Clark 1
Tyler Clark
D & E Essay
History 3850
John D. Barton
Utah is a state filled with rich historical events that, luckily, have documentation. One of
the most significant events was the Dominquez-Escalante Expedition
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in 1776. This document is
the first written in Utah history and is a primary record of their expedition. This is of great
significance because we can read about the experiences of their journey and their thoughts
regarding Utah. This journal is invaluable to Utah because of recorded experiences with the
Yutas, known today as the Utes. In addition, there are many entries dedicated to plant life,
geography, and animal life of Utah.
One reason I believe that this document is so important to Utah history is due to its
detailed history of the Indian tribe that resided there at the time, the Yutas. As readers, we can
see the perspective of Fray Francisco Atanasio Dominguez and Fray Silverstre Velez as they
interacted with the Yutas. In this journal, they described the settlements that the Yutas inhabited.
They described their living arrangements as “the houses of which seemed to have been made of
stone with which the Tabehuachi Yutas have fashioned a weak and crude rampart.”
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From the
expeditioner’s account, we can read and learn for ourselves what the native tribe’s living
conditions were like at the time, and that is one of the reasons this journal is so crucial to history.
