Josefa Segovia

Josefa Segovia
Artist's impression of Segovia's hanging, from William Downie's Hunting for Gold, published 1893
LocationDownieville, California
Coordinates39°34′03″N 120°48′44″W / 39.56750°N 120.81222°W / 39.56750; -120.81222
DateJuly 5, 1851; 173 years ago (1851-07-05)

Josefa Segovia, also known as Juanita or Josefa Loaiza, was a Mexican-American woman who was executed by hanging in Downieville, California, on July 5, 1851.[1] She was found guilty of murdering a local miner, Frederick Cannon. She is known to be the first and only woman to be hanged in California.[2]

  1. ^ Ochoa, Oscar (2015). The California Crucible: Frontier narratives and the lynching of Josefa Segovia. Dominguez Hills, CA: California State University. p. 1.
  2. ^ Gutierrez, Margo, and Matt S. Meier. Encyclopedia of the Mexican American Civil Rights Movement. Greenwood, 2000. Print. p. 135-136.