The notes and journals from the 1765 expeditions of Juan Rivera describe a route northerly from Santa Fe, New Mexico, looking for gold, silver and the legendary city of Teguayo. The expedition gathered parol evidence from an old Ute woman and left a marker near the Gunnison River for future explorers. Later, from the Pacific Coast, Fray Garcés, a Spanish friar, used a compass, quadrant and charts to calculate his latitudinal position between Los Angeles, California, and Oraibi, Arizona. His notes and journals describe his participation in peace treaties between warring tribes. The Domínguez-Escalante expedition had the Rivera notes and some of the same party members, and a timely letter written by Fray Garcés about his route from Los Angeles. They took the Rivera route to the Gunnison River (they found Rivera’s marker) and eventually reached Teguayo, the Utah Valley between Spanish Fork and Provo, before heading west to look for the overland route to California. Fray Garcés’ letter gave them a route back to Santa Fe when the weather turned foul. The Domínguez-Escalante expedition took measurements, spoke with local tribes, described weather patterns, observed the landscapes and wrote down everything they saw and found. Their expedition included a cartographer, Meira y Pacheco, who produced a beautiful map based on the expedition notes in 1778. José Antonio Armijo gathered all of this preceding evidence, along with accounts from traders and hunters, to plan a route to Los Angeles, striking out from Santa Fe in 1929. With a mule train full of goods, he had to be successful! His notes detail the route he took to retrace the Domínguez‑Escalante expedition, following their footsteps through the Crossing of the Fathers (currently below Lake Powell) and up to the Virgin River. From there, they headed to the verdant Las Vegas Wash and along the Mojave River, using the Fray Garcés route to Los Angeles. After this success, others used the Trail for decades for commerce and travel. UCLS Foresights 19
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