They arrived in San Pedro, Los Angeles in January 1832 and then traveled to the Mission San Gabriel Arcángel. While Bachelot stayed at San Gabriel, Short left for the San Carlos Mission in Monterey, California. There he taught Mathematics and nursed sick students. There he became a friend and traveling partner of William Edward Petty Hartnell. He also worked at the "Seminario del Patrocinio de San Jose" that Hartnell founded opened.