Tiburcio Vasquez, a 19th century outlaw, is remembered in
historical accounts as a notorious criminal who terrorized
southern California. But one school district in California wants
to remember him another way: as a hero to the Hispanic community
who fought back against injustice. The Alisal Union School
District set off a controversy last month when it announced that
an elementary school in Salinas to be opened this year will be
named after Vasquez. The move has led some local leaders,
including the Salinas mayor, to criticize the controversial
choice. "We had a young man killed in Afghanistan who was from
the Alisal area. He would have been a nice person to name the
school after," Mayor Joe Gunter said Wednesday. "There's a lot
of good people we could name a school after, in my opinion."
According to a biography culled together by the University of
Southern California, Vasquez was "probably the most notorious
bandit California ever saw." Vasquez turned to a life of crime
as a teenager and served time in San