 Joaquín Murrieta, called the "Robin Hood of California", was a notorious outlaw during the California Gold Rush and a member of the Five Joaquíns. | |
| Years active | 1850-1853 |
|---|---|
| Territory | Mother Lode area, Sierra Nevada, USA |
| Leader(s) | |
| Activities | Horse theft, robbery, murder |
| Notable members | |
The Five Joaquins were a mid-19th-century outlaw gang in California which, according to the state legislature, was led by five men, identified as follows: "... the five Joaquins, whose names are Joaquin Murrieta, Joaquin Ocomorenia, Joaquin Valenzuela, Joaquin Botellier, and Joaquin Carrillo, and their banded associates."[1]
Operating between 1850 and 1853, during the California Gold Rush, the gang, joined by Murrieta's right-hand man, known as Three Fingered Jack, was reputed to have been responsible for most of the horse theft, robberies, and murders committed in the Mother Lode area of the Sierra Nevada. They were accused of stealing more than $100,000 in gold and over 100 horses, as well as killing at least 19 people, and had outrun three armed posses, killing three lawmen.[2] The gang is believed to have killed as many as 28 Chinese immigrants and 13 Anglo-Americans.[3]
On May 11, 1853, Governor of California John Bigler signed a legislative act creating the "California State Rangers," led by Captain Harry Love (a former Texas Ranger). Their mission was to capture the "Five Joaquins," named above. The California Rangers were paid $150 a month and stood a chance to share a $5000 reward for the capture of Joaquin Murrieta.[1]
On July 25, 1853, a group of Rangers, led by Captain Love, encountered a band of armed Mexican men near Panoche Pass in San Benito County, 50 miles from Monterey. A confrontation took place, and two of the Mexicans were killed. One was claimed to be Murrieta, and the other was thought to be Three-Fingered Jack. A plaque (California Historical Landmark #344) near the intersection of State Routes 33 and 198 now marks the approximate site of Murrieta's headquarters in Arroyo de Cantua, where he was presumably and officially ruled by the State of California to have been killed.[2] However that claim was soon disputed and has continued to be. However the result of that skirmish was that the gang was broken up, and its activities ended. Some of the members returned to Sonora, although many of the gang's members remained in California, some continuing their criminal carriers, many others became vaqueros on California ranches or followed other walks of life.
- ^ a b The Statutes of California passed at the Fourth Session of the Legislature, George Kerr, State Printer, 1853, p.194 An Act to Create a Company of Rangers
- ^ a b Paz, Ireneo (1925). Vida y Aventuras del Mas Celebre Bandido Sonorense, Joaquin Murrieta: Sus Grandes Proezas En California (in Spanish). Translated by Francis P. Belle. Chicago: Regan. Republished with introduction and additional translation by Luis Leal as Life and Adventures of the Celebrated Bandit Joaquin Murrieta: His Exploits in the State of California, Arte Publico Press, 1999.
- ^ Peter Mancall; Benjamin Heber-Johnson (2007). Making of the American West: People and Perspectives. Bloomsbury Academic. p. 270. ISBN 978-1-85109-763-0.