1751-?

Franciscan priest sent to the Zuni pueblos in what is now western New Mexico. In the form of a diary Escalante provided the best record about the Escalante expedition that left Santa Fe in 1776 for Monterey, California. Instead of following its planned route, the expedition made an extensive 1,000-mile (1,609-km) exploration of what is now western Colorado and central Utah, including the discovery of Lake Utah and native descriptions of the Great Salt Lake.