El Coyote (character)

The Spanish editions

The Hero and the Novels

California was incorporated into the USA in 1848 as a result of the Mexican-American War 1846-1848 (after some turbulent years as part of Mexico and even twice as a short-lived independent republic), and registered as the 31st State of the United States in 1850.

El Coyote's identity

César de Echagüe (the III - with Mexican and Spanish roots) was a wealthy, elegant Californio nobleman, resident at the large 40.000 hectare ranch, San Antonio, just north-east of Los Angeles. He had an affable, charming appearance - lazy, comfortable, cynical and sceptic, and with false superficiality. He was educated and refined, a master of expression, and a practical, pragmatic man. Behind his facade he doubled as El Coyote, a masked vigilante hero and defender of the weak - fighting for freedom, honesty and justice. Coyote protected the original Hispanics (and the native Indians) of California from the Anglo Americans, and certainly from all "bad ones". Mallorquí did address the Afro American question only briefly. The stories continued the mythical traditions of Robin Hood, Dick Turpin, and The Scarlet Pimpernel - published in 1905, which was the very first popular novel with the "double identity" plot. Zorro found its way to the public in 1919, but El Coyote became even bigger - in Spain. Other early famous masked heroes were The Shadow, debuting 1930 and 1931, and the Spider 1933. Also debuting in 1933, Superman, and in 1936 The Phantom - Phantom (comics), plus Batman in 1939 and Captain America in 1941, were comic strip heroes - no novels.

Coyote's appearance

Coyote wore a black (mostly illustrated as dark blue, also in the comics - and sometimes brown) Mexican, decorated charro costume. He had high black boots (mostly outside the trousers) and a decorated sombrero, a black shirt - neither blue nor red - although most drawings show a white shirt (on the Scandinan covers blue), with a black (sometimes shown as red or blue) silk scarf or a red tie. He also had a broad black silk belt (sometimes illustrated as a red silk one - although mostly as an American brown belt), plus two holstered revolvers hanging low on a "double" ammunition belt. Some illustrations show only one revolver with ammunition belt and holster - others two revolvers on one holster. He also had a knife - and a rifle, a lasso and a Mexican sarape on his horse - and he wore gloves. The mask covered more of his upper face than shown on most of the fine drawings by Francisco Batet (and especially by several others). The Scandinavian covers presented a relatively large mask (illustrated by Harald Damsleth). In at least one of the early pulps Mallorquí wrote he wore "Mexican peasant clothes" (black - shown brown on some early illustrations). Coyote had two "marks" - one was shooting at an ear lobe of his villains, one was a drawing of a wolf's head on messages.

The original Spanish novels

The novel series mostly comprised the years from December 1851 (and with Cliper number 6 from early 1865) to around 1875. Published in Spain, they originally consisted of 120 volumes 1944-1951 - the last titled Alias el Coyote in March 1951. The novels were not always strictly chronological. One of the last in the first series, El hogar de los valientes, was an 1854 adventure. Another example was the 1850/1852 (extended, 6 pesetas) story El diablo, Murrieta y el Coyote, Cliper novel number 100. There was also the very late La gloria de don Goyo (which told a story of April 1865 - late civil war era soon after César's "second arrival" in Los Angeles, where the Bella Union and Fort Moore were two frequently featured establishments in the novels). A late original Cliper novel, the six-year-celebration novel La casa de los Valdez and its sequel, told a story César picked up in Spain in 1857 about César I (his grandfather arriving in California in 1767 - the story begins and ends in 1872 at home at the San Antonio ranch). Simultaneously published were 10 Numero Extra (1945-1946), including a reedited version of the original 1943 pulp El Coyote (issued as Edicion Cliper Extra #0 in 1945) and the Especial of 1946 noted below (no numbering at all). The Extras told stories of pre-1851, early (and also late) 1850s and mid/late 1860s. Later came 62 "reformed" Nuevo Coyote (still on Cliper 1951-1953) - the first published in mid 1951 (Vuelve el Coyote) and telling later, new stories - some intervening in the old chronology (some relating to 1872) - and with a pocket size, turning from 19,7x14,7 cm and 64 pages to 15,5x10,7 cm and 128 pages. The last Nuevo Coyote was titled Los asesinos llegan a Monterrey, aka El Coyote Los asesinos van a Monterrey.

International publishing

The early "Coyote" novels were published in 16 countries in nine different languages. Italy published all 192, often with the same covers as Cliper and with the later ones (with non-Cliper covers) illustrated by Emilio Uberti (and especially Sergio Tarquinio inside). Germany published 84 novels, mostly with Batet's original Cliper illustrations - plus reeditions (different publishers) with new illustrators. Finland had 78 volumes, mostly with Batet illustrations. The original editions in Norway, Denmark and Sweden (with no illustration inside) often had identical covers (special unique ones made for these three countries 18x12 cm). The illustrations on the Scandinavian editions, by Harald Damsleth, are by many ranked as the finest. Only one of the Cliper cover illustrations was "recycled" in Scandinavia - the original Cliper cover of Huracán sobre Monterrey was "covered" by Damsleth in the Swedish (and Norwegian) versions of Plomo en una estrella, which actually was a circa 1874 story, featuring the father and his grown-up son in San Lorenzo Valley (fictional Farish City), not fitting chronologically with the other later Swedish novels. Brazil, often Batet and Bernal covers (but also several others), published all novels in different editions, except for the high-ranked (extended, 6 pesetas) Extra Especial on the elder Don César de Echagüe.

The ten Numero Extra

Although the Extras, numbered 0-8, and the Extra Especial (no number at all - 6 pts) on Ediciones Cliper - all issued during the very first years (1945–46) - did not have any of the other first 120 novels' issue numbers, they have later "entered" the 192 numbering - just like the "Nuevo Coyote" series (which was originally numbered 1-62 on Cliper).

Main Plot and Characters

César was born in Los Angeles (originally called "el Pueblo de Nuestra Señora la Reina de los Ángeles"), which he left around late 1843 for Mexico and later Havana (Cuba) to study and "become a man". He "officially" returned in December 1851, described in the very first novel, El Coyote, although operating as El Coyote in California several times before that, secretly leaving Mexico during his years abroad.

César de Echagüe alias "El Coyote"

In Mallorquí's first novel, El Coyote, one can trace that César must have been born around 1827 (the novel says he was 25 by his arrival in Los Angeles in late 1851). One can read about Coyote's debut in La primera aventura del Coyote. an early Extra novel, where César was inspired by a masked female actress and by the Zorro legend when he started operating as El Coyote. Coyote later told his son, "El Cuervo", in the stories on César Jr's adventures of late 1972 (when Jr was around 17 years old), that "El Coyote" debuted even younger than his son, long before aged 20.

Coyote's original family

Coyote's father, who had experienced the turbulent years of Spanish and Mexican California, was Don César de Echagüe (II), who found out Coyote's true identity just prior to his death soon after César's first marriage. César's sister Beatriz (aka Beatrice) was born in 1833 - she married Washington resident, political employee and member of the U.S. government, Edmond Greene (aka Edmonds or Edmons, nicknamed Edmondo), who spoke fluent Spanish. Both knew of Césars double identities (Edmond from late 1851 - Beatriz soon after) and settled in Washington in 1853 (although later often visiting California). César's first wife Leonor de Acevedo (aka Leonora/Leonore) was born around 1830 (on yet another big ranch nearby San Antonio - and was betrothed to César already as a child). She became aware of Coyote's double identity by the end of the very first written novel. They married in 1852 during a two years period of Coyote retirement. She died around late 1856, when César Jr was born. Jr called himself El Cuervo (no mask), the Raven, from around late 1872 - although he later abandoned it. César (Coyote) left Los Angeles again directly after his wife's death (even travelling to Europe and Spain) for several years (handing over the child-care to maiden Guadalupe Martinez).

Coyote's second wife

César was abroad again (Europe this time) during 1857-early 1865. Long before his official return in the spring of 1865 César secretly worked as Coyote, and outside California as unmasked José Martinez, after only a few years abroad - one adventure was specifically dated 1859, La sombra del Coyote (with a preface of 1849). At least for a while during the civil war (1861–65) César secretly worked as a neutral Union (northern) Commander at a San Carlos, San Diego fortress under the alias of "Delharty" (shortly before his second return to L.A. in early 1865 - encouraged by Edmond Greene to return home), working to keep California out of the war, helping both northernness and southernness in El Capataz del Ocaso and its sequels (where César looks back from the mid 1870s to the last year of the war). Guadalupe was nicknamed Lupe/Lupita (aka Guadelupe). She was the daughter of Julian Martinez, Coyote's very first close allied (from 1851) and chief servant (and foreman) at César's father Don César's ranch. Julian died just prior to Guadalupe's marriage. Lupe was born in 1835 and married César around late 1870 - in El Diablo en Los Angeles. She and Julian had known of César's double identity from very early on - Julian was told by Coyote (probably even before 1851 - and Lupe found out by "accidental coincidence" in 1853 - La vuelta del "Coyote"). César's and Lupe's child Leonorin was born in 1871 - and fosterchild Eduardito (Gomez de la Mata) that same year (in Rapto). Guadalupe later became de Torres (Julian's real name) and suddenly - in 1872 (El código del Coyote and its sequels) - was even much richer than César, inheriting a huge farm (Rancho del Todo) in Coahuila in north Mexico, where she had to spend several months each year with her daughter (the formal heiress) to claim her rights. In around 1875/76 she gave birth to a son (Nuevo Coyote Apostando su vida).

Coyote's allies

Coyote had some interesting early allies (friends). Among the first (besides Julian) were the Lugones brothers - Los Lugones - Juan, Timoteo, Evilio, and Leocadio (originally four, but Leo died early) and the old Indian woman Adelia. They helped Coyote from the very first beginning through all the years, and did not know about Coyote's real identity. Two other characters, though, knew - Ricardo Yesares and Matias Alberes. Yesares (from Paso Robles in San Luis Obispo), Coyote's sub/double throughout the years from 1865 (who Coyote had saved from "unfair" hanging that year) debuted in El otro "Coyote", ediciones Cliper number 6 - the first adventure in Coyote's "second arrival". Ricardo was born around 1839/40, and married Serena Morales in Los Angeles in 1866, where he had become the owner of Hotel del Rey Don Carlos III (Coyote's new and "secret headquarters"). Coyote's closest allied from 1865 was César's servant (and "bodyguard"), the deaf Indian Matias Alberes (who even sometimes acted as a third Coyote, and was a Coyote allied at least up to around 1874 - he even was featured with Pedro Bienvenido in Los apuros de don César and later novels). Gunman Mario Lujan (who initially was an enemy of Coyote in Al servicio del Coyote) helped him several times in later novels (and ended up as foreman at the San Antonio ranch). César Jr (the heir of the Acevedo farm) had two good friends in Joao da Silveira and César de Guzmán. He met them in around late 1872 (El Cuervo en la pradera). The skilled Indian Pedro Bienvenido (who was some kind of mind-reader) became an important allied of Coyote and his son César de Echagüe y Acevedo soon after (he debuted in La reina del valle, also featuring Analupe de Monreal).

Other early Coyote characters

Several of the novels' characters appeared throughout the series. Among them, Fray Jacinto at the mission station San Juan de Capistrano, who knew of Coyote's identity (and tried to get César to marry Lupe - he was the only one knowing Julian's true background). He was murdered in late 1872. Later there was Fray Anselmo at San Benito de Palermo. Don Goyo Paz fought in the Mexican-USA war and was a ranchowner not too far from San Antonio - Los Lugones were hired bodyguards at Don Goyo's. His son Gregorio Paz was to marry Guadalupe, but "El Diablo" forced César to marry her instead. There were solisitor José Covarrubias, doctor Garcia Oviedo, and Los Angeles sheriff Teodomiro Mateos - sheriff twice (1860s and 1870s), and in later years one of César's best friends. Former civil war spy Ginevra St. Clair appeared in 1869 (El exterminio de la Calavera, where César fell in love with her, but she died). There also were three more adventurers who appeared in several novels - Chris Wardell, "El Diablo", and "Princess Irina" (she debuted in Otra lucha in early 1870, and soon tried to charm César, but ended up as the partner of "El Diablo" after César's marriage). All three started out as some kind of enemies of Coyote. Anita was Guadalupe's maiden, and San Francisco chief vigilante Captain Farrell became a good friend of Coyote. Another noble ranchowner was Don Rómulo Hidalgo (with his son Justo). In the novels there were of course also a lot of villains - Coyote's worst and toughest enemy probably was Robert Toombs (featured in Guadalupe and its sequels around 1872). Several novels were adventures in sequels (one special long one was Coyote´s adventures with Analupe De Monreal around 1873).

Films

Comics and Radio

El Coyote had a comic series adaptation in Spain, Cliper comics - 113 in the first series by Jose Mallorquí and Francisco Batet (from 1947 up into 1953) with a total of 189 adventures up to 1955, plus 14 more (2a Epoca) later on - with a late revival 1983 on Comics Forum, and even later Batet's originals on Agualarga hard-bound. There was also a long-running Spanish radio series on SER with many episodes, featuring Vicente Mullor.