"[1] Operating between 1850 and 1853, during the California Gold Rush, the gang, joined by Murrieta's right-hand man, known as Three Fingered Jack, was reputed to have been responsible for most of the horse theft, robberies, and murders committed in the Mother Lode area of the Sierra Nevada.

The California Rangers were paid $150 a month and stood a chance to share a $5000 reward for the capture of Joaquin Murrieta.

[1] On July 25, 1853, a group of Rangers, led by Captain Love, encountered a band of armed Mexican men near Panoche Pass in San Benito County, 50 miles from Monterey.

A plaque (California Historical Landmark #344) near the intersection of State Routes 33 and 198 now marks the approximate site of Murrieta's headquarters in Arroyo de Cantua, where he was presumably and officially ruled by the State of California to have been killed.

Of the Joaquins named by the bill of the California state legislature, three were actual leaders in the gang, two others were only members.