Old Spanish Trail In an effort to become a better surveyor, I applied for a geomatics degree from Utah Valley University in 2018. As part of the coursework, I was asked to prepare an investigative report on surveying history in Utah, and I decided to research the Old Spanish Trail. My research was personally enlightening and provided insight into my role as a land surveyor. I knew that the Spanish were prolific explorers (they had reached the Alaskan coast by 1775), and I had read about the 1776 Domínguez-Escalante expedition, but I knew there was more to the Trail than that. I discovered that parts of the Trail were explored and measured by other Spanish explorers, like Catholic friars, frontiersmen and traders. They each left behind pieces of the puzzle with their maps, notes and observations. I began to find amazing connections and convenient timing between these explorers and their expeditions, culminating in the Old Spanish Trail. The Trail opened opportunity, travel, commerce and communication across the Southwest. BY JEREMIAH CUNNINGHAM, PLS UCLS Foresights 16
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