Archived Story

Signs of early explorers: Inscriptions may have been left by first Europeans in Utah
By the Associated Press

Jim Page, with the graffiti mitigation group Graffiti Removal and Intervention Team, points to the year 1776 inscribed on a slot canyon wall near Lake Powell, Utah, on Jan. 18. The writing that is evidence of the Dominguez-Escalante party being in the area. The style the date is written gives credibility to the inscription’s authenticity. The date is part of an inscription that reads: “paso por Aqui” we passed by here and has been scrawled over by vandals.
Mark Havnes/Salt Lake Tribune
GLEN CANYON NATIONAL RECREATION AREA, Utah (AP) - Experts believe "1776," found in sandstone near Lake Powell, was etched by explorers that year on the Utah-Arizona border.

A Spanish inscription "Pasa Por Aqui" - meaning "pass by here" - followed by the year "1776" can be found in stone near the Crossing of the Fathers.

"The diary pinpoints them being in the area Nov. 6 or 7," said Jim Page, leader of a group that removes graffiti from historic sites in southern Utah.

"They were impacted by a storm system on their way back to Santa Fe and were on the verge of starvation," he said. "My supposition is that one of them, not knowing if they were going to survive the journey or if Escalante's documents would perish with them, went into the alcove and left the carving."

Page said the style of the letters and scientific analyses, along with journals kept by the Catholic priest Silvestre Velez de Escalante, make it 98 percent certain that someone in the Dominguez-Escalante expedition chiseled the unsigned message.

If so, it represents the only physical evidence of the first European exploration of Utah.

The expedition, led by a priest, Francisco Atanasio Dominguez, left the Spanish settlement in Santa Fe, N.M., in search of a new route to Monterey, Calif. Bad weather in Iron County forced them to return to Sante Fe.

The inscription near Padre Bay is in a slot canyon that stands as a gallery of graffiti, including "Rob and Kathi 1994" chiseled in the outline of a heart and scratched on top of the Dominguez-Escalante writing.

"It's a terrible thing," Page said. "I don't think people understand the damage they have done."

Despite the graffiti, the Dominguez-Escalante carving still can be detected.

Glen Canyon spokesman Kevin Schneider said

3 million people a year visit the park and until recently

no one had recognized the significance of the

inscription.

"It's a priceless piece of history," he said, "and should be protected."

Schneider said the inscription is being nominated for the National Register of Historic Places.
Add your comment now! Write your comment in the form below.
(Email address is for verification only. If you'd like to email a story, look for the link above)
Current Word Count:
   

|

Subscribe to the Missoulian today — get 2 weeks free!