Right at the end of the nineteenth century, when many people were holding their breath and acting more piously than usual (just in case God decided to end the world), a lowly young soldado near the Presidio of Santa Barbara was caught by two Indian women while he preformed a horrendous carnal act. His name was José Antonio Rosas, and his perfidious niche in history lies in the fact that he was the first person in California ever charged with “crimes against nature,” for fucking a mule he much adored. A confession was extracted only after it was threatened that if he would not admit to the deed, his beloved mule Perla would suffer even greater torments than he had at the hands of his interrogators. He declared that the devil had tempted him, which was what the judges preferred to hear rather than believe in the possibility of love between man and beast. Poor José, lonely and confused as he was, quickly received his sentence, which was upheld by the Viceroy’s courts in Mexico. He was to be hanged and his body to be burned, along with his Perla, who was judged to be guilty as well; a particeps criminis in her own right. Many turned out to witness the spectacle and to see Jose and his mule turn to smoke and ashes in a morbid last embrace. But both Rosas and the Mule were shot by firing squad first, as it was quite impossible to hang a mule. This story was told to all new vaqueros, soldiers and muleteers, to dissuade them should they get the urge to unload their dark desires upon the livestock.
The End
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Francisco Nieto Salazar is a native of Mexico who lives in Oakland, CA. He teaches writing and heresy to fifth graders. He is working on several short stories and a novel set at Mission Santa Cruz.