 The only expeditions anywhere close to the Central Valley and Sierras were the rare forays by soldiers undertaken to recover runaway Indians who had escaped from the Missions.The "settled" territory of about 15,000 square miles (40,000 km2) was about 10% of California's eventual 156,000 square miles (400,000 km2) territory.In 1786, Jean-François de Galaup, comte de La Pérouse led a group of scientists and artists who compiled an account of the Californian mission system, the land, and the people.