[1][2] In accordance with Spanish tradition, Vásquez's birth was celebrated on the saint’s feast day of his namesake, St. Tiburtius; thus, he always referred to his birthday as August 11, 1835.

He grew up in a moderately well-off, middle-class family who owned land, granted to them by the Mexican government, due to his father’s military service as a Spanish soldier.

This left many Mexicans feeling slighted and forgotten; Vásquez would later claim that his (eventual) crimes were retribution for discrimination by the settlers and white norteamericanos (‘North Americans’), insisting that he was a defender of Mexican-American rights.

[9] In 1856, a sheriff's posse caught up with Vásquez while he was rustling horses near Newhall, and he spent the next five years behind bars in San Quentin prison.

After numerous bandit raids, Vásquez was shot and badly wounded in a gunfight with Santa Cruz police officer Robert Liddell.

Sheriff John H. Adams from San Jose pursued the band to Southern California; Vásquez escaped after a gunfight.

With his two most trusted men, he rode over the old Tejon Pass, through the Antelope Valley, and rested at Jim Hefner's ranch at Elizabeth Lake.

Vásquez was popular in the Mexican-American community, and had many friends and family members from Santa Rosa in Northern California to Los Angeles in the south.

[17] Heading towards Bakersfield, Vásquez and gang member Clodoveo Chávez rode to the rock promontory near Inyokern now known as Robbers Roost.

Pursuing posses from Los Angeles almost trapped the gang in the San Gabriel Mountains, but once again, Vásquez and his men escaped.

[19] Vásquez took up residence at the adobe home of "Greek George" Caralambo in the northwest corner of Rancho La Brea, located 200 yards (183 m) south of the present-day Sunset Strip in West Hollywood.

Greek George's adobe was situated near the present-day Melrose Place in West Hollywood, very close to where the movie industry set up shop a few decades later.

His trial had taken four days and the jury deliberated for only two hours before finally finding him guilty of one count of murder in the Tres Pinos robbery.

For quite a long time after his death, popular culture tended to regard Vásquez as a mere dangerous bandit of the Southwest.

[24] With his refined manners, Californio background, and affection for the ladies, Vásquez is thought to have been one of several sources for the bandit-hero character Zorro.

Armand Alzamora (1928–2009) played Vásquez in the 1957 episode, "The Last Bad Man" of the syndicated anthology series, Death Valley Days, hosted by Stanley Andrews.

The segment focuses on Vásquez's early life of crime, his hatred for the US takeover of California, the prison escape, and his hanging at the age of 39.

Through the lens of satire, Valdez uses the life story of Vásquez not just as a storytelling device to critique the traditional mythology of Manifest Destiny but also harmful stereotypes towards Mexican-Americans.

As with Valdez’s other works, themes of poverty and discrimination against Californios like Vásquez are used to draw attention to the intergenerational socio-political problems that face the Chicano community to the current day.

[29] The trunk and knife that belonged to Vásquez are on display at the Andres Pico Adobe in Mission Hills, part of the San Fernando Valley Historical Society collection.