 Whipple's party made good progress through Indian Territory (now Oklahoma), the Texas panhandle and the New Mexico Territory, reaching Albuquerque on October 5.After Albuquerque, they were joined by frontiersman Antoine Leroux who helped to guide the surveyors through the most difficult part of the journey to California.They reached California on February 7 after a near-disastrous crossing of the Colorado River then crossed the Mojave Desert and reached Los Angeles on March 20, 1854.