One source postulated that Marino Leyba, known as the Sandia Mountain Desperado, was born in Bernalillo in July 1857. As a youth, he was something of a hellion in the villages east of the Sandia Mountains. Several sources agree that one of his favorite antics was racing through various communities on horseback and shooting chickens as he went. He graduated to more serious crime when he was involved in the murder of Col. Charles Potter in October 1880.