The Jesuits were told by Cochimi visitors to Loreto of potential agricultural land across the nearby Sierra de la Giganta.In May 1699 Francisco Maria Piccolo, along with a dozen Cochimí guides and ten Spanish soldiers, crossed the mountains on horseback and entered the valley the Indians called Biaundó, about 20 kilometres (12 mi) inland from the Gulf of California.[1] In October 1699, Piccolo returned with a contingent of Spanish soldiers and Indian converts and began to construct the mission."[3] The Cochimí were nomadic and semi-nomadic hunter-gatherers who dwelt in the austere deserts and mountains of the central portion of the Baja California peninsula.[7] Several introduced plant species continue to exist or to be grown at the mission: date palms, grapes, citrus, and, notably, ancient olive trees.