Wednesday, 3d. We waited till Capt. B. came up, and all started for Marsh’s about noon; arrived at the St. Joaquin and crossed it — distance 13 miles — found an abundance of grass here. The timber was white oak, several kinds of evergreen oaks, and willow — the river about 100 yds. in width.

Now it is just a matter of continuing across the valley and the Coast Range for a few more miles. “Cheyenne” Dawson recalled:

The next morning, under the guidance of Jones and the Indian, we left the river we had been following [the Stanislaus], struck northwest, crossed the San Joaquin river, and camped on the further side.

They probably crossed the river about five miles west of Tracy. Then the next day they can continue northwest towards Mt. Diablo until they reach March’s rancho.