 Francisco Garcés, the Spanish Franciscan missionary, traveled the trail with Mohave guides, after leaving the expedition of Juan Bautista de Anza in 1776.José María de Zalvidea, the zealous Franciscan administrator of Mission San Gabriel also crossed the trail in 1806, reportedly converting five indigenous Mohaves near present-day Hesperia.In 1826, Jedediah Smith led an expedition of the first US citizens to travel the Mojave Trail.