Herbert E. Bolton - Pageant in the Wilderness: The Story of the Escalante Expedition to the Interior Basin, 1776

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Text originally published in 1951 under the same title.

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Publishers Note

Although in most cases we have retained the Authors original spelling and grammar to authentically reproduce the work of the Author and the original intent of such material, some additional notes and clarifications have been added for the modern readers benefit.

We have also made every effort to include all maps and illustrations of the original edition the limitations of formatting do not allow of including larger maps, we will upload as many of these maps as possible.

PAGEANT IN THE WILDERNESS

THE STORY OF THE ESCALANTE EXPEDITION

TO THE INTERIOR BASIN, 1776

Including the Diary and Itinerary of

Father Escalante Translated

and Annotated

BY

HERBERT E. BOLTON

Contents

TABLE OF CONTENTS

THIS DYNAMIC STORY of Father Escalantes trek into the Great Basin, by Dr. Herbert E. Bolton, represents the results of a long lifetime of interest, writing, and exploration in Spanish activities in the great Southwest. For the Utah State Historical Society it also represents the hope and interest of many years. More than a decade ago this Society ventured to bring to print its first articles dealing with the explorations of the initial white travelers in the Intermountain Basin. A couple of years later it undertook to publish the results of the researches of the late Herbert S. Auerbach, who had spent considerable time and effort in translating and annotating the journal of Father Escalante, as well as collecting and interpreting several of the contemporary maps of the Escalante expedition. A testament to the excellence of the Auerbach volume and to the importance of the first white explorations in the region, this book quickly went out of print. Faced with continued requests for the Escalante story, the Board of Control of this Society, under the leadership of its president, Joel E. Ricks, arranged to publish the adventures of Father Escalante as translated and interpreted by the eminent historian of the West, Professor Bolton. Despite Boltons own statement that there never was and never will be a definite monograph, this Society feels that the present study very nearly approaches the ideal and final word.

The author has not only translated the Escalante journal with great care and insight, he has carefully identified the campsites in terms of modern geography. As if this were not enough, he has written an historical introduction which not only places the Escalante expedition in its proper historical setting, but depicts this trek as a great adventure, which in truth it was.

Dr. Bolton is directly responsible for the inclusion of the two maps which accompany this volume. The Miera map reproduced from a colored copy made from Mieras original was discovered by the author and is here reproduced for the first time. The Trails map which delineates the route in terms of modern place names and geography was drafted by Dr. Bolton himself. The intimate knowledge of the entire region represented in the map results from carefully retracing the trail in person.

In addition to the acknowledgments mentioned elsewhere by the author, the Society feels greatly indebted to a whole host of individuals who have contributed much to any excellence which this book may possess. Many individuals freely allowed use of illustrative material. Mr. Keith Eddington for his oil painting reproduced as the frontispiece especially should be named.

It is hoped that this volume will be received by both scholar and casual reader, the former for the excellent translation of the Escalante journal, and the latter for the simple yet dramatic delineation of the great trek, which we can follow step by step in the historical introduction.

Arlington R. Mortensen

IN the preparation of Escalantes narrative for publication I have included a short background sketch to give the Diary its setting in time and place, and to clarify matters which, though obvious to Escalantes contemporary audience, may be less apparent to present-day readers whose historical and ideological orientation are different from that of the bold eighteenth century explorer who wrote the superb account of his Splendid Wayfaring. I have retraced the entire route followed by Escalante and his companions, much of it several times, recorded the major human incidents of the long trek, and told of the Indians they encountered. Since a considerable part of the area traversed had been the home of prehistoric peoples, I have included a nontechnical indication of some of the antiquities along the way.

I owe a large debt of gratitude to the officers of the Utah State Historical Society for their generous cooperation, and to my many good companions on the Escalante trail, of whom I would here include a list if I could make it complete. These companions not only gave me important aid in my research, but they helped to make an unforgettable and deeply cherished episode in my life. To Dr. George P. Hammond, Professor of History, and Director of the Bancroft Library, I am indebted for many courtesies and helpful service. For most valuable assistance in the preparation of the book I wish to express my deepest gratitude to Miss Virginia E. Thickens and Miss Margaret Mollins.

Herbert E. Bolton

Berkeley, 1951.

Father Escalante Discovers Utah Valley

Escalantes Crossing of the Green River

The Valley of Paradise

A Bearded Indian

Yuta Indian Girls

Scene in Southwestern Utah

The Crossing of the Fathers

Father Escalante Stayed Here

Split Mountain and the Green River

Mt. Timpanogos

Pahvant Butte

Monument Valley

FATHER ESCALANTE DISCOVERS UTAH VALLEYFrom an oil painting by Keith Eddington

We...climbed a small hill, and beheld the lake and the wide valley of Nuestra Seora de la Merced de los Timpanogotzis....From Father Escalantes diary, September 23, 1776

HISTORICAL EPISODES, like rivers, represent the coming together of numerous small streams of influence from different directions. This was true of the famous Escalante Expedition from Santa F to the Utah Basin in 1776, year of the Declaration of Independence by thirteen of Englands thirty colonies in America. It was a spectacular chapter in the history of the Far West and in the opening of the Continent to European civilization. Unlike many chapters in the early history of North America, the episode lacked entirely the noise and carnage of battle.