The Five Joaquins were a midth-century outlaw gang in California which, according to the state legislature , was led by five men, identified as follows: " Operating between and , 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.
Their mission was to capture the "Five Joaquins," named above. A confrontation took place, and two of the Mexicans were killed. One was claimed to be Murrieta, and the other was thought to be Three-Fingered Jack.
A plaque California Historical Landmark near the intersection of State Routes 33 and 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.
However the result of that skirmish was that the gang was broken up, and its activities ended. Some of the members returned to Sonora, although many of the gang's members remained in California, some continuing their criminal carriers, many others became vaqueros on California ranches or followed other walks of life. Of the Joaquins named by the bill of the California state legislature, three were actual leaders in the gang, two others were only members.
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