Rolling up smoke, rubbing the grog out of their eyes.

Coming in from the rising sun – a part of tale that sounds romantic enough, but as with much of the Murrieta mythology, is dispelled by Latta, pointing out the geographical unlikelihood. It is more probable that they were dozing on watch and Love and Company got the drop and woke them with the barrel end of a six shooter. By accounts, they were then tied to a tree, where, if they didn’t see, they certainly heard, the gun battle below at Cantua Creek. Approaching the campfire, Lieutenant Connor notes in his report that Tres Dedos is seen putting something in the coffee grinds, presumably a bag of gold, and is gunned down with seven balls, and then the rest of the shooting begins. This has always been a point of interest to me, coming from accounts later scribed in reports (both Love’s and Connor’s), for Murrieta’s trove, one that every one of the Rangers were aware of, and no doubt had designs upon, was a half a ton in nuggets, and the dust recovered in the bottom of the overturned coffee pot was worth less than the price of one California Mustang. And yet, it is turned in, as perhaps some means of justification for the raid. This should not surprise one, for if one was after a pile of already stolen money, you are not going to admit to even knowing of its existence, let alone, reporting the find, however, to bring the attention to the concealing of gold, throws the whole issue up to speculation, as if to say: see, we could have easily kept this a secret and kept the gold, but we didn’t, as if in a way defending their integrity against accusation – I will take up the fate of Joaquin’s treasure, as it is of central importance to the story, in another post.

To continue with the ill fated Ochovo and Lopez, Antonio Lopez was older and of harder constitution, it was Ochovo who started talking, according to Latta, almost as soon as he was apprehended. The both of them, along with the infamous head and dismembered hand, were escorted by Col Henderson, first to Stockton, and then to Benicia, where Ochovo was thrown in jail. Lopez, on the other hand, didn’t make it that far. He became a casualty in the swamps of Tulare. As the party traversed around lake, he drowns, apparently overturning on the back of his horse, like a boat keeling over. This is about as unlikely a scenario as one could come up with. The manner in which he was tied, similar to the way the sheriff would tie up a drunk to keep him from falling out of the saddle as he’s carted off to jail, by hog tying the feet under the belly of the horse, is believable, but how this led to his death, ironically, does not hold water. The problem here is that Lopez is as skilled as any of these vaqueros, and he wasn’t drunk, Latta states he was athletic in demeanor, and to remain overturned, in a swamp, for the length of time it would take to drown, raises problems. The way Avelano Martinez tells it, (interviewed by Latta), Lopez would sooner die than be interrogated, He knew that in the end, the result would be a noose, regardless. There are other possibilities. Ochovo spilled the beans, why? it must have been under coercion, or other persuasive means. Lopez was of no use to the Rangers, because he knew when to shut up, and was probably defiant in character. If, as the account states, he accidently drowned, the question then becomes, ‘how did that happen on your watch?’ At minimum, he was not a closely guarded prisoner, wandering around in the Tulare Slough, then overturning somehow and held under water. Where there screams as he struggled for air? And what happened to the horse? Bottom line, Lopez drowns under questionable circumstances, leaving Ochovo, who is already running at the mouth, shackled in irons, at times to Henderson, and let to the jail in Benicia. The night they arrive, according to newspaper sources, it is decided to move him to Martinez, for his own safety. For those not apprised of the geography, Martinez is across the Carquinez Straight from Benicia, and no small undertaking to row the prisoner across, so there must have been a well-founded reason. My question is, where does Henderson get his information? The ‘intel’ must have been credible, or they wouldn’t have taken the trouble to move him. Despite the move, the threat is made good the following night, by a gang, presumably Murrieta’s allies, who strung him up from the nearest oak, until his knees were knocking and his tongue turning. There are two reason offered, both openly referred to in the news at the time. Simply put: dead men don’t talk. Either revenge for violating the bandit code of silence, or to prevent an incriminating testimony. The blame is placed on Murrieta men, who presumably ran the risk of guilt by association. I will point out that this was by no means ‘paranoia’, as the vigilante action in California was at its notorious high point in 1853. There is another possible explanation, which is pure speculation: Ochovo knew that it wasn’t Murrieta’s head, and sooner or later, a guy who talked so freely would let the cat out of the bag and confirm what Love knew, what Henderson knew, and certainly what Bill Byrnes knew, that Murrieta, at this point, was very much alive. The consequences of such a disclosure would ruin the reputations of all the Rangers, some of the most prominent lawmen in the state. Either way, neither of these two lived to tell, or even pass the age of thirty, in these unlawful times