Murrieta Spring is a historic

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 ...

flowing from the south bank of Cantua Creek, about 100 yards above where

El Camino Viejo El Camino Viejo a Los Ángeles ( en, the Old Road to Los Angeles), also known as El Camino Viejo and the Old Los Angeles Trail, was the oldest north-south trail in the interior of Spanish colonial Las Californias (1769–1822) and Mexican Alta Cali ...

crossed the Creek 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 ...

. The Spring formed a pool in the arroyo where it emerged from the foot of the eastern mountains 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 ...

, a mile above where formerly California State Route 33, now South Derrick Avenue, crosses Cantua Creek. This is where Harry Love and his detachment of California Rangers found the gang of

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 ...

at the spring and attacked them on July 25, 1853. Frank F. Latta, JOAQUIN MURRIETA AND HIS HORSE GANGS, Bear State Books, Santa Cruz, California. 1980. Years later wells drilled by the Lillis Ranch to provide water for livestock stopped the flow of water from the spring.

References

{{coord, 36, 24, 34, N, 120, 24, 20, W, display=title Springs of Fresno County, California History of Fresno County, California