Jedediah Smith of the Rocky Mountain Fur Company was the first American to enter California overland. He started from the Yellowstone River, August, 1826, with a party of fifteen men. Their course was down the Colorado River to the Mojave, where they found two Native Americans, who guided them across the desert to San Gabriel Mission. Smith pioneered the route over the Cajon Pass, where he then joined the foothill route established by Anza, arriving at San Gabriel on November 27. California was part of Mexico at the time, so Smith was briefly arrested by the Mexican governor before being released.