Joaquin Ridge is a ridge in 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 ...

in Fresno County, California. The ridge is named for

Joaquin Murietta 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 ...

(1830-1853), a

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 ...

bandit, leader of the Five Joaquins Gang, who used this region as a rendezvous and camp that overlooked the gangs base at the Rancho de Cantua. The ridge is ten miles long, running from its high point at , east of Spanish Lake, eastward to

Joaquin Rocks Joaquin Rocks are a group of three pillars of rock, originally known as "Las Tres Piedras" (The Three Rocks), located on Joaquin Ridge, in the Diablo Range, in Fresno County, California. The Joaquin Rocks are at an elevation of , and are the mos ...

, and then southwestward to near 3,629-foot Black Mountain at the high point on the south southeast trending

Anticline Ridge The Anticline Ridge is a ridge, southeast of Joaquin Ridge, declining from its 3,629 foot / 1,106 meter high point, Black Mountain in the north at , to the southeast into low hills bound on the southeast by Los Gatos Creek that divides it from ...

. Joaquin Ridge is bound on the northeast by the Ragged Valley and the Big Blue Hills and on the southwest by Portuguese Canyon. Its highest elevation is , east of Spanish Lake. The most distinguishing feature of Joaquin Ridge is Joaquin Rocks, originally known as "Las Tres Piedras" (The Three Rocks). These three pillars of rock on the ridge are clearly visible on the ridge for many miles from many directions in the

San Joaquin Valley The San Joaquin Valley ( ; es, Valle de San Joaquín) is the area of the Central Valley of the U.S. state of California that lies south of the Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta and is drained by the San Joaquin River. It comprises seven c ...

and from their summits have a view of much of the valley. On the slope nearby just south of the Rocks at is Joaquin Spring, that until the 1950s was known as ''Valenzuela Spring'' named for

Joaquin Valenzuela Joaquin Valenzuela (c. 1820 – 1853 or 1858) was a Sonoran fortyniner who came to California in 1849, during the California Gold Rush, with a small band of people from the vicinity of their hometown with Joaquin Murrieta. He subsequently became o ...

one of the leaders of the Five Joaquins Gang, and the one responsible for running the gang's trade in stolen and wild horses with

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 ...

from their hidden ranch on nearby Cantua Creek.

References

{{coord, 36, 19, 48, N, 120, 34, 09, W, display=title Ridges of California Landforms of Fresno County, California Diablo Range