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

September 28
We set out from the Ojo de San Pablo toward the south, and having traveled four leagues we arrived at a small river which comes down from the same eastern part of the sierra in which the salt flats are, according to what they told us. We stopped here a short time in the shade of the cottonwoods on the bank to get some relief from the great heat, and we had scarcely sat down when, from among some thick clumps of willows, eight Indians very fearfully approached us, most of them naked except for a piece of buckskin around their loins. We spoke to them and they spoke to us, but without either of us understanding the other, because the two Lagunas and the interpreter had gone ahead. BY signs we gave them to understand that we were peaceful and friendly people. We continued toward the south, and having traveled three leagues we swung southeast half a league and another half to the south and camped, while still in the valley, near a spring which we named San Bernardino. -Today eight leagues almost all to the south.

September 29
We left San Bernardino, going south-southwest, and immediately met six Indians. We talked with them a long while and preached to them through the interpreter and the Lagunas, and they listened with great docility. Having traveled two and one-half leagues, we swung to the southwest, now leaving Las Salinas which continues on to the south. Here we met an old Indian of venerable appearance. He was alone in a little hut, and his beard was so thick and long that he looked like one of the hermits of Europe. He told us about a river nearby and about some of the country which we still had to traverse. We traveled southwest half a league, swung westnorthwest through some little valleys and dry hills, and having traveled a league and a half we arrived at the river not discovering it until we were on its very bank. We camped in a meadow with good pasturage , which we named Santa Ysabel. Here we observed the latitude by the north star and found ourselves in 39° 4' of latitude. - Today four leagues.

A short time after we halted, four Indians arrived at the other bank. We had them cross over to where we were, treated them with courtesy, and they remained with us all the afternoon, telling us about the country which they knew and of the watering place to which we must go the next day.

This river, according to the name which these Indians give it, appears to be the San Buenaventura, but we doubt whether this is the case, because here it carries much less water than where we crossed it in 41' 19', although after it unites with the San Clemente it is joined by the San Cosme, the San Damián, and several other small streams. Moreover, it seems likely that when we crossed it in that latitude Silvestre would have told us that this river ran near his country, as he told us other things about the sierra and of other rivers and lakes, which we found to correspond with his account, and in which I include this river which passes through Santa Monica.

September 30
Very early twenty Indians arrived at the camp together with those who were here yesterday afternoon, wrapped in blankets made of the skins of rabbits and hares. They remained conversing with us, very happily, until nine in the morning, as docile and affable as the preceding ones. These people here have much heavier beards than the Lagunas. They have holes through the cartilage of their noses and they wear as an ornament a little polished bone of deer, fowl or some other animal thrust through the hole. In features they look more like Spaniards than like the other Indians hitherto known in America14, from whom they are different in the foregoing respects. They speak the same language as the Timpanogotzis. At this river and place of Santa Ysabel this tribe of bearded Indians begins. It is they, perhaps, who gave rise to the report of the Spaniards that they live on the other side of the Rio del Tizón which according to several coinciding reports is the Rio Grande, formed from the Rio de los Dolores and others and which joins the Navajó.

At nine o'clock we set out from Santa Ysabel, crossed the river, and traveled three and one-half leagues to the south through a plain covered with chamise, troublesome for the animals. We entered a little canyon of good land, and a little farther on came to a plain with abundant pasturage but without water. Having traveled through it a league and a half to the south, we found behind some small hills a spring of water which we named Ojo de Cisneros," by which there are two small trees which mark the place. - Today five leagues to the south.

October 1
We set out from Ojo de Cisneros, going back nearly half a league to the north, then again swung south, traveled a quarter of a league through a ravine that was stony in places, and through it we went a mile up the sierra (which from the valley of Las Salinas continued southward). Swinging southwest now for a quarter of a league, we came upon a vast plain surrounded by sierras in which they told us the Rio de Santa Ysabel entered another lake and then emerging from that lake it continued west. Descending the valley or pass, we swung westnorthwest over low and very stony hills, and having traveled two long leagues we entered a chamise thicket. Then along the bank of a dry arroyo and without a trail we went three leagues west, then left the arroyo, and having traveled two leagues west by north, we descended to the plain. It appeared to us that nearby there was water in a marsh or lake. We quickened our pace and found that what we had thought to be water was in places salt, in others saltpeter, and in others tequesquite. We continued west by south along the plain and the salt flats, and having traveled more than six leagues we camped without having found any water fit to drink or pasturage for the animals, for which reason they were unable to travel any farther. There was some pasturage where we stopped, but it was bad and there was little of it. Hitherto in the whole plain, there had been no pasture, good or bad. - Today fourteen leagues.

Two companions had gone ahead seeking water and they reported that a league beyond this place they had seen some. On hearing this we decided that as soon as the moon came up they should take the animals a few at a time so they might drink, and they should also bring water for the men. They were not certain about the water they had seen and so, leaving two men with the horses, the other three went to look for it in the direction in which they had told us the Rio de Santa Ysabel was.

October 2
Morning dawned without our hearing from the five men who had gone with the horses in search of water. One of the two who had remained with the herd came at six o'clock but was unable to tell us anything about the herd, his companion or any of the rest because these two had fallen asleep. Meanwhile the horse herd, driven by thirst, strayed away, and the men waking at various times, each took a different route to hunt for the animals. Immediately Don Juan Pedro Cisneros set out on the trail riding bareback and overtook the herd seven leagues back, that is, midway in the preceding day's march, returning with it only a little before noon. Shortly afterward the men who had gone seeking water arrived, accompanied by some Indians whose ranchos they accidentally reached on the bank of the Rio de Santa Ysabel. These were some of the people with long beards and pierced noses who, in their language, are called Tirangapui. The five who first came with their chief had such long beards that they looked like Capuchin or Bethlemite fathers. The chief was an attractive man of mature years but not aged. They remained very happily talking with us and in a short time they became very fond of us. The chief learned that one of our companions was still missing, and immediately he ordered his four Indians to go as quickly as possible to look for him in the plain and bring him to where we were, each one going in a different direction. This was an action worthy of the greatest gratitude and admiration in people so wild that they had never before seen persons like us. While the chief was giving these orders, he saw that the absentee was already coming and very gladly he told us the news. We preached the Gospel to them as well as the interpreter could explain it, telling them of the Unity of God, the punishment which He-has in store for the bad and the reward ready for the good, the necessity of holy baptism, and of the knowledge and observance of the divine law. While this was going on, three of their men were seen coming toward us, and then the chief told us that these also were his people, and that we must suspend the conversation until they arrived in order that they also might hear everything that we were saying for their benefit. When they arrived he told them that we were padres and that we were instructing them in what they ought to do in order to go to Heaven and so they must pay attention. He said this so forcefully that although we understood only a word of Yuta now and then, we gathered what he was telling them before the interpreter had translated it for us, solely by the gestures with which he was expressing himself. We told them that if they wished to obtain the proposed benefit we would return with more fathers so that all might be instructed, like the Lagunas, who already were awaiting religious teachers, but that then they must live together in a pueblo and not scattered as they do now. They all replied very joyfully that we must return with other fathers, that they would do whatever we might teach and command them, the chief adding that if then we wished and thought it better, they would go to live with the Lagunas (which we had already proposed to him). We said goodbye to them and all, especially the chief, took our hands with great fondness and affection. But the time when they most emphatically expressed themselves was when we were leaving this place. They scarcely saw us depart when all of them, imitating their chief, who set the example, broke out weeping copious tears so that even after we were a long distance away we still heard the tender laments of these miserable little lambs of Christ who had strayed only for lack of The Light. They so moved us that some of our companions could not restrain their tears. In this place, which we named Llano Salado, where, because of some delicate white shells which we found, it appears there has been a lake much larger than the present one, we observed the latitude and found it in 39° 34' 36". This observation was made by the sun almost in the middle of the plain, which from north to south must be little less than thirty leagues, and from east to west fourteen leagues. In most places it is very short of pasturage and although two rivers enter it, the Santa Ysabel from the north, and a medium-sized one whose waters are very salty, from the east, we saw no place whatever suitable for settlement.

In the afternoon we continued on our way toward the southsoutheast because the marshes and lakes would not permit us to go south, which was the direct route to the pass through which we were to leave the plain. Having traveled three leagues we camped near a small hill which is in the plain, giving the name of El Cerrillo to the campsite, where there were marshes with much pasturage but salty water. - Today three leagues southsoutheast.

October 3
Leaving El Cerrillo we made many turns, because we were surrounded by marshes, so we decided to cut through from the east, crossing the river which abounds in fish and apparently disappears in the marshes and in the other lakes of the plain. The ford was miry, and in it the horse which the interpreter Andrés was riding fell and threw him into the water, giving him a hard blow on the cheek. Having crossed with some difficulty and traveled six leagues south by west over good level land, we arrived at an arroyo which appeared to have much water, but we found only some pools in which it was difficult for the animals to drink. Nevertheless, because there was good pasturage, we camped here All along the arroyo there was a sort of white, dry and narrow bank which from a distance looked like stretched canvas, for which reason we named it Arroyo del Tejedor. - Today six leagues south by west.

October 4
We set out from El Tejedor upstream and toward the south, and after traveling one fourth of a league, we swung a little to the south-southwest, then having traveled less than five leagues, we arrived at the south pass. After we had left the salty plain we found in this arroyo more and better water than that of yesterday, and beautiful meadows, very abundantly supplied with good pasturage for the animals, which were now badly fatigued because the salty water had done them much harm, and so we camped here, naming the campsite Las Vegas del Puerto. - Today five leagues.

October 5
We left Las Vegas del Puerto, traveled south on the banks of the same arroyo, and having gone two leagues we swung southwest three leagues and camped in another meadow of the arroyo, naming it San Atenógenes. - Today five leagues.

This morning before we set out from Las Vegas del Puerto, the Laguna, José Maria, left us and went back without saying goodbye. We saw him leave the camp but we did not wish to say anything to him nor to have anyone follow him and bring him back, preferring to leave him in complete liberty. We did not know what moved him to make this decision but, according to what the interpreter told us afterward, he was now somewhat disconsolate on seeing that we were going so far from his country. But doubtless the decision was hastened by an unexpected event of the preceding night. This was that when Don Juan Pedro Cisneros sent for his servant, Simón Lucero, in order that with him and the rest they might say the rosary of the Virgin, Lucero objected to coming. Don Juan reprimanded him for his laziness and lack of devotion, whereupon the servant attacked him, and they struggled with each other. From where we were saying the matins of the following day we heard the hullabaloo, and we went over at once, but not in time to prevent José Marl's getting a great scare. We tried to convince him that these persons were not angry, saying that although a father might chide his son, as just now had been done, he never would wish to kill him, as he thought, and that therefore he must not be afraid. Nevertheless, he turned back from here, leaving us without anybody who knew the country ahead even from hearsay. We felt very sorry about this incident because we desired to hasten his salvation which now he would not be able to obtain so quickly. As soon as we halted two men went to see if the western part of the sierra and a valley which was in it were passable, and if they gave any hope of finding in them water and pasturage for the animals. After nightfall they returned saying they had found no pass whatever by which to cross the sierra, that it was very rough and high in this direction, and that in front of it there was a wide plain without any pasturage or water whatsoever. Therefore we were unable to take this direction, which was the best for reaching Monterey, which was our objective, and we decided to continue south until we emerged from this sierra through a very wide valley beginning at this campsite of San Atengenes, which we named Valle de Nuestra Señora de la Luz. Through it continues the Arroyo del Tejedor, with sufficient wells and pools of good water, and very spacious meadows abundant with pasturage, both of which in the valley are very scarce.

On the preceding days a very cold wind from the south had blown fiercely and without ceasing, followed by a snowfall so heavy that not only the peaks of the sierra but likewise all the plains were covered with snow tonight.

October 6
In the morning it was snowing and it continued all day without ceasing, so we were unable to travel. Night came and, seeing that it still did not stop, we implored the intercession of Our Mother and Patroness, saying in chorus the three parts of her Rosary and of all the saints, and singing the litanies, and God willed that at nine o'clock at night it should cease to snow, hail, and rain.

October 7
Although we were greatly inconvenienced by the lack of firewood and the excessive cold, we were unable to leave San Atengenes today either, because, with so much snow and water, the land, which here is very soft, was impassable.

October 8.
We set out from San Aten6genes through the plain toward the south but traveled only three and one-half leagues with great difficulty because it was so soft and miry everywhere that many pack animals and saddle horses, and even the loose ones, either fell down or mired in the mud. We camped about a mile west of the arroyo, naming the campsite Santa Brigida, where, having observed by the north star, we found ourselves in 38° 3' 30" of latitude. - Today three and one-half leagues to the south.

Today we suffered greatly from cold because all day a very sharp north wind never stopped blowing. Hitherto we had intended to go to the presidio and new establishments of Monterey, but thinking them still distant because, although we had to descend only 1 ° 23 1/2' to this place of Santa Brigida, we had not advanced toward the west, according to the daily directions, more than 136 1/2 leagues. According to the opinion which we had formed, partly on account of not having heard among all these last people any report of the Spaniards and fathers of Monterey, partly because of the great difference in longitude between this port and the town of Santa Fé as shown on the maps, there were still many more leagues to the west. Winter had already begun with great severity, for all the sierras which we were able to see in all directions were covered with snow. The weather was very unsettled and we feared that long before we arrived the passes would be closed and we would be delayed for two or three months in some sierra, where there might be no people nor any means of obtaining necessary sustenance, for our provisions were already very low, and so we would expose ourselves to death from hunger if not from cold. Moreover, we reflected that even granting that we might arrive at Monterey this winter, we would not be able to reach the Villa de Santa Fé before the month of June next year. This delay, together with that which would arise in the regular and necessary pursuit of such an interesting undertaking as the one now in hand, might be very harmful to the souls who, according to what has been said before, desired their eternal salvation through holy baptism. Seeing such delay in what we had promised them, they would consider their hopes frustrated or would conclude that we had intentionally deceived them, whereby their conversion and the extension of the dominions of His Majesty15 in this direction would be made much more difficult in the future. To this it might be added that the Laguna, Joaquin, terrified and weary of so many hardships and needs, might stray away from us and return to his country, or to other people of whom he might have heard, as was done by the other. Added to these considerations was the possibility that by continuing south from Santa Brigida we might discover a shorter and better road than the one by way of the Sabuaganas by which to go from Santa Fé to the Laguna de Timpanois and to these other Indians, the Long Beards, and perhaps to some other nation hitherto unknown who may always have lived on the north bank of the Rio Grande. Therefore, we decided to continue to the south, if the terrain would permit it, as far as the Rio Colorado, and from there proceed toward Cosnina, Moqui, and Zuñi.


NEW ITINERARY AND THE BEGINNING OF OUR RETURN FROM 38° 3 MINUTES AND 30 SECONDS OF LATITUDE
October 9
We left Santa Brigida, going south, and having traveled six leagues with less difficulty than yesterday, because the ground now was not so soft nor so wet, we camped near a bend formed by the valley and the great plain of Nuestra Señora de la Luz, where it becomes wider, and from which place it continues for many leagues to the southwest. We named the campsite San Rústico, where we found everything convenient, it being unnecessary for us to go to the arroyo for water or to its meadows for pasturage. The water was rainwater and not permanent. - Today six leagues south.

October 10
We set out from San Rústico toward the south, traveled a league, and then went three more south-southwest, to a small and very low hill in the middle of the plain to ascertain by the view the extent of this valley and plain of La Luz. Ascending the hill we saw that from here it extended southwest more than thirty-five or forty leagues, for we could scarcely see the sierras where it ends in this direction, although they are very high as we afterward discovered. We saw also three springs of hot sulphurous water which are on top of and on the eastern slope of these hills, near and below which there are small patches of ground covered with saltpeter. We continued across the plain, and having traveled two leagues south we camped, fearing that farther on we might not find water for the night. Here there was a great deal collected from the melted snow in a kind of lake, and there was also good pasturage. We named the campsite San Eleuterio. - Today six leagues.

The Yutas Barbones extend this far south, and here apparently their territory ends.

October 11
We set out from San Eleuterio south by east, letting the companions go ahead so that we two might discuss between ourselves the means we ought to adopt to relieve the companions, especially Don Bernardo Miera, Don Joaquin Lain, and the interpreter Andrés Muñiz, of the great dissatisfaction with which they were leaving the route to Monterey and taking this one. The latter we thought was now desirable and according to the most holy Will of God, in accord with which alone we desired to travel, and to obey which we were disposed to suffer and if necessary to die. We had already told them at Santa Brigida the reasons for our new decision, but instead of listening to the force of our arguments, they opposed our views and so from then on they were very insubordinate. Everything was now very onerous to them and everything insufferably difficult. They talked of nothing but how useless so long a journey would now be. For to them it was of no value to have already discovered so great an extent of country, and people so willing to attach themselves readily to the Vineyard of the Lord and the dominions of His Majesty (God spare him); nor to have become acquainted with such extensive provinces hitherto unknown; nor finally, to bring one soul, now almost assured to the fold of the Church, an achievement more than great, and worth an even longer journey of greater difficulties and fatigues. Moreover, we had already made much progress toward reaching Monterey later. But to all this they paid no attention, for the first of the persons here mentioned, without any cause whatsoever, at least on our part, had conceived great hopes of honor and profit by merely reaching Monterey, and had communicated these hopes to the others, building great castles in the air. And now he assured them that we were robbing them of these blessings which they imagined would be so great, with the result that even the servants greatly tried our patience. Shortly before this decision was made, Don Bernardo had said that we had advanced but little toward the west, and that it was still a long distance to Monterey, but now even the servants frequently maintained that we would have arrived within a week. Many times, before leaving the Villa de Santa Fé, we had told each and every one of our companions that in this journey we had no other destination than the one which God might give us, and that we were not inspired by any temporal aim whatsoever; and that any one of them who might attempt to trade with the heathen, or to follow out his personal desires instead of devoting himself to the one purpose of this enterprise, which had been and is the greater honor of God and the spread of the Faith, had better not go with us. On the way we repeatedly admonished them to purify any intentions they might have, because otherwise we would suffer trouble and misfortunes, and would fail to achieve all our aims, a thing which in part they now saw happen under circumstances which, unless they close their eyes to the Light, they will never be able to attribute to accident. With all this we were more mortified each day, and we were disconsolate to see that instead of the interests of Heaven, those of Earth were first and principally sought. And so, in order that the cause of God might be better served, and to make them see more clearly that not through fear nor by our own will had we changed our plan, we decided to abandon entirely the heavy responsibility of the foregoing reflections. Having implored the divine clemency and the intercession of our patron saints we decided to inquire anew the will of God by means of casting lots, putting in one the word "Monterey" and in the other "Cosnina," and following the route which might come out. We now overtook the companions, and had them dismount. When all were assembled, Father Fray Francisco Atanasio set forth to them the inconveniences and difficulties which now prevented our continuing to Monterey; what we would be able to achieve by returning by way of Cosnina; and finally, the mistakes and set-backs which we would have suffered hitherto if God had not interfered with some of their projects. He pointed out to them all the evil which might result from continuing now to Monterey, especially from the straying or the return of the Laguna, Joaquin. He warned them that if the lot fell to Monterey, there would be no other director than Don Bernardo Miera, for he thought it so near at hand, and all this dissatisfaction was a result of his ideas. Then Father Atanasio gave them a brief exhortation to the end that, putting aside every sort of passion, they should subject themselves entirely to God, and beg Him, with firm hope and lively faith, to make known His Will. They all submitted in a Christian spirit and with fervent devotion they said the third part of the Rosary and other petitions, while we said the penitential Psalms, and the litanies and other prayers which follow them. This concluded, we cast the lot, and it was decided in favor of Cosnina. Now, thank God, we all agreeably and gladly accepted this result.

We now continued on our way, quickening our pace as much as possible and having traveled ten leagues from San Eleuterio, two south by east, three south-southeast (now leaving the plain of Nuestra Señora de la Luz), a fourth of a league southeast, one and a quarter south-southeast, three and one-half southeast over good terrain, and going through a wood of piñon and juniper, crossing a long valley with much pasturage, and afterwards some grass-covered hills, we descended to a beautiful valley and camped after nightfall near a small river in one o£ its meadows, which have a very great abundance of pasturage. We named them the Valley of Señor San José - Today ten leagues.

We observed by the polar star and found ourselves in 37° and 33' of latitude.


THE ITINERARY AND DIARY CONTINUES FROM 37° 33 MINUTES OF LATITUDE, AND FROM THE SMALL RIVER OF SEÑOR SAN JOSÉ, IT IS DIRECTED TOWARD THE RIO COLORADO AND COSNINA.
October 12
We set out from the small river of Señor San José, where there were some miry places, crossed a large marsh with much water and pasturage and through the middle of which runs another stream of water like an irrigation ditch. We crossed this stream by going northwest, then turned straight south on the west side of the meadows of the plain. Having traveled over good terrain four and one-half leagues, we saw that the companions who were some distance ahead of us left the road hurriedly. We quickened our pace to learn the cause, and when we overtook them they were already talking with some Indian women whom they had forcibly detained because they had begun to run away with other Indian women, of whom there were about twenty in number gathering grass seeds in the plain, as soon as they saw them. We were sorry to see them so frightened for they could not even speak, and through the interpreter and the Laguna, Joaquin, we tried to relieve them of their fear and timidity. When they had somewhat recovered their composure, they told us that in this vicinity there were many of their people; that they had heard it said that toward the south there were people who wore blue clothes and that the Rio Grande was not very far from here. We were not able to learn from them with certainty from what nation they obtained these blue garments or rags, nor to form concerning this matter any opinion from what they said. But we knew that the Payuchis traded only for red clothes, and immediately it occurred to us that the Cosninas buy their blue woolen cloth in Moqui, so we concluded that it was of these they were talking, from which we inferred that this place was near the Rio Colorado and the Rio Cosnina. These Indian women were so poorly dressed that they wore only some pieces of buckskin hanging from their waists, which hardly covered what can not be looked at without peril. We bade them goodbye, telling them they must notify their people that we were coming in peace, that we harmed nobody and loved everybody, and therefore the men who were able to do so should come without fear to the place where we were going to camp. We continued along the plain and valley of Señor San José, and having traveled three more leagues to the south, we saw other Indians who were running away. We despatched the interpreter with the Laguna, Joaquin, and another companion, to try to bring an Indian to the campsite, which was now nearby, in order to inquire whether the Rio Grande was as near as the Indian women had said, and to see if one of them would accompany us as a guide as far as Cosnina. They ran so fast that our men were barely able to stop one of them. Don Joaquin Lain brought that one behind him on his horse to the place where, having traveled another half-league to the south, we had already camped near a small stream which we called Rio de Nuestra Señora del Pilar de Zaragoza, where, as in all the valley, there was much good pasturage. - Today eight leagues south.

This Indian whom the companions brought to the camp, as we have just said, was very excited and so terror-stricken that he seemed to be insane. He looked in every direction, watched everybody, and was excessively frightened by every action or movement on our part and to escape what his extreme cowardliness led him to fear, he gave such close attention when we talked to him and responded so quickly that he appeared rather to guess at our questions than to understand them. He quieted down a little, and we gave him something to eat and a ribbon, putting it on him ourselves. He carried a large net very well made of hemp, which he said he used to catch hares and rabbits. When we asked him where he got these nets, he replied that it was from other Indians who live down the Rio Grande, from whence, we also learned later, they obtained colored shells, and according to the distance and the direction in which he placed them, they appear to be the Cocomaricopas. With respect to the distance to the Rio Grande and the blue clothing, he said the same as the Indian women, adding that some colored woolen threads which he possessed he had purchased this summer from two of those who wear the blue clothing and who had crossed the river. We questioned him in different ways about the Cosninas, but he gave us no information about them, either because these people knew them by another name, or perhaps because he feared that if he admitted he knew them, we would take him by force so that he might conduct us to them, or, finally, because he did not know them. We asked him if he had heard it said that toward the west or west-northwest (pointing in these directions) there were fathers and Spaniards, and he answered, "No," for although many people lived there, they were of the same language and tribe as himself. They showed him a kernel of maize, and he said that he had seen how it was grown, adding that at a rancho to which we would come next day there was a little of this grain, which they had brought from the place where it is raised. We made great efforts to get him to tell us the name of these people who were now planting maize, and to clarify other things of which he was giving a confused account, but we were able to learn only that they lived on this side of the Rio Grande on another small river. He remained with us voluntarily all night and promised to lead us to the rancho mentioned.
 

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