The Troubled Path of Julian Chavez

 

Every now and then, a name surfaces in the archives that perfectly illustrates the revolving door of early California reform. Julian Chavez was one of those cases.

By his own admission, Chavez claimed he was an orphan, that he had been sent to an orphanage in Watsonville and was told he would remain there until he was old enough to support himself. At just 13, he was arrested for stealing, but authorities sent him back to the orphanage. He would not remain there much longer, as he continued down a dangerous path that eventually led the juvenile court to sentence him to Preston.

He first landed at the Preston School of Industry in 1917, serving a 20-month sentence. He had a bad habit of taking things that did not belong to him, whether it was clothing, jewelry, or money. He was eventually paroled from Preston in 1918, but his freedom did not last long. By 1919, he was back at Preston for another eight months only to escape! This was not his first time slipping through the cracks. He had already attempted to escape before, a detail that says plenty about how chaotic his early years were.

While there, he “proved incorrigible and made his escape on several occasions, having been the target for the guard’s rifle on one break for liberty.”

But what came next is what pushed his story into the newspapers.

In 1920, the headline “Chavez Admits Pickerill Thefts” appeared in the pages of the Hanford Daily Sentinel. According to the report, Chavez, only 19 years old at the time, confessed to burglarizing the home of County Clerk Ernest F. Pickerill. The stolen jewelry did not simply vanish into a local pawn shop; instead, authorities traced it to a larger, more complex burglary syndicate operating between San Francisco and Los Angeles. This was a network of professional thieves who knew exactly how to move stolen goods without leaving a trail. Chavez refused to name his accomplices, but investigators made it clear he was already well entrenched in that world.

Chavez’s past finally caught up with him when he was arrested for the burglary of the county clerk’s home and ultimately sentenced to one to fifteen years. On April 13, 1920, Chavez was sent to San Quentin. When he arrived, the captain of the guard receiving the prisoners recognized him, as he had previously worked at Preston.

“Well, Julian, this is where I thought you would wind up before long,” he told Chavez as he was being admitted.

While on the train to San Quentin, Chavez confessed to the sheriff that although he had been with the group that robbed the county clerk’s home, he claimed he was not the brains of the operation. He did admit, however, that all the diamonds were removed from their settings, the gold was melted down into bullion, and the stolen goods were taken to a fence.

Later, he was transferred to Folsom. He served only two years before being paroled on February 7, 1922—and then immediately deported. Despite telling authorities he was from New Mexico, records suggest he was not a legal resident.

Chavez’s story is a stark reminder of how many young men cycled through Preston. Some of the young men decided to make changes for the better, while others such as Chavez had no intention to change. Once out, he would be pulled back into the same patterns that first brought him there. His life, documented through court records and old newsprint, shows that sometimes the idea of “reform” wasn't always successful. To Chavez, it appears that the harsher realities waiting outside Preston’s gates seemed more enticing to him than living an honest existence.

(Copyright- 2026- J'aime Rubio www.jaimerubiowriter.com)