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??

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?

Historic Perspective

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?