On the drive to Stockton... - 6/18/2014

We always try to hit one of two sites as we drive to or from my folks house.  Today we tried to hit two sites, but one of them is eluding us for the second attempt!
We did manage to find Arroyo de Cantua (CHL 344).  

The rocks 14 miles away from this plaque east of Coalinga were said to be the headquarters of Joaquin Murrieta, a bandit or "Robin Hood" figure, depending on which side of history you are on.  He was a Mexican man who came to California during the Gold Rush to seek his fortune.  He found that life wasn't easy here for folks of Mexican descent and experienced a great deal of racism.  He turned to a life of questionable activities-- stealing horses and selling them to Mexican ranchers.

Near this site in 1853 he was killed by a posse of state rangers led by Captain Harry Love.  Captain Love was the leader of California's first law enforcement agency, the California State Rangers.  The story goes that they killed Murrieta, cut off his head and preserved it in brandy.  They then sent it to large cities where people could pay money to see it.  The sister of Murrieta said that she didn't think the head was that of her brother since it didn't have a scar on it that he had, causing many to doubt that Love had actually killed him.  He died penniless on his estranged wife's property and was buried in an unmarked grave.  ECV gave him a headstone in 2003.

photo via findagrave.com