Background
Sylvester Pattie and his son, James Ohio Pattie, led a trapping expedition to New Mexico in 1824. In 1827, the Patties, along
with Nathaniel Pryor, Richard Laughlin, William Pope, Isaac Slover, Jesse Ferguston, James Puter and several others left Santa
Fe on a trapping expedition that led into Arizona and California. The party reached the junctions of the Colorado and Gila
rivers on December 1, 1827. Being told by the Yuman Indians that there were Christians down river, the party began following
the Colorado River southward. On February 16, 1828, the party buried their traps and furs and started westward across the
Baja desert. They reached Santa Catarina Mission on March 12, 1828. Ten days later, the party was arrested as Spanish spies
by a wary Mexican governor, Jose de Maria Echeandia, and brought to San Diego. Sylvester Pattie died while imprisoned at the
San Diego Presidio on April 24, 1828, and the remainder of the party was held captive until February 1829. The deceased expedition
leader is credited as being both the first leader of an American expedition across the Southwest to California, and as the
first American buried in California soil.