Major Fremont and the California Battalion marched from San Diego to join Commodore Robert F. Stockton in the first occupation of Los Angeles on August 13, 1846. California's governor Pio Pico, fleeing to Mexico to avoid capture by the Americans, later reported that Fremont had camped at the home of Jose Antonio Yorba III near this site while Pico hid at Santa Ana Viejo, now known as Olive.