The first camels came to Australia from the Canary Islands in 1840. Nine camels were brought for the purpose of aiding the exploration of John Horrocks. None of these initial â¦ camels survived, although the first one lived for six years-long enough to shoot Horrocks.hese were the predecessors of today's wild camels. Camels continued to be brought over by later explorers. It was not uncommon for the explorers and/or the Afghan cameleers to release their camels, or for the camels to escape.
The expedition arrived in San Diego on May 14, 1769, the first overland party to reach Alta California. The next day, on May 15, Gaspar de Portola and Father Junipero Serra set out across the rugged, arid land of Baja California with a contingent of soldiers and Baja mission Indians.
This location had been favored by the PortolÃ¡ expedition in 1769. They had given their campsite the name La Hoya de la Sierra de Santa Lucia. This valley, at the foot of the Santa Lucia Mountains was known by Serra as the Valley of the Oaks (Los Robles). Establishment of Mission San Antonio de Padua was the third mission founded in the 21 mission chain in Alta California. The original founding site lay one and one half miles south of the present church. The original location had to be abandoned in 1773 due to drought, and the new site was chosen on the east bank of year-round Mission Creek.