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For three days and 65 miles, the riders will travel through the heat and dust of the Central Valley to honor a man from the Gold Rush era who, depending on the point of view, was either a freedom fighter or a ruthless criminal. Their journey begins in Cantua Creek, a rural community in Fresno County, where California Rangers claimed to have shot and killed Joaquin Murrieta in 1853. As proof, they cut off his head and pickled it in a jar. The nearby California Historical Landmark marker declares Murrieta “a notorious bandit,” but a plaque at the local convenience store hails him as “El Patrio,” the patriot. “For us Mexican horsemen, he is like our hero,” explains Arturo Barajas, one of those assembling for the journey. “We can’t say he’s a saint, but he’s pretty close.” The journey is the 46th annual three-day cabalgata, or horse pilgrimage, named after the famous Mexican cowboy who once roamed these lands. Blasting mariachi music, Barajas pulls his truck into a field behind the convenience store, where a small group of riders will spend the night. It’s July 24, the eve of the 172nd anniversary of Murrieta’s death. While Murrieta was a real person, the events of his life are wrapped in myth.