For the first time, Road to California brings together the story of the search for a southern overland route to California by Spaniards, Mexicans and Americans. The book also tells about the response of Native Americans to the invasion of their lands. Some fought the intruders, but for three centuries most Indians welcomed, provisioned and assisted the intruders. The story ends in 1848 when discovery of gold in California's Sierra Nevada assured that the trails would be worn deep by the argonauts en route to the golden land.