The Preston Thomas company consisted of poor Englishmen, a couple of Scotsmen, and some wealthy Texas families with their slaves. The British Saints, 13 in number, had sailed from Liverpool to New Orleans, then to Galveston and Houston, from which point they traveled overland to Spring Creek (near Houston). Here they were assigned jobs as teamsters, cooks, and herdsmen in the company to pay for their way to Utah. The 12 Texas families had an average of three wagons each and between four and five hundred head of cattle. While in this outfitting camp, they elected Alexander Barron to be captain. Barron, an energetic man, had been serving as a branch president. Preston Thomas, who joined the company to return to Utah, was a missionary who had served in Texas.