Joaquin Spring, on Joaquin Ridge in Fresno County’s Diablo Range, lies below Joaquin Rocks on the ridge’s southwestern slope. Originally called Valenzuela Spring until about 1950, it was later linked to Joaquin Murrieta, the Sonoran bandit said to have used this region as a rendezvous and hideout during the Gold Rush. Yet the spring’s older name may reflect a closer local tie to Joaquin Valenzuela, Murrieta’s cousin and an accused leader of the Five Joaquins Gang, who reportedly organized stolen and wild horses from nearby Cantua Creek. Joaquin Rocks likely served as a lookout, while the spring probably supplied water to the camp there.