Joaquin Spring, originally known as Valenzuela Spring, is a

spring Spring(s) may refer to: Common uses * Spring (season), a season of the year * Spring (device), a mechanical device that stores energy * Spring (hydrology), a natural source of water * Spring (mathematics), a geometric surface in the shape of a ...

Joaquin Ridge Joaquin Ridge is a ridge in the Diablo Range in Fresno County, California. The ridge is named for Joaquin Murietta (1830-1853), a California Gold Rush bandit, leader of the Five Joaquins Gang, who used this region as a rendezvous and camp that o ...

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 spring is located on the southwestern slope of the ridge, about 500 feet below

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 ...

, at an elevation of .

History

This spring was originally known as Valenzuela Spring until about 1950. It was subsequently named for

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 ...

, a

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 ...

n bandit in California 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 ...

who used this region as a rendezvous and hideout from around 1850 to the time of his alleged death nearby at Murrieta Spring on July 25, 1853. This name change was an error, in that Joaquin Murrieta was only one of the five accused leaders of the Five Joaquins Gang, named Joaquin that could be found there. Frank F. Latta, JOAQUIN MURRIETA AND HIS HORSE GANGS, Bear State Books, Santa Cruz, California. 1980. The one leader most responsible for the Gang in the vicinity of the spring was

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 Joaquin Murrieta's cousins. It was he who organized the gathering and drives of the Gangs stolen and wild horses to

from their nearby rancho and hideout on Cantua Creek. Among other uses for Joaquin Rocks, the Valenzuela band of the Gang would post lookouts on the Rocks to observe the valley below and probably got the water for their camp there, at that spring. It may have been the memory and stories told of him among the surviving gang members of Valenzuela's band and

mesteñeros Mesteñeros, or mustang runners, were people in Western North America in the 19th and early 20th century, usually vaqueros or cowboys, that caught, broke and drove wild horses, called mesteños or mustangs, to market in the Spanish and later Mexican ...

that sold their horses to the Gang, who lived and worked long afterward on the ranches of 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 in the Diablo Range that gave the spring its original name.

References

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