The commander of the first overland expedition, Fernando Rivera y Moncada, was waiting at Velicatá, 350 miles south of San Diego. Gálvez had ordered captain Rivera to requisition horses and mules from local Baja California missions without endangering their survival, giving the missionaries receipts for the exact number of animals taken. Those missions would later get restocked with animals shipped from Mexico across the Gulf of California. Franciscan friar Juan Crespí, chosen as chaplain and diarist for the Rivera party, left his post at Mission La Purísima to join Rivera at Velicatá. On March 24, 1769, Rivera, Crespí, 25 leather-jacketed soldiers, 42 Baja Christian Indians, and 3 muleteers began their journey, driving a large herd of cattle, horses and mules. They arrived in San Diego on May 14, where the "San Carlos" and "San Antonio" awaited them.