Dominguez y Escalante Expedition
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brwhiz
N 40° 02.432 W 111° 43.934
12T E 437533 N 4432513
The Dominguez y Escalante Expedition was the first organized exploration of the American Southwest by Europeans.
Waymark Code: WMB5W3
Location: Utah, United States
Date Posted: 04/09/2011
Views: 14
Dominguez y Escalante Expedition
Two hundred years ago while thirteen eastern colonies were giving birth to the United States of America, a small party of Spanish explorers was forging its way through the vast expanse of virgin territory now known as the American Southwest. Led by Fathers Francisco Atanasio Dominguez and Silvestre Velez de Escalante, the expedition left Santa Fe on horseback on July 29, 1776. Their goal was to discover a northern overland route to Monterey, California and to spread the Catholic faith to those Indians they met along the way. Escalante meticulously recorded details of their journey through the Spanish lands in his diary, and this together with a famous map of the territory done by Miera, greatly increased the geographic knowledge of the time.
In early September, the missionaries made slow and difficult progress through Spanish Fork canyon gateway to the beautiful Utah Valley and the Home of the Timpanogos Utes. Preaching Christianity to these Indians constituted the spiritual climax of the expedition. But on October 8, discouraged by the cold shortage of supplies, and the fact that the Indians knew of no ocean, only more desert, the Fathers decided to turn back to Santa Fe. Six days later the provisions ran out and if they had continued westward, they almost certainly would have starved in the snowcovered foothills of the Sierra Nevada.
The most difficult part of the journey was the crossing of the Colorado River. After exploring the formidable terrain for over a week, they finally reached a ford that appeared shallow enough to cross. It lay at the bottom of a mile-wide canyon, and in order for the horses to make it down the steep rocky sides, it was necessary to cut footholes in the rocks. Today these are completely covered by the waters of Lake Powell. The "Crossing of the Fathers" was finally accomplished on November 7. On Jan. 2 1777, the Padres reached Santa Fe having covered close to 2,000 miles, thus ending their journey of great discovery.