The Spanish and U.S. Government
The Spanish

 The Spanish were the first non Native American
people to explore Utah
 They had heard a Ute had traded silver to a
blacksmith in New Mexico and thought $$$$$$$$$
 Send out 3 important people:
 Juan Rivera,
 Father Dominguez
 Father Escalante
Rivera Expedition

 Juan Rivera was sent by
the Governor of New
Mexico to find out if
there were more riches
to be had (SILVER)
 Rivera explored parts
of Colorado and Utah
 In Utah he made it as
far as Monticello
Rivera Expedition Results

 did not find any riches
 wrote down his route
 route used 11 years
later by Dominguez
and Escalante
Dominguez and
Escalante Expedition

 Fathers Francisco
Atanasio Dominguez
and Silvestre Velez de
Escalante set out on
their expedition to
discover a route from
Santa Fe to Monterrey,
California in 1776
Dominguez and
Escalante Expedition

 Fathers Dominguez and Escalante had some help:
 mapmaker named Bernardo Miera
 two Ute guides they named Silvestre and Joaquin
 Unfortunately, the expedition never made it to
California because they decided to head back to
Santa Fe before the winter came
Miera’s Map
This map was used by several explorers after the Dominguez-Escalante Expedition
Outcomes of
Spanish Exploration

 Horses were introduced to the Native Americans
that interacted with the Spanish explorers.
 Journals and maps were later used by those sent by
the U.S. Government
 Several locations in Utah bear Spanish names:
Escalante, San Juan River, San Juan county, Spanish
Fork etc.
U.S. Government

 Manifest Destiny:
 U.S. Government believed it was the destiny of the
country to stretch all the way to the Pacific Ocean
 In order to reach this goal, they had to send people
out to explore
Bonneville Expedition

 Captain Benjamin
Bonneville was sent to
discover trade routes
throughout the west
 He sent a party of men
to explore the Great
Salt Lake and discover
an overland route to
California
Fremont Expedition

 John C. Fremont was
trained as a mapmaker
and he led five different
expeditions into the
west
 created maps,
measured altitude,
collected soil samples
and wrote descriptions
of the land and animals
Gunnison Expedition

 Gunnison was sent to
study the Great Salt Lake
and Utah Lake
 Several years later
Gunnison was sent back
to Utah to discover the
best route for a new
transcontinental railroad
 Later, Gunnison and six
of his men were killed by
Native Americans that
were avenging the death
of their chief
Outcomes of U.S.
Government Exploration

 Several more accurate maps were created by the explorers
allowing people to migrate from the east to the western
part of the U.S.
 Several places in Utah were named after Captain
Bonneville, e.g. Lake Bonneville and Bonneville City
 Fremont created the best maps of the regions for the time
and his descriptions of the land drew people west
 Gunnision’s expeditions provided a southern wagon trail
to California, established a road that the U.S. military later
used to come to Utah and determined the railroad route
that would go through Wyoming and northern Utah
Let’s Review

 Why did the Spanish come?? (hint: 2 reasons)
 Who were important people?
 What were the outcomes?
 Why did the US Government send people?
 Who were important people?
 What were the outcomes?