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Print An important piece of California history that was likely destroyed during the creation of the 405 Freeway in Irvine may finally be commemorated with a plaque after being on the state’s historic register for more than eight decades. The Irvine City Council voted this week in favor of installing a marker at Barton Mound, the famed site where L.A. County Sheriff James Barton and three of his men were shot to death in 1857 by outlaw Juan Flores and his gang. Flores, a convicted horse thief, had escaped from San Quentin prison and was heading south with his gang, “Las Manillas,” or the Handcuffs. Some media reports have said that about 150 outlaws and prison escapees rode with Flores, but local historian Eric Plunkett said there were only eight or nine members of the Flores gang. ....