Utah History for Kids - Explorers & Trappers

Mexicans and Spaniards were the first known non-Indians to enter what is now the state of Utah. The discovery and translation of the journals of Juan Maria Antonia Rivera tell that he led at least two expeditions into the area of present-day Utah in 1765. He and his companions were the first non-Indians to see the Utah portion of the Rio del Tizon (Colorado River). Twelve years later, in July 1776, just as the American Revolution was beginning in the east, a 10 man exploration team left Santa Fe, New Mexico. It was under the leadership of two Franciscan priests, Fathers Francisco Atanasio Dominguez and Silvestre Velez de Escalante and known today as the Dominguez-Escalante Expedition. They were looking for a route between Santa Fe (in present-day New Mexico) and Monterey, California. They entered Utah from the east near the present town of Jensen, Utah, around September 11, 1776. The group crossed the Wasatch Mountains by way of Diamond Fork and Spanish Fork canyons. They visited with Yuta (Ute) Indians camped near Utah Lake. Early snows forced them to give up their attempt to reach Monterey, California. Traveling south, they crossed the dangerous Colorado River on November 7, 1776. They returned to Santa Fe on January 2, 1777.

The expedition had several important members but two stand out: Don Bernardo Miera y Pacheco and a twelve-year-old Ute American Indian boy called Joaquin. Don Bernardo Miera y Pacheco drew an important map of the area. Even though it was not accurate, it was the first of its kind. Joaquin, the only Utah native in the group, aided the expedition during their 1,700-mile trip.

Father Escalante kept a detailed diary. In it he described plant and animal life; geography; and the appearance, dress, and foods of the Ute and Paiute Indians. The Rivera journals, the Escalante diary, and Miera's map are the first documents in Utah history.

Although there was no immediate follow-up to the historic Dominguez-Escalante expedition, traders continued to be interested in establishing new routes to California. By the early 1800s trade between Santa Fe and American Indians in Utah was well established. From 1807 to 1840 mountain men explored vast areas of the American West. Their knowledge was passed on to future settlers.

In the 1820s trappers explored most of Utah's rivers and valleys and some of the desert land. Jedediah Smith, one of the great explorers, made several significant journeys through Utah. It was his rediscovery of South Pass in Wyoming that allowed thousands of immigrants to travel west by wagon. Trapper Jim Bridger reported his sighting of the Great Salt Lake in 1824. Miles Goodyear established Fort Buenaventura on the Ogden River in 1844-1845. The explorations of other trappers including Peter Skene Ogden, Etienne Provost, John H. Weber, William H. Ashley, James P. Beckwourth, the Robidoux brothers, and Joseph R. Walker added to the knowledge of the Utah area. So did the experiences of groups like the Bartleson-Bidwell party whose wagons crossed Utah in 1841 and the Donner party which blazed a trail into the Salt Lake Valley in 1846.

In the 1840s the mountain men came into the area less and less as the beaver pelt trade declined. At the same time the United States government explorers and settlers bound for California came into Utah. John C. Fremont was one of the most famous explorers during this time. He mapped trails and described the land and plant and animal life of the Great Basin. By 1847 the Mormons arrived in the Salt Lake Valley aided by the experiences of the many people who had come before them.