During 2014-16, extensive field studies were conducted on wild migrating monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus) at origin (southeast Arizona) and destination (California) locations. From a total of 3194 monarchs tagged, 44 (1.4%) were recovered at distances from 789 to 1193 km (California) and 1631 to 1736 km (Mexico). Thirty two (1.0%) monarchs were recovered in California and 12 (0.4%) in Mexico. In 2016, the year with the majority of tagged butterflies, 1810 monarchs were tagged and 23 (1.3%) recovered: 14 (0.8%) in California and 7 (0.4%) in Mexico. For the first time wild monarchs tagged in the same location and on the same day, were recovered at overwintering sites in both California and Mexico. This discovery indicates that monarch migration dynamics in the western United States are more complex than previously known and is supportive of a long-held hypothesized connection between eastern and western populations.