objective of hanging Jenkins. With the assistance of the Sheriff, Marshal Getman was able secretly relocate Jenkins to an undisclosed location for safekeeping.
 

Meanwhile, an emergency meeting was held by the Anglo population to discuss the town’s defense. They decided to do three things. First, all of the American families were to stay in town for safekeeping, with the though that there was safety in numbers. Second, they requested the assistance from the army asking them to send at least a battalion of men to occupy the town until the uprising was over. Finally, to supplement their Los Angeles Ranger unit, they asked the nearby city of El Monte to send some additional men. Within a few hours, 36 men from El Monte arrived in grand style and show of force, by quickly and loudly galloping into town to the applause of the American families.
 

At midnight, an angry mob, numbering two to three hundred and led by a Frenchman named Carriega, met at what is now Bunker Hill near downtown Los Angeles. So strong was the anti Anglo sentiment, that Mayor David Alexander felt it was too dangerous for any American official to be in the streets or confront the mob. Therefore, on behalf of the Mayor, a prominent Mexican citizen named Juan Padilla went to the hill to meet the mob in hopes of persuading them to disband.
 

Padilla spoke to Carriega, the leader of the group and asked him what their intentions were. Carriega responded that they did not intend to hurt anyone except Jenkins. He told Padilla that everyone in the mob felt the law was not administered equally to the poor or to the Mexicans. They were very much offended by the unjust manner in which Ruiz, an unarmed man, had been killed over a guitar. Rather than being killed one by one, they decided, it was better to be killed together. Carreiga concluded his remarks by turning to the crowd and yelling out, “I am a Frenchman, but at this time I am a Mexican!” The crowd responded enthusiastically and cheered at Carreiga’s comments.
 

Padilla was unsuccessful with his mission and returned to meet Marshal Getman, Deputy Peterson and six other armed citizens, whom were all waiting nearby. Padilla told the Marshal that he could not persuade the mob or Carreiga to stop their actions. He found out that they were about to attack the city and hang Jenkins. Marshal Getman immediately mounted his horse and stated, ȁlet me go and sound the alarm, my horse is the fastest.”
 

With the Marshal in the lead, he and his men quickly galloped into town, stopping at the entrance to Sanchez Street, which is located to the rear of the Pico house and directly south of present day Olviera Street. They proceeded down Sanchez Street and approached the Plaza with caution. When they reached the mouth of the street, next to the Pico corral, they silently surveyed the Plaza; everything appeared quiet.
 

Deputy Peterson dismounted his horse and quietly walked into the center of the Plaza to take a closer look. As he neared the center of the Plaza, about 20 yards away from Getman, Peterson could hear the hoof stomps of several horses approaching them from a distance, which meant the mob was quickly approaching the city.
 

Peterson ran back to Getman and told him that he could hear horses galloping toward them. Getman yelled back, ȁ Go on and raise the alarm!” This required Peterson to run across the Plaza to reach the church and ring the church bell. Anticipating trouble, Getman took out his double-barreled shotgun from the saddle holster, laid it across his lap and stood watch, concealing himself against the dark shadows of the corral, while Peterson quickly ran to the church. However, as Peterson got within a few feet of the church steps, fifteen men on horseback who were hiding behind the church charged out and blocked Peterson. Upon seeing this, Marshal Getman moved out from his hiding place and yelled out in Spanish, ȁQuien Viene?” or, “who goes there?”
 

Meanwhile, the mob led by Carriega, descended from the hill and upon entering the Plaza, began firing their guns at the Marshal who was now completely exposed. With the double-barreled shotgun leveled at the group, Getman immediately fired off a round, triggering a quick and furious gunfight. The mob fired back at the Marshal, simultaneously shooting 12-15 rounds with the last one striking Getman in his head, above the right temple. (It was later determined the bullet did not fracture the skull; rather, it scraped off a large piece of his skull.) The impact of the bullet caused Getman to fall from his horse
 

Marshal Getman’s men returned fire, which caused confusion with the advancing mob. Everyone began to scatter for cover in all directions. During the gunfight however, some of the mob continued to the jail and while riding past Getman, shot at him while he was dazed and lying on the ground. Deputy Peterson continued to shoot at the mob and yelled out for help from people in the nearby Montgomery Saloon. Several armed men who were inside the saloon waiting for the signal, heard Peterson and the commotion and ran into the plaza to assist them. Meanwhile, Marshal Getman managed to stand up and run down the street toward the Montgomery Saloon to safety.
 

With the majority of the citizens helping Marshal Getman, the mob had virtually no resistance from anyone in town so they regrouped and advanced to the jail. Fortunately, Jenkins was relocated earlier in the day to a safe place and was not found at the jail by the mob. Unable to carry out their plan to lynch Jenkins, the armed mob decided to leave town without further trouble. A few days later, Jenkins was tried for second-degree murder. The jury returned within five minutes with a verdict of not guilty and allowed Jenkins to return to work.
 

Shortly after this incident, Billy Jenkins, “who always had an eye to the substantial,” began a lifelong and questionable career as a businessman. His first business opportunity came when San Francisco’s streets were overrun with millions of rats. Jenkins saw an opportunity to make some quick cash and rounded up 100 stray cats, shipped them to San Francisco and sold them for $100.00 each. With his new money, he moved to the Newhall area with his fellow Los Angeles Rangers Cyrus and Stanford Lyons. The two brothers already built a stagecoach stop in Newhall.
 

THE RANGE WARS

Jenkins interest turned toward land and as a result became a famous local figure and legend. Horace Bell, for instance called him “The Baron of Alcatraz and Casteca” in his newspaper. This was the result of Jenkins trying to gain title for the island of Alcatraz, which he never received.
 

In 1872, Jenkins claimed a piece of land near the intersection of what is now called Lake Hughes and Castaic Road, in the city of Castaic. He called his ranch the Lazy Z, which had a section of Castaic creek running through it.
 

In 1880, Jenkins had a new neighbor named William C. Chormicle, who wore two six guns and carried a rifle. The feud between Jenkins and Chormicl began when Chormicle laid claim to 1,600 acres of land from the railroad, some of the same land that Jenkins ranched. Jenkins laid claim to the land years before and to enforce his claim sent three of his men to tear down Chormicle’s shack and put up a ranch house.
 

Unarmed, the three men drove two wagonloads of lumber to Chormicle’s shack. Chromicle and a friend opened fire and instantly killed two of the men, with the third dropping to the ground to avoid being shot, and grabbed the horse’s harnesses and used the two horses as cover by running along side of them as bullets hit them. After being struck several times with bullets, both horses fell dead. Although Chormicle and his friend turned themselves in, they were acquitted and set free.
 

In 1895, Jenkins decided to outfit a boat with wheels in order to “sail” government surveyors over a few acres of land that is now Magic Mountain and claimed the area to be swampland. At the time, the government was practically giving away swampland with the condition that you had to survey it by boat. To prove the land was swamp, Jenkins mounted a boat on wheels and had it pulled by a big, black horse.

His plan was foiled when local landowners, some that actually owned some of the land, reported him to government officials.
 

The range war temporarily stopped when President Teddy Roosevelt appointed Robert Emmett Clark a U.S. Forest Ranger to the area. His first assignment was to resolve the on going feud between Jenkins and Chromicle. This worked for several years, until 1913, when Clark left the Castiac area.
 

Shortly after Clark’s departure, a man working for Chromicle went to Jenkins ranch and shot Jenkins in the chest as he stood in the front doorway of his Lazy Z Ranch. Jenkins was 80 at the time and believe it or not recovered from his wounds. In 1918, not long after Jenkins recovery, Chormicle was shot to death; the locals suspected Jenkins.
 

As for Jenkins, he finally died in 1919 at the age of 84, with seven bullets still lodged in his body. He died of an illness while visiting his friends in Los Angeles, where his body was cremated.
 

Today, much of the disputed land now lies beneath 100 feet of water behind the Castiac Dam. In 1998, almost 80 years later, human remains in pine boxes were removed from Jenkins long forgotten family cemetery. Workers building a housing development in Castiac uncovered the remains of what some believe were victims of the range wars.
 

Jenkins was fortunate to live to the age of 84, a distinction not achieved by most of his fellow rangers and lawmen. When Jenkins retired to private life after the riot of 1856, Getman continued his career as City Marshall. A career that included high-speed horse chases, shootouts and his last act as a Marshal, when he encountered a mentally deranged man that resulting in one of the cities most violent shootouts. Getman is next in our profile of a ranger series.


They cited the Shelby incident and the numerous arrests of Mexicans in the first six months of the year. For instance, of the 110 arrest made that year, 57 were Mexican, while only 7 were white. Also, almost all of the recent hangings, with the exception of a few Indians, were men of Mexican decent. The Anglo citizens along with numerous prominent Hispanics attempted to address these concerns and argued that while 57 arrests were of Mexican decent only 14 were convicted in court.
 

See court of sessions, court docket 271, People vs Fernando Carriaga and Docket 278, people vs Vicente Guerro