Five Joaquins Gang, was the name that has been attached to the bandit gang led by five men named Joaquin, according to the State of California in 1853. The California state legislature considered this gang enough of a criminal menace to list the "Five Joaquins" by name on a bill passed and signed by Governor John Bigler on May 11, 1853. The legislature authorized hiring for three months a company of 20 California Rangers, veterans of the Mexican-American War, to hunt down "the five Joaquins, whose names are Joaquin Muriati, Joaquin Ocomorenia, Joaquin Valenzuela, Joaquin Botellier, and Joaquin Carillo, and their banded associates."[1] Joaquin Muriati was subsequently found to be one Joaquin Murrieta.
The Five Joaquins of the Five Joaquins Gang
editOf the Joaquins named by the bill of the California state legislature, three were were actual leaders in the gang, two others were only members.
- Joaquin Murrieta, a Sonoran, born in Pueblo de Murrieta, Sonora, was the head of this group of bandit bands.
- Joaquin Botellier, a Sonoran, born near Real de los Álamos, came to Alta California before the Gold Rush. He mined with Joaquin Murrieta, in Murphy's New Diggins and took up Murrieta's cause against the mob that lynched Murrieta's elder stepbrother Jesus Carrillo and whipped Joaquin. He became an active member of Joaquin's band of the Gang.[2]
- Joaquin Carrillo, Spanish born as Joaquin Manuel Carrillo before his father moved to Ures,Sonora from Spain. He was the younger brother of Jesus Carrillo. At age five, he along with his older brother would acquire the Murrieta name after his widowed mother remarried the Sonoran Joaquin Murrieta of Pueblo de Murrieta, soon to be the father of the famous Joaquin. Both were older Carrillo stepbrothers of Joaquin Murrieta and his younger brothers. Joaquin Carrillo Murrieta came to California before 1848 and wrote his stepbrother, Joaquin to bring members of the family to California when gold was discovered. He rode with Joaquin Murrieta to avenge his brother Jesus' lynching by a mob at Murphy's New Diggins and occasionally at other times. He operated the Murrieta rancho in Cañada Molina Vallejo with Joaquin Murrieta's brother-in-law Vincente Jesus Féliz and both watched over Rosa Féliz, Murrieta's wife who lived there following the attack on her and her husband Joaquin in the gold camp.[3]
- Joaquin Ocomorenia, the alias used by Jesus Valenzuela, born in Pueblo de Murrieta, he was the brother of Joaquin and Teodoro Valezuela and was like them a cousin of Joaquin Murrieta and his brothers and other Murrieta cousins. Jesus Valenzuela was member of the gang not a leader. After he killed a fellow Mexican in a gold camp he promised his brothers he would return to Sonora but he spent the money they gave him for the trip and stayed in California, running with the band of Tres Dedos. A garbled form of his alias, Joaquin Ocomorenia became known to the State Legislature and was put on the list of the Five Joaquins.[4]
- Joaquin Valenzuela, born in Pueblo de Murrieta, cousin of Joaquin Murrieta and his brothers, stepbrothers and cousins. Leader his own gang, in charge of gathering and organizing the droves of the gangs horses. Additionally he drove them south for the trade in horses from California to Sonora, along with his brother Teodoro Valezuela whose own band took the droves from Joaquin near the Rancho Cucamonga then drove them over the Sonoran Desert for sale in Sonora.[5]
Leaders of the Murrieta Gang and the known Members of their bands
editJoaquin Murrieta Band
edit- Joaquin Murrieta, born in Pueblo de Murrieta. Head of the Five Joaquins Gang, he led his own band.
- Joaquin Botellas, a Sonoran
- Reyes Feliz, Sonoran brother-in-law of Joaquin User:Asiaticus/sandbox/Reyes Feliz
- Pedro Gonzales (Murrieta's Band)
- Gregorio Yńigo, Sonoran from Caborca, packer for Joaquin Murrieta
- Juan Salgado, muletero and packer for Yńigo
- Lorenzo Melendez, muletero and packer
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Joaquin Valenzuela's band, Horse Garda
edit- Joaquin Valenzuela, born in Pueblo de Murrieta, brother of Teodoro and Jesus, all cousins of Joaquin Murrieta and his brothers. Leader of the horse gangs along La Vereda del Monte involved in gathering and driving the mustangs and stolen horses to the hand off to Teodoro's band near Rancho Cucamonga.
- Pedro Gonzales (Valenzuela's Band)
- Juan Mendez, Californio, from Las Juntas, vaquero, muletero and packer for Valenzuela. He escaped from the Battle of the Cantua, to Las Juntas and returned with a burial party. Latta, : 123
- Joaquin Juan Murrieta and Martin Murrieta, both born in Spain and brought to El Chinal, Sinaloa just east of Pueblo de Murrieta in childhood. They were distant cousins of Joaquin Murrieta through their mother. Heads of their own band, based in Rancho Merced, where they ran a packing business to the Southern Mines from Stockton.
- User:Asiaticus/sandbox/Joaquin Juan Murrieta (Five Joaquins) (Latta): 128, 129
- User:Asiaticus/sandbox/Martin Murrieta (Five Joaquins) (Latta): 129
- Flores Linares (Latta): 114
- Pio Linares (Latta): 115
- Teodoro Valenzuela, born in Pueblo de Murrieta, brother of Joaquin and Jesus Valenzuela, all cousins of Joaquin Murrieta and his brothers. Leader of the horse gangs of the Five Joaquins Gang involved in transporting the horses from near Rancho Cucamonga to Sonora for sale.
- Tres Dedos 3 fingers shown in varions ways were a sign of recogniton by the Five Joaquin Gang.
- Branding iron of the gang had 3 hills those of the Tres Piedras, on Joaquin Ridge.
- Three Fingered Jack (California)
- User:Asiaticus/sandbox/Three Fingered Jack (California)
- User:Asiaticus/sandbox/Emanuel Garcia (Three Fingered Jack) California Ranger Id. see San Joaquin Republican 8/11/1853, "The Capture of Joaquin" [9] : 473–476
- User:Asiaticus/sandbox/Bernardino Garcia (Three Fingered Jack) [10] : 81, 92, 94, 144–145, 149, 150, 153, 159, 160, 166
- User:Asiaticus/sandbox/Manuel Duarte (Tres Dedos), [11] : 101–105
- to [[Three Fingered Jack (California)] add
See Also
editAdd a see Also with it for:
- Three Fingered Jack (Jamaica), Jack Mansong (? - 1781), was the leader of a band of runaway slaves in Jamaica in the late eighteenth century. He was the subject of early 19th century English pantomimes, novels and an 1830 melodrama.
- Jack Dunlop (c.1872 – February 24, 1900), a Texan outlaw known as Three Fingered Jack.
References
edit- ^ 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
- ^ Latta, p.96
- ^ Latta, p.127-128
- ^ Latta, p.133-134
- ^ Latta, p.134-135
- ^ Latta, Horse Gangs
- ^ Latta, Horse Gangs
- ^ Latta, Horse Gangs
- ^ Latta, Horse Gangs
- ^ Seacrest, Man from the Rio Grande
- ^ Latta, Horse Gangs
Five Joaquins work
edit- Joaquin Botellas
- User:Asiaticus/sandbox/Joaquin Manuel Carrillo Murrieta (Five Joaquins)
- Jesus Valenzuela
- User:Asiaticus/sandbox/Jesus Valenzuela (Five Joaquins) Brother of Joaquin, Francisco and Teodoro Valenzuela, born in Pueblo de Murrieta, all cousins of Joaquin Murrieta and his brothers and step-brothers. Rode with Manuel Duarte (Tres Dedos).
- Joaquin Valenzuela from Latta
- User:Asiaticus/sandbox/Joaquin Valenzuela from Streeter
- Teodoro Valezuela
- ----
- User:Asiaticus/sandbox/Three Fingered Jack (California)
- User:Asiaticus/sandbox/Manuel Garcia alias for Bernardino Garcia? or Tres Dedos
- User:Asiaticus/sandbox/Manuel Duarte (Tres Dedos)
- Joaquin Juan Murrieta
- Martin Murrieta