1. The Spanish and U.S. Government
Exploration
The Spanish and U.S. Government

2. The Spanish
The Spanish were the first non Native American people to explore Utah
After colonizing Central America the Spanish decided that they needed to explore further north, especially after they had heard a Ute had traded a silver ingot to a blacksmith in New Mexico.
The main expeditions the Spanish sent were led by Juan Rivera and Fathers Dominguez and Escalante.

3. Rivera Expedition
Juan Rivera was sent by the Governor of New Mexico to find out if there were more riches to be had
Rivera explored parts of Colorado and Utah
In Utah he made it as far as Monticello

4. Rivera Expedition
Rivera did not find any riches but the documentation of the route he followed was used by another expedition 11 years later by Dominguez and Escalante

5. 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

6. Dominguez and Escalante Expedition
Fathers Dominguez and Escalante had many in their party including a mapmaker named Bernardo Miera and two Ute guides they named Silvestre and Joaquin.
Silvestre and Joaquin led them safely through unfamiliar territory and Miera mapped their route and surroundings as they went
Unfortunately, the expedition never made it to California because they decided to head back to Santa Fe before the winter came

8. Miera’s Map
This map was used by several explorers after the Dominguez-Escalante Expedition

9. Outcomes of Spanish Exploration
Horses were introduced to the Native Americans that interacted with the Spanish explorers. Horses became an extremely important part of Native American life
Dominguez’s journal and Miera’s map were used by several different explorers including those sent by the U.S. Government
Several locations in Utah bear Spanish names: Escalante, San Juan River, San Juan county, Spanish Fork etc.

10. U.S. Government
Eventually the U.S. Government believed it was the destiny of the country to stretch all the way to the Pacific Ocean
In order to begin the process of expanding the borders the U.S. government began to send several expeditions to explore the west and make maps of the lands
Just a few examples of the expeditions that were sent were led by Captain Benjamin Bonneville, John C. Fremont and John Williams Gunnison

11. 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

12. Fremont Expedition
John C. Fremont was trained as a mapmaker and he led five different expeditions into the west
He and his family believed in the destiny of the U.S. to stretch its borders to the Pacific
While exploring he created maps, measured altitude, collected soil samples and wrote descriptions of the land and animals

13. Gunnison Expedition
Gunnison was sent by the U.S. Government 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

14. 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 Captian 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