The Legend of Zorro began in 1919 when Johnston McCulley, a 36-year-old former police
reporter, wrote The Curse Of Capistrano. His story first appeared in the August 9 issue of
the pulp magazine, All-Story Weekly. The Curse Of Capistrano is set in early 19th
century California and tells the story of Don Diego de la Vega, the son of a rich land
owning Californian family. Johnston’s Diego acted dainty and would rather read poetry
than participate in anything that involved violence. Diego’s behavior however, was only
an act. For when night fell he became Zorro(‘fox’ in Spanish), a fighter of evils, a righter
of wrongs. Much like Robin Hood, Zorro was a defender of the weak and oppressed.
McCulley may have been inspired by a number of California legends, including the
infamous bandito Joaquin Murieta. Murieta was a miner who struck back at the
gold-seeking gringos who overran the Mexican settlement of San Andreas. Regardless of
who McCulley’s inspirations were, the public fell in love with his Zorro. They devoured
the first few installments of The Curse Of Capistrano, and All-Story and Johnston
McCulley knew they had a hit on their hands which was bigger than anyone could’ve
imagined.