Some 100 wagons reached Salt Lake City too late to cross the Sierra Nevada, joined together as the Sand Walking Co., and set out for California’s gold fields over the old Spanish Trail. After being in Death Valley with the ill-fated 1849 caravan, Harry Wade found this exit route for his ox-drawn wagon, saving his life and those of his wife and children. At this point the Wade party came upon the known Spanish trail to Cajon Pass.