Chapter I. Discoveries of the Spaniards

1540-1777

Francisco Vazquez de Coronado at CIbola— Expedition- of Pedro de Tobar and Father Juan de Padilla— They Hear of a Large River— Garcia Lopez de Cardenas Sent in Search of It— TnE First Europeans to Approach Utah— Route of Cardenas— Mythical Maps — Part of the Northern Mystery — Journey of Dominguez and Escalante— The Course They Followed— The Rivers They Crossed — The Comanches— Region of the Great Lakes— Rivers Timpanogos, San Buenaventura, and Others — The Country of the Yutas — Route from Santa Fe to Monterey — The Friars Talk of the Lake Country — Return of the Spaniards to Zuni and March to Santa Fe.

As Francisco Vazquez de Coronado was journeying from Culiacan to the north and east in 1540, he rested at Cibola, that is to say Zuni, and while waiting for the main army to come forward, expeditions were sent out in various directions. One of these, consisting of twenty men under Pedro de Tobar, and attended by Father Juan de Padilla, proceeded north-westward, and after five days reached Tusayan, or the Moqui villages, which were quickly captured. Among other matters of interest, information was here given of a large river yet farther north, the people who lived upon its banks being likewise very large.

Returning to Cibola, Tobar reported what had been said concerning this river; whereupon Captain Garcia Lopez de Cardenas was sent with twelve men to explore it, Pedro de Sotomayor accompanying to

chronicle the expedition. Obtaining at Tusayan, where he was well received, guides and carriers, with an ample supply of provisions, Cardenas marched for twenty days, probably in a north-westerly direction,1

1 1 say probably, though in my own mind there is little doubt. The Spaniards were exploring northward. They had lately traversed the region to their south-west, and instead of wishing to retrace their steps they would be likely to keep up well away from their former track. It is true that one narrative gives the direction as west; but then the same writer places Tusan, or Tusayan, west of Cibola, which if the latter be Zuni, and the former Moqui, is incorrect. Then, if their direction from the Moqui towns was the same as this writer declares it to have been in travelling to that place, the Spaniards at this time certainly struck the Colorado within the limits of the present Utah. Escalante, Carta de 28 Oct. 1775, MS., placed Moqui west of Zuni, but a little north of west, with the Yutas their neighbor on the north. It is sufficiently plain that Cibola was Zuiii, and Tusayan Moqui, and as a matter of fact the latter is in a north-westerly direction from the former. That they went due west and crossed the Little Colorado without any mention of that stream is not likely; because, first, it is not twenty days distant from the Moquis, and the stream when reached does not answer to their description. It was the great river they wished to find, and a northwest course would be the most direct. Further than this, it is stated plainly that the point at which they discovered the river was much nearer its source than where the Spaniards had previously seen it. Upon the direction then taken hangs the question as to the first Europeans to enter Utah. I deem the matter of sufficient importance to give both the originals and the translations of two of the most complete and reliable narratives of the expedition. The first and fullest we find in the Relation de Castaueda of Coronado's expedition, Ternaux-Compnm, serie i. torn. ix. 61-5, which reads as follows:

' Comme don Pedro de Tobar avait rempli sa mission, il revint but ses pas et rendit compte au general de ce qu'il avait vu. Celui-ci fit partir sur-lechamp don Garci-Lopez de Cardenas et douze autres personnes pour alter visitor cette riviere; cet officier fut tres-bien recu et parfaitement traite par les indiens de Tusayan, qui lui donnerent des guides pour continuer sa. route. Nos soldats partirent charges de vivres, les indiens les ayant avertis qu'il fullait traverser un desert de vingt journees de long avant d'entrer dans un pays habite. Apres ces vingt journees de marche ils arriverent en effet a cette riviere, dent les bords sont tellement eleves qu'ils croyaient Gtre a trois ou quatre lieues en l'air. Le pays est convert de pins has et rabougris; il est expose' au nerd, et le froid y est si violent, que, quoique Ton fut en ete, ou pouvait a peine le supporter. Les Espagnols marcherent pendant trois jours le long de ces montagnes, esperant toujours trouver une descente pour arriver a la riviere qui, d'en haut, ne paraissait pas avoir plus d'une brasse de large, et qui, salon les Indiens, avait plus d'une demi lieue ; mais il fut impossible de s'y rendre. Etant parvenus deux ou trois jours apres dans un endroit oil la descente lear parut plus facile, le capitaine Melgosa, Juan Galeras et un soldat qui etaient les plus legers de la bande, rtfsolurent de faire une tentative. Ils descendirent jusqu'a ce que ceux qui etaient restes en haut les eussent perdus de ven. lis revinrent vers les quatre heures du soir, disant qu'ils avaient trouvetant de difhcultes, qu'ils n'avaient pu arriver jusqu'en has; car ce qui d'en haut semblait facile, ne l'etait pas du tout quand en approchait. lis ajouterent qu'ils etaient parvenus a environ un tiers de la descente, et que de la, la riviere paraissait deja tres grande, ce qui confirrnait CO que Us indiens avaient dit. lis assurerent que quelques rochers que l'on voyait d'en haut, et qui paraissait a peine de la hauteur d'un homme etaient plus hauts que la tour de la cathe\lrale de S6ville. Les Espagnols cesserent

through a desert country until he discovered the river, but from such high banks that he could not reach it. It was the river called the Tizon, and it flowed from the north-east toward the south-west. It seemed to the Spaniards when they first descried it that they were on mountains through which the river had cut de suivre les rochers qui bordent la riviere, parce qu'on y manquaifc d'ean. Jusque-la ils avaient 6t6 obliges chaque soir de s'avancer une lieue ou deux dans l'inteneur pour en trouver. Quand ils eurent marche pendant trois ou quatre jours, les guides lear dclarerent qu'il etait impossible d'aller plus loin, qu'on ne trouverait pas d'eau de quatre jours ; que quand les Indiens passaient cette route, ils emraenaient avec eux des femmes chargers de calebasses remplies d'eau, et qu'ils en enterraient une partie pour les retrouvei an retour; que d'ailleurs ils parcouraient en un jour autant de chemin que les Espagnols en deux. Cette riviere 6tait cello del Tizon. On arrive beaucoup plus pres de sa source que de l'endroit oil Melchior Diaz et ses gens l'avaient traversed, et Ton sut plus tard que les Indiens dent on avait parle etaient de la meme nation que ceux que Diaz avait vus. Les Espagnols revinrent done sur leurs pas, et cette expedition n'eut pas d'autre resultat. Pendant la marche, ils arriverent a une cascade qui tombait d'un locher. Les guides dirent que les cristaux blancs qui pendaient a l'entour 6talent du sel. On en recueillit une quantity que l'on emporta, et qu'on distribua h Cibola, oil Ton rendit compte par 6crit au general de tout ce que Ton avail vu. Garci-Lopez avait eminent avec lui uncertain P6dro de Sotoinayor, q\ir. etait chroniqueur de l'expedition. Tous les villages de cette province sont rested nos allies, mais on ne les a pas visited depuis, et l'on n'a tente" aucune decouverte de ce cote\ '

As soon as Don Pedro de Tobar had fulfilled his mission, he returned and gave the general an account of what he had seen. The latter immediately ordered Don Garci-Lopez de Cardenas, and 12 other persons, to go and visit that river; this officer was well received and politely treated by the Indians of Tusayan, who furnished him with guides to continue his journey. Our soldiers departed loaded with provisions, the Indians having notified them that it was necessary to travel 20 days through a desert before entering any inhabited country. After this 20 days' march, they arrived at that river whose banks are of such a height that it seemed to them that they were three or four leagues up in the air. The country is covered with low and stunted pines, exposed to the north, and the cold is so violent that, although it was summer, cne could hardly endure it. The Spaniards during three days skirted those mountains, always in the hope of finding a descent to reach the river, which from above appeared to be no more than a fathom in width, and which, according to the Indians, was more than half a league wide; but all their efforts were vain. Two or three days later, they arrived at a place where the descent seemed easier; Captain Melgosa Juan Galeras and a soldier who were the lightest men of the band, resolved to make an attempt. They descended until those who had remained on the top had lost sight of them. They returned at about four o'clock in the afternoon, saying they had found so many difficulties that they could not reach the bottom; for, what seemed easy from above was not at all so when approaching the water. They added that they came down about one third of the descent, and that even from there the river seemed very large. This statement confirmed what the Indians had said. The three men affirmed that some rocks seen from above and which appeared to he of the height of a man, were higher than the tower of the cathedral of Seville. The Spaniards stopped following the rocks that bordered the river on account of the lack of water. Until then, they had been obliged to advance one or two leagues in the interior to find

a chasm only a few feet wide, but which if they might believe the natives was half a league across. In vain for several days, with their faces toward the south and west, they sought to escape from the mountains that environed them, and descend to the river, for they were suffering from thirst. At length some. When they had marched during three or four days, the guides declared to them that it was impossible to go further, that water would not be found 'before four clays; that when the Indians travelled on this road, they took ■ with them women who carried calabashes filled with water, and they buried a certain part, so that they might find it when returning; and besides they made in one day as many miles as the Spaniards would in two. This was the river del Tizon. They arrived much nearer to its source than the place where Melchor Diaz and his people had crossed, and it was known later that the Indians spoken of belonged to the same nation as those seen by Diaz. The Spaniards therefore came back, and the expedition had no other result. While marching, they arrived at a cascade falling from a rock. The guides affirmed that the white crystals hanging around were salt. A quantity of it was gathered, carried away, and distributed at Cibola, where a written account of all that had been seen was sent to the general. Garci-Lopez had taken with him a certain Pedro de Sotomayor, who was the chronicler of the expedition. All the villages of this province have remained our allies, but they have not been visited since, and no attempt at discovery has been made in that direction.

The other is from a relation by an unknown author, found in the archives of the Indies, and printed in Pacheco and Cardenas, Col. Dot:, xiv. 321-3, under title of Relation del suceso de la Jornada que Francisco Vazquez hizo en I el desctibrimiento de Cibola, and from which I give the extract covering the same incident:

' Vuelto D. Pedro de Tobar, 6 dada relacion de aquellos pueblos, luego despacho a I). Garcia Lopez de Cardenas, maestre de campo, por el mesmo camino que labia venido D. Pedro, e que pasase de aquella provincia de Tuzan, al Poniente, e" para ida 6 vuelta de la Jornada e descobrimiento, le senalu ochenta dias de termino de ida e vuelta, el qual fue' echado adelante de Tuzan con guias delos naturales que decian que labia adelante, poblado, aunque lejos, andadas cincuenta leguas de Tuzan al Poniente, 6 ochenta de Cibola, hallo una barranca de un rio que fu6 imposible por una parte ni otra hallarle baxada para caballo, ni aun para pi6, sine por una parte muy trabaxosa, por donde tenia cast dos leguas de baxada. Estaba la barranca tan acantillada de pefias, que apenas podian ver el rio, el cual, aunque es segun dicen, tanto 6 macho mayor que el de Sevilla, de arriba aparescia un arroyo; por manera que aunque con harta diligencia se busco pasada, e por muchas gartes no so halla, en la cual estuvieron artos dias con mucha necesidad de agua, que no la hallaban, e" la del rio no se podian aprovechar della aunque la vian ; 6 a esta cause le rue" forzado a don Garcia Lopez volverse a donde hallaron ; este rio venia del Nordeste e volvia al *Sur Sudueste, por manera que sin falta ninguna es aquel donde llego Melchor Diaz.'

Don Pedro do Tobar "Having returned, and having made a report concerning those towns, I). Garcia Lopez de Cardenas, maestre de campo, was ordered to take the same route by which Don Pedro had come, and to go on from the province of Tuzan to the westward. He was given 80 days in which to make the journey, from his departure until his return. He went on beyond Tuzan, accompanied by Indian guides, who told him that farther on there wa a settlement. Having gone 50 leagues to the westward of Tuzan, and 80 from < Sfbola, lie came to the canon of a river adown the side of which there was no descent practicable for horse, nor even for those on foot, except

ATTEMPT TO REACH THE RIVER.

one morning three of the lightest and most active of the party crept over the brink and descended until they were out of sight. They did not return till toward evening, when they reported their failure to reach the bottom, saying that the river, and distances and objects, were all much larger than they seemed to the beholder above, rocks apparently no higher than a man being in fact larger than the cathedral at

Probable Route of Cardenas.

Seville. Compelled by thirst they retired from the inhospitable stream, and finally returned to Tusayan and Cibola.

by a way full of difficulties, and nearly two leagues in length. The side of the canon was of rock so steep that the river was barely discernible, although, according to report, it is as great as the river of Seville, or greater ; and from above appeared a brook. During many days, and in many places, a way by which to pass the river was sought in vain. During this time there was much suffering from a lack of water, for although that of the river was in view, it was unattainable. For this reason Don Garcia Lopez was forced to return. This river comes from the north-east, and makes a bend to the south-south-eastward; hence, beyond a doubt, it must be that reached by Melchor Diaz.

Thus the reader will be able to determine the nr.tier for himself as clearly as may be. For details on Coronado's expedition see the following author-

It was not necessary in those days that a country should be discovered in order to be mapped; even now we dogmatize most about what we know least. It is a lonely sea indeed that cannot sport mermaids and monsters; it were a pity to have so broad an extent of land without a good wide sheet of water in it; so the Conibas Regio cum Vicinis Gentibvs shows a large lake, called Conibas, connecting by a very wide

Map from Magin, 161 1.

river apparently with a northern sea. I give herewith another map showing a lake large enough to swallow ities, though comparatively few of them make mention of the adventures of Captain Cardenas on the Colorado: Bamusio, Viaggi, iii. 359-63; Hah luyfs Very., iii. 373-9; Mota-Padilht, Conq. N. Gal.', iii. 14, 158-69; Torquemada, i. 609-10; Herre.ro, dec. vi. lib. ix. cap. xi.-xii.; Beaumont, Hist. Mich., MS., 407-22, 482-546, 624-5; Oviedo, iv. 19; Villagrd, Hist. N. Mex., 19 etseq. ; Gomara, Hist. Ind., 272-4; Bernal Diaz, Hid. Verdad., 235; Benzoin, Hist. Mundo Nuovo, 107; Ribas, Hist. Triumphos, 26—7 ; Venegas, Not. Cal., i. 167-9; Clarir/ero, Storia Veil., 153; Aleijre, Hint. Comp. Jesus, i. 233-8; Salmeron, in Doc. Hist. Mex., 3d ser. pt. iv. 7-9; Noticias, in Id., 671-2; Cavo, Tres Siglos, i. 127-9; Lorenzana, in Cortes, Hist. Mex., 325. These might be followed by a long list of modern writers, for which I will refer the reader to Hist. North Mexican States, this series.

Utah and Idaho combined, and discharging its waters by two great rivers into the Pacific. This species of geography was doubtless entirely satisfactory to the wise men of this world until they came to know better about it. If the reader will look over the chapters on the Northern Mystery in my History of the

Map by John Harris, 1705.

Northwest Coast he may learn further of absurdities in map-making.

A more extended and pronounced exploration was that of two Franciscan friars, one the visitador comisario

of New Mexico, Francisco Atanasio Dominguez, and the other ministro doctrinero of Zuhi, Silvestre Velez de Escalante, who set out from Santa Fe July 29, 1776, for the purpose of discovering a direct route to Monterey, on the seaboard of Alta California. New Mexico had now been known nearly two and a half centuries; the city of Santa Fe had been founded over a century and a half, Monterey had been occupied since 1770, and yet there had been opened no direct route westward with the sea, communication between Mexico and Santa Fe being by land, the road following the Rio Grande. In his memorial of March 1773, while in Mexico, Father Junipero Serra had urged that two expeditions be made, one from Sonora to California, which was carried out the following year by Captain Anza, and one from New Mexico to the sea, which Dominguez and Escalante now proposed to undertake. Again in 1775 Anza made a similar journey, this time leaving at the junction of the Colorado and Gila Father Garces who ascended the former stream to the Mojave country, whence crossing to Mission San Gabriel he proceeded to the Tulare Valley. There he heard from the natives of a great river coming in from the east or north-east.2 Indeed it was long the prevailing opinion that there existed such a stream in that vicinity. From the Tulare country Garces returned to San Gabriel and Mojave, and thence proceeded to the villages of the Moquis. From this place he probably wrote to Santa Fe concerning the rumor of this river; for all through the journey of Dominguez and Escalante they were in search of it.3

[Footnote 2: On Father Font's map, 1777, are laid clown two rivers entering the region of the Tulare lakes from the north-east, one the Rio de Scm Phelipe, and the other called the Rio de que se Viene Noticia por el P. Garce*. See Font's Journal, MS.; Serra, Memorial, March 1773, MS.; Garcis, Dkirio, -J46-34S; Forbes' Hist. Cal., L57-62; Arch. Cal., Prov. Kec, MS., i. 47-8, vi. 59; Palou, Not., ii. 'JS1--J; Hid. Cal.; Hist. New Mex.; Hid. North Mix. States, this series.]

[Footnote 8: Probably it was the San Joaquin, or the Sacramento, of which they heard. ( loncerning a route from New Mexico to California Humboldt says: ' En considerant les voyages hardis des premiers conquerans espagnols au]

The pLarty consisted in all of nine persons. Besides the two priests there were Juan Pedro Cisneros, alcalde mayor of Zuiii, Bernardo Miera y Pacheco, capitan miliciano of Santa Fe, and five soldiers.4 Having implored divine protection, on the day before named they took the road to Abiquiu, passed on to the Rio Chama, and on the 5th of August reached a point called Nieves, on the San Juan River, three leagues below the junction of the Navajo. Thence they passed down the north bank of the San Juan, crossing the several branches, until on the 10th they found themselves on a branch of the Mancos, some distance from the San Juan, and beyond the line of the present state of Colorado.5 The 12th they camped on the north bank of the Rio Dolores, in latitude 38° 13',6 and were there joined by two natives from Abiquiu, who had deserted their homes to follow the expedition.7

They now followed the general course of the Dolores8 until the 23d, when they left the San Pedro, which flows into the Dolores near La Sal, and crossed

Mexique, au Pe>ou, et sur la riviere des Amazones, on est tonne" devoir que depuis deux siecles cette meme nation n'a pas su trouver mi chemin de terre dans la Nouvelle-Espagne, depuis Taos au port de Monterey.' Essai Pol., l.

* ' Don Joaquin Lain, vecino de la misma villa, Lorenzo Olivares de la villa del Paso, Lucrecio Muuiz, Andres Muniz, Juan de Aguilar y Simon Lucero. ' Diario, in Doc. Hist. Mex. , ser. ii. torn. i. 378.

5 At the beginning of the journey their route was identical with what was later known as the old Spanish trail from Santa F<§ to Los Angeles. Their course was at first north-west, but shortly after passing Abiquiu it pointed due north into Colorado, then west, and again north-west into Utah, being about the same as was later called the old Spanish trail from Santa ¥6 to Great Salt Lake. Captain J. N. Macomb of the topographical engineers has surveyed and mapped essentially the same trail.

6 Probably not so far north by some 40'.

7 ' Esta tarde nos alcanzaron un coyote y un genizaro de Abiquiii, nombrados el primero Felipe y el segundo Juan Domingo; por vagar entre los gentiles, se huyeron sin permiso de sus superiores del diclio pueblo, pretestando querer acompafiarnos. No necesitabamos de ellos; mas por evitar las culpas, que 6 por su ignorancia 6 por su malicia podian cometer andando mas tiempo solos entre los yutas, si intentabamos que regresasen, los admitimos por companeros.' Diario, Doc. J list. Mex., ser. ii. torn. i. 392.

b These streams are doubtless those emptying into the Colorado not far from its junction with the Bunkara. Latitude 39° 13' is here given, but that must be too high. Philip Harry, in Simpson's Explor., 490, says that np to the point first3 touched on the Dolores the priests' path and Macomb's survey are identical, but that they here diverge.

over north-east to Rio San Francisco,9 and again to the Rio San Javier10 on the 28th, their course being for some distance east of north.

Not far from their path was a rancheria of Yutas, which the Spaniards visited, endeavoring to obtain guides to the land of the Timpanogos, Timpangotzis, or Lagunas, where they had been told to look for

Escalante's Route from Santa Fe to Utah Lake.

Pueblo towns. A Laguna guide was there, but the Yutas did all in their power to dissuade the explorers

9 An affluent of the San Javier, or Grand River.

10 Called by the Yutas Tomiche; to-day Grand River. It may here be observed that the route toward this region had been visited by Spaniards before, notably by Juan Maria de Ribera in 1761, and Spanish names had been given to places, though the present Utah was probably not entered by him. Escalante states that the San Javier is formed by four small streams coming in above the point at which he crossed, and these, says Harry, Simpnous Explor., 490, correspond 'remarkably with the Uncompagre River, Grand River, Smith's Fork, and another large fork. . .It seems evident that after crossing the San Xavier he follows up stream a different fork from what wc call Grand River, but which fork he calls the main river, or San Xavier.' Gunnison maps his explorations, showing the mouth of this last named stream. In Simpson's Explor., 489, is given a map of the present expedition, but it does not conform in every particular to Escalante's text.

from proceeding, pretending ignorance of the country and danger from the Comanches. But the 3d of September saw them again on their way. Pursuing a north-west course, the second day they crossed and camped on the north bank of the Rio San Rafael, or Colorado,11 in latitude 41° 4'. Their course thence was north-westerly, and on the 9th they crossed a river called San Clemente,12 flowing west. Signs of buffaloes were abundant, and on the 11th they killed one. Two days afterward they crossed the Rio de San Buenaventura,13 the boundary between the Yutas and the Comanches, in latitude 41° 19', at a place which the priests call Santa Cruz. Here were six large black poplars, on one of which they left an inscription. After resting two days they took the course of the San Buenaventura south-west ten leagues, and from a hill saw the junction of the San Clemente. Descending a little farther they found a river flowing in from the west, following which they reached a branch the 17th, naming it the San Cosme.14

From this point they proceeded westward, following up the Uintah, across the Duchesne, and over the mountains, with no small difficulty, to a river which they called Purisima,15 and which they followed till on the 23d they came in sight of the lake which the natives called Timpanogos, but which is known now as Utah Lake.

Several reasons combined to bring the Spaniards so far to the north of what would be a direct road

[Footnote 11: GraDd River; but the latitude given was about 1° 30' too high.]

[Footnote 12: White River, the point of crossing being near the Utah line.]

[Footnote 13: Green River. The latitude given is at least 50' too high. The crossing was above the junctions of White River and the Uintah with Green River. See Rep. Fr. Alonso de Posada, custodio de N. Mex., in Doc. Hid. Mex., i.]

[Footnote: 439.]

[Footnote 14: This is the north branch of the Uintah. Indeed the narrative of the explorers makes their route in this vicinity unmistakable. la Now the Timpanogos. 'Proseguimos al noroeste media legua, pasamos a la otra banda del rio, snbimos una corta cuesta y divisamos la laguna y dilatado valle de Nuestra Seiiora de la Merced delos Timpanogotzis — asi lo nombramos desde aqui.' Diario, Doc. Hid. Mex., serie ii. torn. i. 454.]

from Santa Fe to Monterey. First, Escalante entertained a theory that a better route to the Pacific could be found northward than toward the south. Then there was always a fascination attending this region, with its great and perpetual Northern Mystery; perhaps the Arctic Ocean came down hereabout, or at least an arm of the Anian Strait might be found; nor were forgotten the rivers spoken of by different persons on different occasions as flowing hence into the Pacific. And last of all it may be that the rumor of Pueblo villages in this quarter carried the explorers further north than otherwise they would have gone.

However this may have been, they were now of opinion that they had penetrated far enough in a northerly direction, and from this point must take a southerly course. There were here no town-builders like the Moquis and Zuhis, as the priests had been led to suppose, but there were wild Indians, and the first they had seen in this vicinity. At first these savages manifested fear, but when assured that the strangers had not come to harm them, and were in no way leagued with the dreaded Comanches, they welcomed them kindly and gave them food. They were simple-minded and inoffensive, these native Yutas, very ready to guide the travellers whithersoever they would go; but they begged them to return and establish a mission in their midst; in token of which, and of their desire to adopt the Christian faith, they gave the priests a kind of hieroglyphic painting on deer-

[Footnote 10: The Spaniards asked from them some token to show that they wished them to return, and the day after they brought them one; 'pero al truer la seua vio un compafiero, que no sabia el orden dado, a las figuras de ella, y mostrandole la eruz del rosario, les di6 a entender, cpue la pintasen sobre una ile las figuras, y entonces la volvieron a llevar, y sobre cada una pintaron una cruz pequefia ; lo demas quedo como antes y nos la dieron diciendo que la figure (pie por uno y otto lado tenia mas almagre, 6 como ellos decian, San- re, i epresentaba al capitan mayor, porque en las batallas con los cumancli li ilia recibido mas heridas: las otras dos que no esteban tan ensangrentadas, a los otros dos capitanes inferiores al primero, y la que no tenia sangre ninguna, a uno que no era capitan de guerra, pero era de autoridad entre]

OBSERVATIONS ON THE COUNTRY.

13

Then the Spaniards talk of the country, and of the people about them. They are in the valley and by the lake of Nuestra Sehora de la Merced delos Tim-

Timpanogos Valley.

ellos. Estas cuatro figuras de hombres esteban rudamente pintadas con tierra y almagre en un corto pedazo de gamuza.' Diario, Doc. Hist. Mex., serie ii. torn. i. 402-3.

panogos,17 and north of the river San Buenaventura are the mountains which they have just crossed, extending north-east and south-west some seventy leagues, and having a width of forty leagues. From the surrounding heights flow four rivers of medium size, discharging their waters into the lake, where thrive fish and wild fowl. The valley which surrounds this lake extends from south-east to north-west sixteen Spanish leagues ; it is quite level, and has a width of ten or twelve leagues. Except the marshes on the lake borders the land is good for agriculture. Of the four rivers which water the valley the southernmost, which they call Aguas Calientes, passes through rich meadows capable of supporting two large towns. The second, three leagues from the first, flowing northerly, and which they call the San Nicolas, fertilizes enough good land to support one large town or two smaller ones. Before reaching the lake it divides into two branches, on the banks of which grow tall poplars and alders. The third river, which is three and a half leagues to the north-east, and which they call the San Antonio de Padua, carries more water than the others, and from its rich banks, which would easily support three large towns, spring groves of larger trees. Santa Ana, they call the fourth river, which is north-west of the San Antonio, and not inferior to the others ]8— so they are told, for they do not visit it. Besides these rivers, there are good springs of water both on plain and mountain-side; pasture lands are abundant, and in parts the fertile soil yields such quantities of flax and hemp that it seems they must have been planted there by man. On the San Buenaventura the Spaniards had been

[Footnote 17: Or, as it was also called, Timpagtzis, Timpanoautzis, 6 Come Pescado. Doc. I list. Mex., serie ii. torn. i. 4G4. 1B There is no difficulty in recognizing these land-marks, the Uintah Mountains, the San Buenaventura, or Green River; and in the four streams of the valley, their Aguas Calientes is Currant Creek; the second, their San Nicolas, though more than three leagues from the first, and not corresponding in every other particular, is the Spanish River; the San Antonio is the Provo; and the Santa Ana, the River Jordan.]

troubled by the cold; but here the climate is so delightful, the air so balmy, that it is a pleasure to breathe it, by day and by night. In the vicinity are other valleys equally delightful. Besides the products of the lake the Yutas hunt hares, and gather seeds from which they make atole. They might capture some buffaloes in the north-north-west but for the troublesome Comanches.19 They dwell in huts of osier, of which, likewise, many of their utensils are made; some of them wear clothes, the best of which are of the skins of rabbits and antelopes. There are in this region many people, of whom he who would know more may consult the Native Races.

The Spaniards are further told by the Yutas of a large and wonderful body of water toward the northwest, and this is what Father Escalante reports of it. "The other lake, with which this communicates," he says, "occupies, as they told us, many leagues, and its waters are injurious and extremely salt; because the Timpanois20 assure us that he who wets any part of his body with this water, immediately feels an itching in the wet part. We were told that in the circuit of this lake there live a numerous and quiet nation, called Puaguampe, which means in our language Sorcerers; they speak the Comanche language, feed on herbs, and drink from various fountains or springs of good water which are about the lake ; and they have their little houses of grass and earth, which latter forms the roof. They are not, so they intimated, enemies of those living on this lake, but since a certain time when the people there approached and killed a man, they do not consider them as neutral as before.

[Footnote: "This is directly opposite the direction in which we would expect to find the Comanches of to-day; but the Utes applied the term comanche to all hostile Indians. Buffaloes were common in aboriginal times in Cache and Powder River valleys as well as in eastern Oregon and Boise valley. 2J Yet another form for the name Timpanogos, a3 indeed before the end of the following page we have ' Timpano :>is,' 'Timpanogotzis,' and 'Timpanogo.' See note 17 this chapter. On Froisett's map, published at Salt Lake City in 1875, is the ' Fiovo, or Timponayas ' river.]

On this occasion they entered by the last pass of the Sierra Blanca delos Timpanogos, which is the same in which they are, by a route north one fourth north-west, and by that same way they say the Comanches make their raids, which do not seem to be very frequent."21

Continuing their journey the 26th of September with two guides, the Spaniards bend their course south- westwardly in the direction of Monterey, through the Sevier lake and river region, which stream they call Santa Isabel. The 8th of October they are in latitude 38° 3' with Beaver River behind them. Passing on into what is now Escalante Valley they question the natives regarding a route to the sea, and as to their knowledge of Spaniards in that direction. The savages know nothing of either. Meanwhile winter is approaching, provisions are becoming low, the way to the sea must be long and difficult; therefore the friars resolve to abandon the attempt; they will continue south, turning perhaps to the east until they come to the Colorado, when they will return to Santa Fe by way of the Moqui and Zufii villages.

Some of the party object to this abandonment of

21 As this is the first account we have of the Great Salt Lake and its people I will give the original entire : 'La otra laguna con quien esta se comunica, ocupa, segun nos informaron, muchas leguas y sus aguas son nocivas 6 estremadamente saladas ; porque nos aseguran los timpanois que el que se mojaba alguna parte del cuerpo con ellas, al pun to sentia mucha comenzon en la parte mojada. En su circuito nos dijeron habita una nacion numerosa y quieta, que se nombra Puaguampe, que en nuestro vulgar dice hechiceros ; la cual usa el idioma cumanche ; se alimenta de las yervas, babe de varias fuentes ii ojos de buena agua, que estan en el circuito de la laguna, y tienen sus casitas de zacate y tierra, que era el techo de ellas. No son enemigos delos lagunas, segun insinuaron, pero desde cierta ocasion que se acercaron y les mataron un honibre, no los tienen por tan neutrales como antes. En esta ocasion entraron por la puerta final de la Sierra Blanca delos Timpanosis, que es la misma en que estan, por el norte cuarta al noroeste, y por aqui raismo dicen hacer sus entradas los cumanches, las que no parecieron ser muy frecuentes.' Diario, Doc. Hist. Mex., serie ii. torn. i. 46S.

Mr Harry is evidently not very thoroughly versed in the Spanish language, or his manuscript copy of Escalante 's journey is defective. For example he translates echizeros — which being old Spanish he could not find in his modern dictionary — ' throwers or slingers ' when the word ' witches,' or rather 'sorcerers,' is clearly implied. Again he queries mcate, not knowing its meaning — a common enough Mexican word, formerly written zacate, and signifying hay or grass. For further inaccuracies see his summary in Simpson's Ex-plot., 494. Warren, Pacific Railroad Report, xi. 35, examined the same copy of Escalante's narrative, then in the Peter Force library, which was used by Harry.

purpose. They have come far; they can surely find a way : why turn back? To determine the matter prayers are made and lots cast, the decision being against Monterey. As they turn eastward, the 11th, in latitude 36° 52', they are obliged to make bread of seeds purchased from the natives, for their supplies are wholly exhausted. Reaching the Colorado the 26th, twelve days are passed in searching for a ford, which they find at last in latitude 37°, the line dividing Utah from Arizona. Their course is now south-east, and the 16th of November they reach Oraybi, as they call the residence of the Moquis. There they are kindly received; but when for food and shelter they offer presents and religious instruction the natives refuse. Next day the Spaniards visit Xongopabi, and the day after Gualpi, at which latter place they call a meeting and propose to the natives temporal and spiritual submission. The Moquis will be friendly they say, but the further proposals they promptly decline. Thereupon the friars continue their way, reaching Zuni November 24th and Santa Fe the 2d of January 1777.22

22 The journey into Utah of Dominguez and Escalante, as given in Doc. Hist. Mex., seiie ii. torn. i. 375-558, under title oiDiario y derrotero de lost. B. PP. Fr. Francisco Atanasio Dominguez y Fr. Silvestre Velez de Escalante, para descubrir cl camino desde el Presidio de Santa Fe del Nuevo Mexico, al de Monterey, en la California Septentrional, is full and clear as to route and information regarding the country and its inhabitants. As must be expected in all such narratives it is full of trivial detail which is tiresome, but which we can readily excuse for the worth of the remainder. The priests were close and intelligent observers, and have much to say regarding configuration, soil, climate, plants, minerals, animals, and people. A summary is given in Simpson's Explor., app. R by Philip Harry, from a manuscript copy of the original in the archives in the city of Mexico which answers the purpose therein required, but is not sufficiently reliable or exact for historical purposes. The map accompanying the summary is better, being for the most part correct. Of the two padres and what they saw Humboldt says, Essai Pol.: 'Ce terrain est la continuation de la Cordillere des Grue's, qui se prolonge vers la Sierra Verde et vers le lac de Timpanogos, celebre dans l'histoire mexicaine. Le Bio S. Rafael et le Rio S. Xavier sont les sources principales du flcuve Zaguananas, qui, avec le Rio de Nabajoa, forme le Rio Colorado: ce dernir a son embouchure dans le golfe de Californie. Ces regions abondantes en sel gemme out (ste examinees, en 1777, par denx voyageurs remplis de zele et d'intre'pidito, moines de Forder de S. Francois, le pere Escalante et le pere Antonio Velez. ' From the last clause it is clear that Humboldt was confused as to names, Velez and Escalante belonging to the same person. Simpson, Explor., 13, enters upon a long dissertation over a simple and very transparent mistake. See also Hist. North Mex. States; Hist. New Mex.; and Hisi. Cal., this series.