Dominguez & Escalante

Dominguez and Escalante. . , In 1776, Franciscan Fathers Francisco Dominguez and Silvestre Velez de Escalante, and eight companions explored what is now western Colorado, Utah, and northern Arizona as men of peace., In August 1776, Fathers Dominquez and Escalante and a small group of men, embarked on a journey to find an overland route between the Spanish colonial villages in the Rio Grande Valley of Nuevo Mexico and the Spanish Missions in Alta California., The expedition crossed the Animas River just south of what is now Durango, Colorado. On August 10th, 1776, Escalante wrote in his journal,,

"We swung west through valleys of very beautiful timber and abundant pasturage, roses, and various flowers.... We were not able to move camp because Father Fray Francisco Atansio awoke very weak....for this reason we were not able to go to see the veins and metallic stones of the sierra, although they were nearby, as we were assured by a companion who had seen them on another occasion."

, Although they did not reach California, the expedition members were recognized as the first Europeans to traverse and map what is now central Utah. Through difficult terrain the party walked and rode horses and mules nearly two thousand miles. They looked for land for pasturage and opportunities to build mission outposts. They met over a dozen groups of Indians, yet never resorted to violence against the people they encountered., Captions , Top right: Cartographer Bernard Miera Y Pacheco accompanied Dominguez and Escalante and drew this map of the region in 1778. Map courtesy of Utah State Historical Society , Bottom right: Route of the 1776 Dominguez and Escalante Expedition.