Dominguez-Escalante Working Group

Today was the first meeting of the:

Fathers Dominguez & Escalante Working Group

The group was formed by Senator Mont Evans. We met in room 210 of the Capitol building. As you can see, some were very excited to part of the group.

Members of the group include: Senator Evans, Senator Robles, Representative Romero, Representative Wheatly, Paula Espinoza Wells, Nate Salazar and Michael Clara. More members will be added.

We will be working towards commemorating the Dominguez-Escalante Expedition on a state level.

Painting of Dominguez-Escalante Expedition found in the Utah State Capitol

The Dominguez-Escalante Expedition was conducted in 1776 to find an overland route from Santa Fe, New Mexico to Spanish missions in California. Francisco Atanasio Domínguez and Silvestre Vélez de Escalante, Franciscan priests, and Don Bernardo Miera y Pacheco, a cartographer, traveled with eight men from Santa Fe through present day western Colorado to Utah Valley, now in the state of Utah. Along the journey they were aided by three Timpanog Ute guides. Due to hardships experienced during travel, the group did not reach Las Californias, but returned to Santa Fe through Arizona. The maps and documentation of their expedition aided future travelers. Their route became part of the Old Spanish Trail from Santa Fe.

Yampa Plateau, September 11

With their provisions running low, a few men successfully chased and killed a buffalo on the Yampa Plateau in present Uintah County, Utah. Traveling northwest, they next they came upon Green River and Split Mountain, which they described as follows: “Here it has meadows abounding in pasturage and good land for raising crops, with facilities for irrigation. It must be somewhat more than a league wide and its length may reach five leagues. The river enters this meadow between two high cliffs which, after forming a sort of corral, come so close together that one can scarcely see the opening through which the river comes.” They camped off the Green River near present-day Jensen, Utah. At a stand of six cottonwoods, Lain carved his name in one of the trees, with the year 1776 with a large cross and two small crosses. Heading southwest from Jensen, the expedition noticed fresh horse tracks which they determined to be Comanche following a Ute buffalo hunting party. They camped at Horseshoe Bend of the Green River and then headed west to current Myton where they found ruins of a pueblo. Continuing westward they camped near Duchesne, Fruitland, and Soldier Springs. The route from Jensen to Soldier Springs was roughly along the current U.S. Highway 40

Link to Utah History: Dominguez-Escalante Expedition