Books>Review
The Trial of “Indian Joe”: Race and Justice in the Nineteenth-Century West
University of Nebraska Press
On the night of October 16, 1892, a double homicide occurred on Otay Mesa in San Diego County near the Mexican border. The victims, an elderly couple, lived on a farm on the edge of the mesa. The crime occurred around 6:00 p.m. and within minutes neighbors subdued and tied up the alleged killer José Gabriel. Since he was apprehended at the scene, everyone presumed his guilt. The local press, prosecutors, witnesses, and jurors labeled Gabriel with the epithet “Indian Joe.” Authorities quickly tried, convicted, and condemned him to death. This book traces the murder trial through the handling of the case by the prosecution, the defense, judge and jury, an examination of the crime scene, the imaging of “Indian Joe,” and concludes with the execution of José Gabriel at San Quentin Prison. The evidence seems to leave little doubt about the defendant’s guilt. But why would a sixty-year-old handyman, who had lived and worked in the San Diego area for two decades, suddenly kill two people he had known for over a year? It is possible that he did not. Gabriel left neither oral nor written comments about himself or the crime. Like most Native Americans of the time, Gabriel’s voice has remained silent. This is Gabriel’s story.
“McKanna very skillfully weaves the extensive trial transcript into a highly readable narrative while at the same time injecting very interesting information on capital punishment, juries, judges, and even the literary treatment of Indians . . . . This is high-quality history at its evidential best.” John R. Wunder, author of Retained by the People: A History of American Indians and the Bill of Rights
“McKanna is at his best analyzing what he calls The Illusion of ‘Indian Joe.’ The trial transcript reveals that the defendant was rarely addressed by his proper name. The prosecution, defense, judge, and members of the jury routinely used the sobriquet ‘Indian Joe.’ This dismissive term reflected the dominant culture’s view of the California Indian as ‘Diggers,’ an extremely primitive people who were an impediment to civilization . . . . The name ‘Indian Joe,’ and all the other demeaning appellations created by white Californians, carried the full weight of centuries of misunderstanding and conflict between Native peoples and whites in North America.” James J. Rawls, Pacific Historical Review
“In The Trial of “Indian Joe,” McKanna narrows his study of racial bias against non-white criminal defendants to a single trial which he presents so meticulously that it is virtually seen under a microscope. McKanna persuasively argues that the defendant was found guilty and put to death because he was falsely demonized as an evil Indian. Racial assumptions about the defendant’s character unfairly tainted both the investigation and trial of the case. Despite conflicting evidence raising doubt about his guilt, the Indian was doomed the moment he entered the courtroom . . . . McKanna’s book is not only well researched but also beautifully written. It is a cautionary tale from the nineteenth century that is relevant today. In the last decade numerous wrongfully imprisoned people have been ordered released from death rows across the country as a result of DNA testing.” Paul Bryan Gray, author of Foster v. Pico: The Struggle for the Rancho Santa Margarita