Harry Love (1810 – June 29, 1868) was the head of California's first state-wide

law enforcement agency A law enforcement agency (LEA) is any government agency responsible for the enforcement of the laws. Jurisdiction LEAs which have their ability to apply their powers restricted in some way are said to operate within a jurisdiction. LEAs ...

, the

California Rangers The California Rangers were California's first statewide law enforcement agency, formed in 1853 to deal particularly with the outlaw gangs troubling the Gold Country during the early 1850s, and was commanded by Harry Love (lawman), Captain Harry Lov ...

, and became famous for allegedly killing the notorious bandit

Joaquin Murrieta Joaquin Murrieta Carrillo (sometimes spelled Murieta or Murietta) (1829 – July 25, 1853), also called the Robin Hood of the West or the Robin Hood of El Dorado, was a Mexican-American figure of disputed historicity. The novel '' The Life and A ...

. The California Rangers were also considered to be part of California's early state militia, the predecessor to the current

California Army National Guard The California Army National Guard (CA ARNG) is one of three components of the California National Guard, a reserve of the United States Army, and part of the National Guard of the United States. The California Army National Guard is composed o ...

, with Love holding the rank of Captain within the state.

Early life and career

Love was born in

Vermont Vermont () is a state in the northeast New England region of the United States. Vermont is bordered by the states of Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, and New York to the west, and the Canadian province of Quebec to ...

and left home at an early age to become a sailor. He eventually ended up in

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

and allegedly joined the Texas Rangers. Love fought in the

Mexican–American War The Mexican–American War, also known in the United States as the Mexican War and in Mexico as the (''United States intervention in Mexico''), was an armed conflict between the United States and Mexico from 1846 to 1848. It followed the 1 ...

and was likely mustered into federal service with the

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cl ...

with other Texas Rangers in order to fight in the war, following the annexation of the state in 1846. According to limited accounts, he served as a scout, an army express rider, and also led an exploration up the

Rio Grande The Rio Grande ( and ), known in Mexico as the Río Bravo del Norte or simply the Río Bravo, is one of the principal rivers (along with the Colorado River) in the southwestern United States and in northern Mexico. The length of the Rio G ...

.Secrest, William B., The Man from the Rio Grande, Arther H. Clark Co., Spokane, 2005

To California and the pursuit of Joaquin Murrieta

In 1850 during the

California Gold Rush The California Gold Rush (1848–1855) was a gold rush that began on January 24, 1848, when gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California. The news of gold brought approximately 300,000 people to California fro ...

, Love came to California to seek his fortune but was unsuccessful in the mines. Instead, he became a

Deputy Sheriff A sheriff is a government official, with varying duties, existing in some countries with historical ties to England where the office originated. There is an analogous, although independently developed, office in Iceland that is commonly transla ...

in Santa Barbara, California. Later in 1852, he also worked as a

bounty hunter A bounty hunter is a private agent working for bail bonds who captures fugitives or criminals for a commission or bounty. The occupation, officially known as bail enforcement agent, or fugitive recovery agent, has traditionally operated outsid ...

, hunting for three mounted men seen in the area, thought to be the killers of Allen B. Ruddle, an unarmed young man robbed while traveling in a wagon to Stockton. To earn the large reward for the capture of these men, put up by Ruddles family, Love and a partner, tracked the three riders to

Rancho San Luis Gonzaga Rancho San Luis Gonzaga was a Mexican land grant in the Diablo Range, in present-day Santa Clara County and Merced County, California given in 1843 by Governor Manuel Micheltorena to Juan Carlos Pacheco and José Maria Mejía. The grant was bo ...

at the foot of

Pacheco Pass Pacheco Pass, elevation , is a low mountain pass located in the Diablo Range in southeastern Santa Clara County, California. It is the main route through the hills separating the Santa Clara Valley and the Central Valley (California), Central Val ...

then one of them with another man to Buenaventura in

Santa Barbara County Santa Barbara County, California, officially the County of Santa Barbara, is located in Southern California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 448,229. The county seat is Santa Barbara, and the largest city is Santa Maria. Santa Barba ...

. There in June 1852, they captured the one of two men they had followed, Pedro Gonzalez, later found to be a member of

's gang, who had been accused of murder. However, at the Cuesta del Conejo, Love killed Gonzalez when Gonzalez tried escaping custody during a water stop on the way to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

. With his reputation from the war and this success under his belt, Love was named as the commander of the

. The unit was created on May 11, 1853 by Governor

John Bigler John Bigler (January 8, 1805November 29, 1871) was an American lawyer, politician and diplomat. A Democrat, he served as the third governor of California from 1852 to 1856 and was the first California governor to complete an entire term in office, ...

specifically to capture or kill the "

Five Joaquins 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 Valen ...

" gang, who had been identified as being responsible for over 20 murders, and numerous robberies and horse thefts in California's

Gold Country The Gold Country (also known as Mother Lode Country) is a historic region in the northern portion of the U.S. state of California, that is primarily on the western slope of the Sierra Nevada. It is famed for the mineral deposits and gold mines ...

in just the early months of 1853. For two months, the Rangers rode through the region seeking information on Murrieta and the other Joaquins, all while apprehending various other criminals. However the Five Joaquins seemed to have vanished from the goldfields, so Love tried looking on the far side of the

Diablo Range The Diablo Range is a mountain range in the California Coast Ranges subdivision of the Pacific Coast Ranges in northern California, United States. It stretches from the eastern San Francisco Bay area at its northern end to the Salinas Valley are ...

, and near San Juan Bautista he encountered and arrested Joaquin Murrieta's brother in law Jesus Feliz. Love promised Feliz he would be freed if he led Love and his Rangers to Joaquin Murrieta. On July 12 after writing a note to the Governor, Love made a deceptive march southward in the

Salinas Valley The Salinas Valley is one of the major valleys and most productive Agriculture, agricultural regions in California. It is located west of the San Joaquin Valley and south of San Francisco Bay and the Santa Clara Valley. The Salinas River (Califo ...

to throw spies off their track, then at night backtracked and next day moved southeastward along the San Benito valley and into the Diablo Range to the Rancho Real de Los Aguilas. From there they followed

La Vereda del Monte La Vereda del Monte (Spanish language, Spanish for "The Mountain Trail") was a backcountry route through remote regions of the Diablo Range, one of the California Coast Ranges. La Vereda del Monte was the upper part of La Vereda Caballo, (Spanish fo ...

to a point overlooking the

Arroyo de Cantua Cantua Creek, formerly in Spanish Arroyo de Cantúa, was named for José de Guadalupe Cantúa, a prominent Californio Ranchero in the 19th-century Mexican era of Alta California. The creek was formerly a tributary of the Fresno Slough, in years ...

, the gang's hideout and headquarters on July 21. There they had gathered hundreds of stolen horses and unbroken mustangs and over 80 men who were getting the horses branded and ready to drive them to

Sonora Sonora (), officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Sonora ( en, Free and Sovereign State of Sonora), is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the Administrative divisions of Mexico, Federal Entities of Mexico. The state is d ...

for sale. After dismissing Feliz, Love and the Rangers rode down into the valley of the Cantua. There they rode among these "mesteñeros" and picked out seven or eight horses with brands by which they recognized them as stolen, then told them that they would be returning to San Juan and rode back ten miles, intending to observe these men. On the 24th the Rangers returned to find the camp deserted, they then moved three miles down the valley and hid themselves until 2 AM when they saddled up and rode down the valley to the southeast.San Joaquin Republican, August 11, 1853, THE CAPTURE OF JOAQUIN, quoted entirely in

Frank F. Latta Frank Forrest Latta (1892–1983), was a California historian and ethnographer of the Yokuts people. He also wrote histories of the early European-American settlement of the San Joaquin Valley. Early life Frank Forrest Latta was the son of Presbyte ...

, Joaquin Murrieta and His Horse Gangs, Bear State Books. Santa Cruz, California. 1980. On morning of July 25, 1853, Love and 20 of the Rangers encountered a small group of men south of

Panoche Pass Panoche Pass is a mountain pass within the Diablo Range in San Benito County, California connecting the southern extremity of the Santa Clara Valley in the west to the Panoche Valley and San Joaquin Valley in the east. The name ''Panoche Pass'' i ...

at the point where

, emerged from the foothills, in Mariposa County, (in what is now

Fresno County Fresno County (), officially the County of Fresno, is a county located in the central portion of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 Census, the population was 1,008,654. The county seat is Fresno, the fifth-most populous city in Cali ...

), about 100 miles (160 km) away from the Mother Lode and 88 miles (141 km) away from

Monterey Monterey (; es, Monterrey; Ohlone: ) is a city located in Monterey County on the southern edge of Monterey Bay on the U.S. state of California's Central Coast. Founded on June 3, 1770, it functioned as the capital of Alta California under both ...

. A confrontation occurred and four of the men were killed, two captured and three escaped. It was claimed by the Rangers that one of the dead men was Murrieta and another, Manuel Garcia (who the Rangers dubbed "Three-Fingered Jack"), Murrieta's right-hand man. The Rangers cut off the heads of both men as well as Garcia's hand as proof, sending them by fast riders ahead of the main force to Fort Miller. Murrieta's head and the hand were preserved in

brandy Brandy is a liquor produced by distilling wine. Brandy generally contains 35–60% alcohol by volume (70–120 US proof) and is typically consumed as an after-dinner digestif. Some brandies are aged in wooden casks. Others are coloured with ...

, but Garcia's head, shot through with a bullet decayed too rapidly in the summer heat, forcing them to bury it at Fort Miller, near Millerton. The jars were displayed in Mariposa, Stockton and

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

and traveled throughout California, where spectators could, for $1, see the remains. Seventeen people, including a priest, signed

affidavit An ( ; Medieval Latin for "he has declared under oath") is a written statement voluntarily made by an ''affiant'' or '' deponent'' under an oath or affirmation which is administered by a person who is authorized to do so by law. Such a statemen ...

s identifying the remains as Murrieta's and Love and his Rangers received the reward money. However, a young woman claiming to be Murrieta's sister said she did not recognize the head and argued that it could not be his since it did not have a characteristic scar on it. Additionally, numerous sightings of Murrieta were reported after his reported death. Many people criticized Love for showing the remains in large cities far from the mining camps, where Joaquin might have been recognized. It has even been claimed that Love and his Rangers killed some innocent men and made up the story of the capture of Murrieta to claim the reward money. Doubts about Murrieta's capture followed Love for the rest of his life. The head and hand were eventually lost in the

1906 San Francisco earthquake At 05:12 Pacific Standard Time on Wednesday, April 18, 1906, the coast of Northern California was struck by a major earthquake with an estimated moment magnitude of 7.9 and a maximum Mercalli intensity of XI (''Extreme''). High-intensity sha ...

Later life

Having accomplished its mission, the

were disbanded and Love purchased a large tract of land near

Boulder Creek, California Boulder Creek is a small rural mountain community in the coastal Santa Cruz Mountains. It is a census-designated place (CDP) in Santa Cruz County, California, with a population of 5,429 as of the 2020 census. Throughout its history, Boulder Cr ...

, in Santa Cruz County, along the creek that bears his name today. In 1854 he married his neighbor, the widow Mary Bennett. Mary had also lost a son, killed in a gunfight by a son of

Isaac Graham Isaac Graham (April 15, 1800 – November 8, 1863) was a fur trader, mountain man, and land grant owner in 19th century California. In 1830, he joined a hunting and trapping party at Fort Smith, Arkansas that included George Nidever. Graham ...

, a pioneer of that area. Love's marriage to Mary Bennett was rough and she soon moved away to Santa Clara. They reconciled and separated several times until 1866, when she sued for divorce, but lost. However, by the following year, fires, floods, and

squatter Squatting is the action of occupying an abandoned or unoccupied area of land or a building, usually residential, that the squatter does not own, rent or otherwise have lawful permission to use. The United Nations estimated in 2003 that there ...

s had destroyed Love's property, leaving him homeless and in debt. He moved to his wife's ranch and lived in a house that she had built for him. She never let him live with her, however, and he plotted to kill her

bodyguard A bodyguard (or close protection officer/operative) is a type of security guard, government law enforcement officer, or servicemember who protects a person or a group of people — usually witnesses, high-ranking public officials or officers, w ...

, who was ordered to keep him from seeing her. On June 30, 1868, Love showed up on the porch of his wife's house in Santa Clara, where he was not allowed. When Mary and the bodyguard arrived, a gunfight broke out and Love was shot in the arm. Doctors attempted to save his life by amputating his arm, but he still died. Mercuryarticle

Love was buried in an unmarked grave in what is now Mission City Memorial Park in Santa Clara. In 2003 members of ''

E Clampus Vitus The Ancient and Honorable Order of E Clampus Vitus (ECV) is a fraternal organization dedicated to the preservation of the heritage of Western United States, the American West, especially the history of the Mother Lode#California Mother Lode, Mother ...

'' laid a

headstone A headstone, tombstone, or gravestone is a stele or marker, usually stone, that is placed over a grave. It is traditional for burials in the Christian, Jewish, and Muslim religions, among others. In most cases, it has the deceased's name, da ...

for him.

Headstone

Harry Love's monument is located at the Mission City Memorial Park, 420 N Winchester Blvd., Santa Clara, CA 95050 Harry Love (lawman) headstone 2019

The

epitaph An epitaph (; ) is a short text honoring a deceased person. Strictly speaking, it refers to text that is inscribed on a tombstone or plaque, but it may also be used in a figurative sense. Some epitaphs are specified by the person themselves be ...

reads:Mountain Charlie Chapter No. 1850.
ECV1850 Plaque: Captain Harry Love.
' Obtained Nov. 18, 2006

HERE LIES CAPTAIN HARRY LOVE, WHO WITH A TROOP OF TWENTY OTHERS,
ON JULY 25, 1853 ALLEGEDLY KILLED BANDITS JOAQUIN MURRIETTA AND
THREE FINGERED JACK NEAR ARROYO DE CANTUA, FRESNO COUNTY, CALIFORNIA.

BORN IN VERMONT, LOVE FIRST VISITED ALTA CALIFORNIA AS A SEAMAN IN 1839.
HE SERVED IN THE MEXICAN WAR OF 1846 AND LATER AS AN ARMY EXPRESS RIDER
AND EXPLORER OF THE RIO GRANDE. LOVE ARRIVED IN SAN FRANCISCO IN
DECEMBER OF 1850 AND TOOK RESIDENCE IN MARIPOSA COUNTY. HE WAS
COMMISSIONED AS CAPTAIN OF THE CALIFORNIA RANGERS ON MAY 28, 1853
AND IN THE FOLLOWING YEAR MARRIED MARY McSWAIN BENNETT OF SANTA CLARA.
CAPTAIN HARRY LOVE DIED IN THE MISSION CITY ON JUNE 29, 1868
FROM A WOUND RECEIVED IN A GUNFIGHT WITH AN EMPLOYEE
OF HIS THEN ESTRANGED WIFE. ERECTED JUNE 29, 2003
BY MOUNTAIN CHARLIE CHAPTER #1850 & JOAQUIN MURRIETA CHAPTER #13,
E CLAMPUS VITUS.

In popular culture

The 1998 film ''

The Mask of Zorro ''The Mask of Zorro'' is a 1998 American swashbuckler film based on the character of the masked vigilante Zorro created by Johnston McCulley. It was directed by Martin Campbell and stars Antonio Banderas, Anthony Hopkins, Catherine Zeta-Jone ...

'' depicts a fictionalized account of Love's capture of the Murrieta gang. Here a character named Harrison Love (

Matt Letscher Matthew Letscher is an American actor, director and playwright, known for his roles as Captain Harrison Love in the 1998 American swashbuckler film ''The Mask of Zorro'' and as Colonel Adelbert Ames in the 2003 American film '' Gods and General ...

) leads a party of California State Rangers who shoot down two notorious bandits Joaquin Murrieta (who is killed) and "Three-Fingered Jack" (who survives, but is killed later). In the film, after Joaquin's death, his (fictional) brother, Alejandro (

Antonio Banderas José Antonio Domínguez Bandera (born 10 August 1960), known professionally as Antonio Banderas, is a Spanish actor and singer. Known for his work in films of several genres, he has received List of awards and nominations received by Antonio Ba ...

), becomes the new Zorro and later kills Captain Love in revenge. As he did in the movie, the actual Harry Love preserved Murrieta's head and Jack's hand in large, alcohol-filled glass jars.

References

External links

What's the story on Joaquin Murieta, the Robin Hood of California?
{{DEFAULTSORT:Love, Harry People from Vermont Law enforcement workers from California 1810 births 1868 deaths Deaths by firearm in California People from Santa Cruz County, California