Dominguez and Escalante Journal:
Source: Chavez, A. & Waner, T. (1995) The Dominguez and Escalante Journal,  University of Utah Press, SLC, UT
Disclaimer: Educational Material / Non-Commercial

On the 29th day of July of the year 1776:
 
Under the patronage of the Virgin Mary, Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception, and of the most holy patriarch Joseph her most happy spouse, we, Fray Francisco Atanasio Domínguez , present commissary visitor of this Custodia of the Conversion of San Pablo of New Mexico, and Fray Francisco Silvestre Vélez de Escalante, minister and teacher of the Christian doctrine at the Mission of Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe de Zuñi, accompanied voluntarily by Don Juan Pedro Cisneros, alcalde mayor of the said pueblo of Zuñi; Don Bernardo Miera y Pacheco, retired militia captain and citizen of the town of Santa Fé; Don Joaquin Lain, citizen of the same town; Lorenzo Olivares, citizen of the town of El Paso; Lucrecio Muñiz; Andrés Muñiz; Juan de Aguilar; and Simón Lucero; having implored the protection of our most holy patrons and received the Holy Eucharist, we the persons named set out from the town of Santa Fé capital of this Kingdom of New Mexico; and having traveled nine leagues we arrived at the pueblo of Santa Clara, where we spent the night. - Today nine leagues1.

Abiquiu: July 30

We traveled nine leagues, more or less, and arrived at the pueblo of Santa Rosa de Abiquiú, where because of various circumstances we remained on the 31st without traveling, and where by means of a Solemn Mass we again implored the aid of our most holy patrons.

August 1, 1776

After having celebrated the holy sacrifice of the Mass, we set forth from the pueblo of Santa Rosa de Abiquifi toward the west along the bed of the Chama River and traveled in it a little less than two leagues. We then turned northwest, and having gone about three and a half leagues over a bad road, for in it there are some small and very stony mesas, we halted for siesta on the north side of the valley of La Piedra Alumbre, near Arroyo Seco. They say that on some mesas to the east and northeast of this valley, alum rock and transparent gypsum are found. In the afternoon we set out from Arroyo Seco toward the north. After going a short distance we turned northeast along a wooded canyon, and having traveled two leagues over a very bad road we camped on the banks of the same arroyo Today a good shower fell upon us, and we traveled seven leagues.

Arroyo de las Nutrias, August 2, 1776

We set forth up the same canyon toward the northeast. After going a little more than four leagues we turned north, and entered a wooded canyon in which for the distance of a quarter of a league there is a grove of small oaks so dense that while passing through it we lost track of four animals and had to stop to hunt for them, but they were soon found. Although we lost the trail in this grove because it was little used, we afterward saw that it ran on the east side of the arroyo which runs through the middle of the grove, the same stream which lower down they call Arroyo del Canjilón, or Arroyo Seco. Having passed through the grove, we came to a small plain of abundant pasturage which is very pleasing to the sight, because it produces some flowers whose color is between purple and white and which, if they are not carnations, are very much like carnations of that color. Here there are also groves of small limes, a red fruit the size of the blackthorn. In freshness and taste it is very similar to the lemon, so that in this country it is used as a substitute for lemons in making refreshing drinks. Besides these fruits there is the chokecherry, much smaller than the Mexican variety, and another berry which they call manzanita, whose tree resembles the lime though the leaf is more like that of celery and the size of the berry is that of ordinary chickpeas. Some are white and others black, the taste being bitter-sweet and piquant but agreeable. Where these flowers begin the canyon is divided into two by a high mesa which enters it. In each branch there is a road, one of which runs north and the other west. At the beginning of the latter and under the southern point of the mesa there is a little spring of good permanent water, but to enable the horses to drink even a little, it will be necessary to dig wells. When the animals had been found, we continued our march by the western canyon and road and traveled a league and a quarter to the north. Then, after going less than half a league to the west, we turned northwest, and having traveled a little more than three leagues over good terrain we arrived at a small stream called Rio de la Cebolla, where, turning aside a short distance from the road, we took siesta. In the bed of the stream we found plenty of water in pools, although according to appearances it seldom flows. From here we went forward in the afternoon, turning north about a quarter of a league to get back to the road which we had left. We swung northwest, and having traveled a little more than three leagues over good terrain we halted in a small plain on the bank of another arroyo which is called Rio de las Nutrias, because, although it is of permanent and running water, apparently during all or most of the year it stands in pools where they say beavers breed. - Today eight leagues.

Santisima Trinidad, August 3, 1776

We went northwest from Arroyo de ]as Nutrias, entered a small grove of pines, and having traveled a little less than three leagues we descended to the Rio de Chama. Then, along its pretty meadow we went up to the north about a mile, crossed it, and halted for a siesta on the opposite bank. The ford of the river is good, but on the banks near it there are large hidden sinks, with small stones on the surface, in one of which Don Juan Pedro Cisneros' horse was completely submerged. The meadow of the river is about a league long from north to south, and is of good land for crops with opportunities for irrigation. It produces much flax and good and abundant pasturage, and there are also the other advantages necessary for the founding and maintenance of a settlement. Here also there is a good grove of white cottonwoods. In the afternoon we went forward, and after climbing the western bank of the river we entered a small valley which we called Santo Domingo. Three large mesas covered with pines, beginning with three small hills almost north of here, curve around it from north to south to form a semi-circle reaching to the river. They told us that to the west of these mesas there are two lakes. The first and more southerly one is west of the pass which from this bank can be seen between the first and second mesas, and the second is to the west of the next opening, which likewise can be seen between the second and the third mesas. These lakes, as well as the valley, are very suitable for raising large and small stock. We continued through the valley toward the northwest and entered a small grove of pines where a loaded mule strayed away and did not reappear until sunset. For this reason we had to camp on rough ground near the three small hills already mentioned and which we named the Santisima Trinidad having traveled from the river only two leagues to the northwest. In this place there was no permanent water, although we found a little in an arroyo near the broken ground to the east-southeast. At the place where we crossed the Rio de Chama today it runs from north to south, and a little before reaching the Cerro del Pedernal, it runs from west to east until it passes the pueblo of Abiquiú. - Today five leagues.

Canon del Engano, August 4, 1776

Setting out toward the north from the camp of Santisima Trinidad, we traveled two leagues through the same forest, which consists of pines, some piñon trees, and dwarf oaks. It abounds also in pasturage and in very tall flax. Two large mesas surround it, each forming a semi-circle, the north end of one almost meeting the south end of the other, the two being separated by a narrow gateway or pass. We traveled about a quarter of a league to the northwest and went through the pass where begins another lake which we called Laguna de Olivares. It must be about a quarter of a league long and two hundred varas wide, more or less. Although its water has not a very pleasant taste it is fit to drink. From the lake and little pass we continued north half a league, then turned northeast, leaving the road which goes to the Piedra Parada (a place known to those of us who have traveled through here). The guides directed us through a chamise thicket without any trail or path whatsoever, saying that on the road we were now leaving there were three very bad hills, and that it was less direct than the route they were taking. We traveled a little more than a league and in the same chamise thicket again turned west-northwest, entered the forest (which continues), and after half a league swung northwest. We then traveled three and a half leagues through a valley with very luxuriant pasturage and came to a large meadow of the arroyo which on the Piedra Parada road they call Arroyo del Belduque. In the meadow we swung west and having traveled down the arroyo two leagues we camped in a canyons which, on account of a certain incident, we called Cañon del Engaño. -Today nine and a quarter leagues. Here there is plentiful pasturage and water in pools.

August 5

We set out from camp in the Cañon del Engaño toward the southwest and having traveled half a league arrived at Rio de Navajó, which rises in the Sierra de la Grulla and runs from northeast to southwest to this point, where it turns back toward the north for a little more than three leagues, and then joins another river which they call the San Juan. Here this Navajó River has less water than the Chama. Having crossed the river we continued with difficulty toward the south in the same canyon, and after going about a league we turned to the southwest for a quarter of a league, then three quarters of a league to the west through canyons, over hills, and through very difficult brush. The guides lost the trail and even seemed to have forgotten the very slight knowledge which they had appeared to have of this country. And so, in order not to go any farther south we turned northwest, traveled about three leagues without a trail, climbing a hill (monte), high but with no very difficult grade, and saw the bed of the same river nearby. We descended to it down slopes which were somewhat rugged but nevertheless passable, and having traveled a little more than three leagues westnorthwest, we crossed it at a good ford and camped on the north bank. Here it has already united with the San Juan River. The guides told us that a little higher up these two rivers joined, so we decided to observe the latitude of this campsite and for this purpose to stay here until the afternoon of the next day. The observation was made by the meridian of the sun, and we found the campsite, which we named Nuestra Sefiora de las Nieves to be in latitude 37° 51'. Fray Silvestre went to examine the place where the two rivers, the Navajó and the San Juan, join and found it was three leagues as the crow flies almost due east of Las Nieves, and that on the banks of both rivers, right at the junction, there were good advantages for a fair-sized settlement. The San Juan River carries more water than the Navajó, and they say that farther north it has good and large meadows because it runs through more open country. Now joined, the two streams form a river as large as the Rio del Norte in the month of July. This stream is called Rio Grande de Navaj6 because it separates the province of this name from the Yuta nation. Downstream from the meadow and campsite of Nuestra Señora de las Nieves there is good land, with facilities for irrigation and everything else necessary for three or four settlements, even though they might be large ones. This statement refers only to what we saw. On either bank of the river there are dense and shady groves of white cottonwood, dwarf oak, chokecherry, manzanita, lime, and garambullo. There is also some sarsaparilla, and a tree which looked to us like the walnut. - Today eight leagues.

August 6

In the afternoon we left the camp of Nuestra Señora de las Nieves, going downstream toward the west, and having traveled two and one-half leagues over bad terrain, we camped on the bank of the river.$ Don Bernardo Miera had been having stomach trouble, and this afternoon he became much worse, but God willed that before day-break next morning he should be improved, so that we might continue on our way. - Today two leagues and a half.

 

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