The expedition's path through Utah was based entirely on the knowledge of their Indigenous guides.
While in Utah in September 1776, they crossed the Green River and journeyed to areas near Strawberry Reservoir, Spanish Fork Canyon, Utah Valley, Sevier River, Milford, Cedar Valley, and the Virgin River.
Of course, Domínguez and Escalante named and renamed things along the way. Their name for Utah Lake was Laguna de Nuestra Señora de la Merced de los Timpanogotzis, translated to "Lake of Our Lady of Mercy of the Timpanogotzis."
The name is in honor of both their Catholic faith and the name of the people living around Utah Lake identified by one of their Indigenous guides, Panchucunquibiran, as the Timpanogotzis people.
Panchucunquibiran was himself Timpanogotzi (called "Laguna" by Escalante, the Spanish term for the same lake-dwelling people) and was one of two second-tier chiefs beneath the head chief, Turunianchi, as explained to the friars through a painted hide depicting the tribe's leadership hierarchy.
The name “Timpanogos” is still with us today.
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| Clip from the C. E. Erickson, The Escalante Trail: 1776 |
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| Clip from Bernardo de Miera y Pacheco's Map 1778 |
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SOURCES:
C. E. Erickson, The Escalante Trail: 1776, [G4300_1776.B6.jpg]. Arizona Memory Project, accessed March 7, 2026, https://azmemory.azlibrary.gov/nodes/view/257568
Joel C. Janetski, The Ute of Utah Lake, Anthropological Papers no. 116 (Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 1991).
Bernardo de Miera y Pacheco, cartographer, Plano geográfico de los descubrimientos hechos por Dn. Bernardo de Miera y Pacheco y los RRs. Ps. Fr. Francisco Atanasio Domínguez y Fr. Silvestre Vélez: S. Felipe Rt. de Chiguagua [cartographic material], 1778. Yale University Library, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, WA MSS S-2856, https://collections.library.yale.edu/catalog/2002707
David E. Miller, ed., The Route of the Domínguez-Escalante Expedition, 1776–77: A Report of Trail Research Conducted Under the Auspices of the Domínguez-Escalante State/Federal Bicentennial Committee and the Four Corners Regional Commission (Domínguez-Escalante State/Federal Bicentennial Committee, 1976), https://collections.lib.utah.edu/ark:/87278/s6qmeb5m
Robert S. Russon, “A Trail Guide to the Domínguez-Vélez de Escalante Expedition 1776” (M.S. thesis, Department of History, Utah State University, May 1973), USU Digital Commons, https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=9154&context=etd
Nick Saenz, “The Domínguez-Escalante Expedition in Ute Country,” History Colorado, August 6, 2025, https://www.historycolorado.org/story/2025/08/06/dominguez-escalante-expedition-ute-country
Claudio Saunt, West of the Revolution: An Indian Continent Shaken by Distant Empires (W. W. Norton, 2014).
