The Great Encounter
New Wave of People in Utah

Just as Historic Native American
tribes replaced the Pre-historic
people of Utah, new groups of
individuals entered their land:
 To
explore routes to California
 To trap beaver
 Eventually to settle permanently
Who were these new groups of people?
What was the “Great Encounter”?

When Utah’s Native Americans
had to deal with foreign people
coming onto their land.
 Spanish
explorers
 Fur trappers
 Government explorers
 Mormon pioneers
 Federal armies
Dominguez/Escalante Party


Francisco Dominguez and
Silvestre Escalante were two
young Catholic priests.
Sent to find a better route
from Santa Fe New Mexico to
their missions in Monterey
California

Avoided Arizona because
of hostile Indian Tribes
there.

Went further north into what
is now Colorado and Utah.
Dominguez-Escalante Route


Met Ute Indians, offered to
teach them how to farm and
raise livestock
An early winter stopped them
from reaching Monterey,
never made it to California

Was their expedition a
complete failure?
Result of this Interaction


Dominguez and Escalante kept a
journal of their trip. It gave
details about the land and the
native people.
Thought the Indians would benefit
from changing to European ways.

Introduced the Natives to weapons,
metal pots, religion
Most important thing the Indians got from the Dominguez-Escalante
group was horses! Why?
Chain of Events
What was the lasting effect of
Dominguez & Escalante’s presence
in Utah?




Mapped new trails of Utah
Geographer named Humboldt found the
Dominguez-Escalante journal & maps and
published them.
John C. Fremont a government explorer
found the journal and map. He published a
book about Utah making it out to be a
better place than it was.
Mormon pioneers read Fremont’s report
and believed Utah was more a more fertile
and desirable place to live than it actually
was.

Fremont said Utah Lake was the same body of
water as the Great Salt Lake. Why would this
mistake be misleading??
Historic Perspective
Dominguez and Escalante tried to find a
route to Monterey in 1776.
What was happening across the country in
the 13 colonies at this time?
Mountain Men Come to Utah


After Dominguez and Escalante,
another group of people came to
Utah and made contact with the
natives
Mountain Men employed by
American, British, and Spanish
companies came to the west to
trap furs:

Fur pelts were sold in St. Louis and then
shipped to Europe
Making a Profit


In the early 1800’s fashionable
Europeans wore felt hats made of
beaver fur.
Mountain Men came to Utah to trap
beaver and make a profit
Living off the Land


Mountain Men dug a hole in
the ground to store the furs
they had trapped.
This hole was called a CACHE.
They would eat raw buffalo liver and buffalo
steaks roasted over an open fire.
If there was no food then they would live off the
land as best as they could.
Rendezvous!


In the summer, Mountain Men
gathered with Indians and other
fur trappers to sell their furs to
large companies and buy
supplies
This meeting was called a
Rendezvous
Rendezvous were a time of celebration
and games, where fur trappers could meet
together to have a good time.
Rendezvous means: a meeting at an agreed
time and place.
End of an Era




By the early 1840s, the trapping
business was over.
Fashion changed
Some Mountain Men became
guides for government explorers
and pioneers
The contact between explorers,
trappers and the American
Indians would change the lifestyle
of the Indians forever
Spectrum Survey


The main goal of mountain men was to make money by selling furs. When
the animals were gone from one place they would move on. The beaver
population in Europe was almost completely wiped out before trapping
companies came to America.
Most people today think about wise use of natural resources to ensure that
there are resources for future. But people disagree on how resources should
be used.
What do you think???

Should we protect the natural habitat of animals who live in mountains and
deserts, even if people need the forest trees for wood and the land for
homes or industry? Should we restrict the hunting of some animals?