The Day Jack Powers Turned Outlaw — Willard Thompson

Jack Powers, a New York Bowery native and veteran of the U.S. Army of occupation of California during the Mexican War was a flamboyant man. He hob-nobbed with politicians and gamblers, and was reputed to be the best horseman in a land of great horsemen.

But when Powers decided to settle down, he made the mistake of squatting on what he thought was vacant land when in reality if was part of a huge Mexican land grant. The Santa Barbara sheriff formed a posse to evict him and that's when the shooting and stabbing started. From that day forward, Powers and his men turned to a life of murder and robbery.