Escalante's Dream: On the Trail of the Spanish Discovery of the Southwest

(from Amazon.com)

In July 1776 a pair of Franciscan friars, Francisco Atanasio Domínguez and Silvestre Vélez de Escalante, were charged by the governor of New Mexico with discovering a route across the unknown Southwest to the new Spanish colony in California. They had other goals as well, some of them secret: converting the indigenous natives along the way to the true faith, discovering a semi-mythical paradise known as Teguayó, hunting for sources of gold and silver, and paving the way for Spanish settlements from Santa Fe to Monterey.

In strict terms, the expedition failed. Running out of food and beset by an early winter, the twelve-man team gave up in what is now western Utah. The retreat to Santa Fe became an ordeal of survival. The men were reduced to eating their own horses while they searched for a crossing of the raging Colorado River in Glen Canyon. Seven months after setting out, Domínguez and Escalante staggered back to Santa Fe. Yet in the course of their 1,700-mile voyage, the explorers discovered more land unknown to Europeans than Lewis and Clark would encounter a quarter-century later.

Other writers, using Escalante’s brilliant and quirky diary as a guide, have retraced the expedition route, but David Roberts is the first to dig beneath its pages to question and ponder every turn of the team’s decision-making and motivation. Roberts weaves the personal and the historical narratives into a gripping journey of discovery through the magnificent American Southwest.

https://www.amazon.com/Escalantes-Dream-Spanish-Discovery-Southwest/dp/0393652068

(a review by Craig M.)

I’ve greatly enjoyed reading David Roberts’ works over the years and this one did not disappoint. In fact, while it is a detailed and worthy tale of the Dominguez + Escalante expedition, it is so much more an exploration of a fine man’s life, his deep relationship with the outdoors, and a life of experiences second-to-none, founded on the love and unwavering support of an extraordinary wife.

While this book is an excellent description of the many extreme trials and tribulations of the D+E expedition in 1776, it’s largely one man’s quest to re-find and recapture all those incredible cultures, landscapes, and experiences of the American Southwest that have made him into who he is today.

It is also somewhat of a bittersweet farewell tour (without rancor) of a life lived well, truncated too early by a struggle against a tenacious cancer - one that has threatened Mr. Roberts’ ability to do what he loves, with whom he loves. This book is all the more memorable, because it represents an initial solid triumph over this merciless foe.

Spanish Fork City park monument

A couple of weeks ago I went for a Sunday drive. 

(Remember those, Sunday drives? When I was a kid Dad made us turn the TV off on Sunday afternoons and made us pack into the car and he'd take us for a drive somewhere.)

Anyway, I headed to Spanish Fork. I wanted to see what this monument/plaque said in the Spanish Fork City park, I had seen it from a distance many times but wanted to get a closer look.

Turns out it was commemorating the 200th anniversary of the Dominguez Escalante Expedition from 1776.

The monument could use a good cleaning and restoration, the top of the monument is starting to fall apart and it almost looks like it could break apart at any moment.

But I took some time and read what the plaque said. I found it interesting that whomever wrote it speculates that if the Spanish had returned to settle the area that Provo may look similar to Santa Fe New Mexico and that the Mormon pioneers may never have settled in the Salt Lake Valley. 

Not sure if they are lamenting the fact that the Spanish did not return or just making an observation. 

The Dominguez and Escalante Expedition

(nps.gov)

When stopping near the Monument’s entrance sign, visitors sometimes notice a small stone marker that simply reads, “Escalante Crossed Here 1776.” Though usually coming to see the dinosaur fossils, many are surprised to learn that the area has a much more recent history. This sign at the monument's entrance marks the first known European expedition in what is now called the Uinta Basin. The journal recorded along the route is the best known document describing western Colorado, Utah, northern Arizona, and New Mexico at that time. It gives a surprisingly accurate and detailed picture of both the landscape and the people groups found there.

The expedition was organized in Santa Fe, NM with the goal to find a northern route to the newly established missions in Monterrey, CA. A Franciscan friar named Atanasio Domínguez was placed in charge and set about organizing the party. To aid him in this endeavor, Dominguez enlisted the help of fellow friar Silvestre Vélez de Escalante, who was familiar with the tribes on the northern frontier. Many give Escalante the credit for leading the expedition since he kept the journal that recorded daily events. However, Dominguez was the one who made most of the difficult decisions along the way and was ultimately the person to which everyone on the expedition answered. The two friars recruited a small group of men with the intention of securing guides from local tribes to lead them through unknown country. It was very small scale, and this made the journey all the more dangerous. They brought few weapons, and the Utes they encountered early in the expedition warned the friars that they would need them as they ventured further from settled areas.

The expedition began in Santa Fe on July 29, 1776 and traveled through Colorado, observing and naming obvious landmarks. While many of the names given by the expedition are no longer in use, a few still retain the original mentioned in Escalante's journal. For example, Canon Pintado or “painted canyon” is just south of Rangely, CO and refers to the pictographs left on the canyon walls that can still be seen today. Along this route the group would encounter the Utes, whom they referred to as Yutas, several times and were able to convince two to join them as guides. They gave the two guides Spanish names: Silvetre and Joaquin, after members of the party. Silvetre and Joaquin were invaluable to the group’s success, guiding it from present day Colorado to Utah Valley. Remarkably, Joaquin was only twelve years old at the time of the journey.

 In the middle of September 1776, the party arrived in the area around Dinosaur National Monument, killing a bison somewhere near the Yampa Plateau. From there they continued on a path following Cliff Creek, very close to the present route of US 40, observing Blue Mountain and Musketshot Springs, which they recorded as being “a musket shot apart from each other.” On September 13th, the expedition ventured inside the current Monument boundaries and described the area in great detail. The Friars were impressed by the Green River, which they named the San Buenaventura and wrote that the river flows “between two lofty stone hogbacks which, after forming a sort of corral, come so closely together that one can barely make out the gorge through which the river comes,” a very apt description of Split Mountain Canyon as seen from the south.

They continued until they made camp on the bank of the river about a mile from where they intended to ford and camped by a big stand of cottonwoods where one of the members of the party carved “year of 1776.” Cottonwoods are fairly short-lived trees (under 100 years), so the exact tree is no longer present, but there are still several cottonwood stands in the area. On September 16th, the group managed to kill another bison and crossed the river within sight of the current Quarry Visitor Center. Escalante described the landscape where they forded the river as “a chain of small bluffs of loose dirt, some lead colored and others of yellow hue.” Now known as the Mancos shale, these bluffs at the river’s edge are among the first things visitors see when they approach the Quarry Entrance of Dinosaur National Monument.

The group would eventually continue into the Uinta Basin and travel through what are now the communities of Jensen, Roosevelt, Duchesne and Myton, extolling each as an excellent place for settlement. Upon arriving in Utah Valley and finding friendly Utes there from the same band as their guides, the group remarked at their good fortune and quickly made promises to return within the year, settle the area, and preach the gospel. Unfortunately, this is where their luck ran out. The new guide they had asked to lead them abandoned the party when he witnessed the punishment of a servant, and the expedition had no way of knowing which way to continue. This, combined with the fact that winter was beginning to set in, caused a great deal of trepidation. The members of the expedition drew lots to see if they would continue toward Monterrey or head back towards Santa Fe. After a bit of resistance, the party turned back toward Santa Fe, traveling over unknown territory. The most arduous part of the journey lay ahead. Without a guide, the expedition had to navigate the maze of canyons along the Colorado River, losing a month of valuable time before they found a place to cross it. This ford became known as the “Crossing of the Fathers,” and the descent to it was so treacherous that they had to carve steps into the stone to ensure the livestock could make it down to the river. Today, this ford sits beneath the waters of Lake Powell.

In order to survive, the expedition ate many of their horses, the only provisions left to them. Nevertheless, the two friars did return safely to Santa Fe thanks to supplies generously given to them by the Hopi, and they were able to present their journal to Spanish Authorities. Although they failed in their ultimate goal to make it to Monterrey, the Dominguez-Escalante expedition succeeded in describing and mapping huge areas of the American west, opening it up to future exploration and trade.

https://www.nps.gov/dino/learn/historyculture/the-dominguez-and-escalante-expedition.htm