<P> Captain Fernando Rivera , moving north through Baja California , gathered horses and mules from the fragile chain of Catholic missions to supply his overland expedition . José de Gálvez had ordered Rivera to requisition horses and mules from the missions without endangering their survival and give the friars receipts for the number of animals taken ; those missions would later get restocked with animals brought over from the Mexican mainland . Friar Juan Crespí , selected as chaplain for the Rivera party and diarist for the Franciscan missionaries , traveled 24 days from Mission La Purísima , 400 miles ( 640 km ) north to Velicatá ( near the current town of Ramona ) , then the northern frontier of Spanish settlement in Baja California . There Crespí met up with the Rivera party , which set out from Velicatá on March 24 . Their mule and horse train , tended by three muleteers , carried 25 leather - jacket soldiers and 42 Baja California Christian Indians ( all men ) . </P>
<P> Captain Fernando Rivera , moving north through Baja California , gathered horses and mules from the fragile chain of Catholic missions to supply his overland expedition . José de Gálvez had ordered Rivera to requisition horses and mules from the missions without endangering their survival and give the friars receipts for the number of animals taken ; those missions would later get restocked with animals brought over from the Mexican mainland . Friar Juan Crespí , selected as chaplain for the Rivera party and diarist for the Franciscan missionaries , traveled 24 days from Mission La Purísima , 400 miles ( 640 km ) north to Velicatá ( near the current town of Ramona ) , then the northern frontier of Spanish settlement in Baja California . There Crespí met up with the Rivera party , which set out from Velicatá on March 24 . Their mule and horse train , tended by three muleteers , carried 25 leather - jacket soldiers and 42 Baja California Christian Indians ( all men ) . </P>
who led the first overland expedition to san diego
who led the first overland expedition to san diego
Fernando Rivera
Fernando Rivera