Historical evidence suggests that there were Muslims within the original, native, Ameri-Indian community and that the first group of immigrant Muslims reached the Americas in 1312 (180 years before Columbus). From Mali and other parts of West Africa, Muslim explorers arrived via the Gulf of Mexico for exploration of the American interior, using the Mississippi River as their access route. Abubakri was one of the first to set sail to America from Africa (according to "˜Muslims in America' by Amir Nashid Ali Muhammad).