 Before he went to the U.S., he had learned Spanish and English in addition to Swiss French.He and 35 Germans moved from the St. Louis area to Santa Fe, New Mexico, a province of Mexico, then moved to the town of Westport, now the site of Kansas City.On April 1, 1838, he joined a group of missionaries, led by the fur trapper Andrew Drips, and traveled the Oregon Trail to Fort Vancouver in Oregon Territory, which they reached in October.