Great Basin

Cedar City, Utah
Dominquez-Escalante
Casting Lots
Grand Canyon
Great Basin
Marble Canyon
Iron County
Land Sales
Overview
Scenic Utah
Washington County
Water

Great Basin

Seeking a northern route to Monterey, California from Santa Fe, New Mexico a Spanish Franciscan Missionary, explorer Father Silvestre Valez de Escalante and Francisco Dominquez set out in 1776 - 1777.

It would be the first European exploration across the Great Basin desert. At that time the New World Empire of Spain stretched from Panama north through Mexico across American southwest to California. It was an immense country mostly deserts but little was known about it. The treacherous Colorado River was why no one wanted to venture out between Santa Fe, New Mexico and California.

The government of New Mexico and the church wanted to establish an overland route to the coast.

In 1775 Juan Bautista de Anza discovered one. The Spanish governor Mendenuetta asks Father Escalante to see about a northern route across the Great Basin Desert.