Along with his pregnant wife, Maria Ygnacia Manuela Pinuelas, and their eight children, Féliz began the trek in October 1775, departing from Tubac, Arizona.

While the delivery was successful, Maria died during childbirth, and was buried at the Mission San Xavier del Bac.

[2] Padre Pedro Font, in his diary, described the event: "We set out from Tubac at eleven in the morning, and, at half-past three in the afternoon, halted at the place called La Canoa, having traveled some five leagues to the north-northeast.

This night the wife of a soldier was delivered; she died in childbed, and the next day was taken to the mission of San Xavier de Bac for burial.

By 1781, Féliz was still stationed at the San Gabriel mission when a group of 44 settlers arrived, on their way to found a new city further south, what would become known as Los Angeles.