 From there mustangs were driven southward on various routes of La Vereda del Caballo through Southern California and across the Colorado and Altar Deserts into Sonora, Mexico.Following the American conquest of California and the California Gold Rush, horse and cattle thieves used the Vereda for herding stolen cattle and horses to markets north and south.The trail was also a favored route of bandits and other outlaws for moving unobserved.