Vasquez Rocks - Formed by rapid erosion about 25 million years ago and then was exposed by an uplift of the San Andreas fault. Vasquez Rocks is now a 932-acre park located in Los Angeles County and is about fifty miles from downtown LA. Best known as one of the hideouts for California bandit Tiburcio Vasquez during the last years of Vasquez and his gangs excursions in Southern California. After many robberies and holdups in Central California with several shootouts with authorities Vasquez escaped with his men and while traveling south towards Los Angeles discovered this unique rock formation and found it an excellent hideout. The tallest rock has a height of 150ft and turned out to be a good lookout point for any posse that came looking for the outlaw gang and they committed several robberies from that hideout base. Vasquez was finally caught when he traveled to what is now West Hollywood and hid out at the adobe home of "Greek George" Caralambo. While staying there he seduced his niece who became pregnant and someone in the family who was quite angry about that told the sheriff where he was. Vazquez was captured May 14, 1874 at the adobe and was eventually transferred to San Francisco where he was tried and convicted for robbery and murder.
Although Vasquez claimed he never killed anyone and likely never did, because some of his men had during various robberies he was convicted of murder and hanged. With his upper-class Californio background, Vasquez is thought to have been one of several sources for the bandit-hero character Zorro and oddly enough countless Hollywood western film and television productions have used Vasquez Rocks as their filming location.

Black wood frame with double matting