In 1829 Antonio Armijo and 60 men set out from New Mexico to California in search of a new trade route, following established Native American trails through dry, rugged country for 86 days until reaching Gabriel Mission near Los Angeles on January 30, 1830. The journey proved lucrative as they traded woolen goods for horses and mules and, after returning to New Mexico, sold their stock at premium prices, encouraging others to pursue the same opportunity. Later expeditions to California followed more northerly routes with better water resources, and these various routes, including Armijo's original one, were collectively designated the Old Spanish National Historic Trail in 2002. Antonio Armijo, only 25 years old at the time of his expedition of 1829-1830, became known as a successful trader, returned with his parents from New Mexico to California in 1831, and soon married Dolores Engracia Duarte y Peralta, daughter of an influential California rancher. Through these family connections, Antonio and his father secured a 13,000 acre land grant for a ranch near Napa in 1840, and as a wealthy landowner he received the title of Don and became a Califórnio until his death in 1851. Despite romanticized images of wagon travel on the Old Spanish Trail, most caravans from 1829 to 1847 crossed the rough terrain with pack mules or horses, with pack mules especially valued for carrying heavy cargo in adverse conditions, navigating varied ground, and moving in long mule-trains with loads of up to 300 pounds each.