1. Spanish Explorers and Mountain Men

2. “The Great Encounter”
The first interaction between the white people and the Native Americans is called “The Great Encounter”
Some of the encounters were peaceful and some of them were violent
Both the lives of the white people and the lives of the Native Americans changed dramatically due to the Great Encounter

3. Age of Exploration
Europeans began exploring the world in the late 1400s
This led to Christopher Columbus landing in America in 1492
The Europeans had no idea that America was there or that it was populated by many groups of people
Columbus claimed the land, the wealth, and the native people for Spain
After Columbus, Spain began to send more explorers to this new land

4. The Spanish Spread Out
Spanish explorers begin to spread from the area of Mexico to the north to what is now Arizona, New Mexico, and California
Coronado explored the area around the Grand Canyon and Great Plains looking for gold
The city of Santa Fe, now in New Mexico, was a central hub for these Spanish explorations into the West
Juan Rivera was the first Spanish explorer to make it into Utah
He explored the areas around the Colorado River including Moab and Monticello

5. Spanish Settlements The Spanish had two types of settlements
Missions – religious settlement where priests lived
These priests worked to convert the Native Americans to Christianity
They also taught the Natives how to live like the Europeans
The Natives would also help the priests by showing them where to hunt and farm and where to explore
Many US cities started out as missions
Presidios – military posts
Used to protect the Spanish settlers from Indian attacks

6. Thought Question
The Spanish explored for gold, conquered Indians, and brought missionaries to spread Christianity
What do you think about their mixed desire for wealth, power, and religion? Think of instances of these ideas in the world today. Why do people often think “my way, or the highway” when it comes to power and religion?

7. The Dominguez-Escalante Expedition
In 1776, Father Dominguez and Escalante and mapmaker Miera were the first non-Indians to explore the Great Basin region
They were looking for a better route from Santa Fe to Monterey
They traveled north to Colorado and crossed into Utah near Flaming Gorge and Vernal
They met with the Ute Indians
The Utes gave them an Indian guide that Escalante called Silvestre

8. Dominguez-Escalante cont.
They party started to head south with their new guide
They came out of a canyon near Provo and saw many Indians around Utah Lake
These were ready to fight, but Silvestre told the Indians the the Spanish party was peaceful
The Spanish party continued south with their guides
However, lack of food, hardship, and an early winter forced the party to return to Santa Fe
Father Escalante’s journal and Miera’s map became very useful to future explorations of the area

10. Ethnocentricity – The belief in the superiority of one’s ethnic group or culture
Escalante believed that the Indians should be more like the Europeans
They tried to convert them to Christianity
They were concerned with Indians lack of steel weapons and pots, guns, and horses
Give some examples of ethnocentricity today.

11. Mountain Men
The fur traders came into the area of Utah to trap beavers for their pelts
These pelts were used to make fashionable hats for people in the East and Europe
They interacted and traded with the Indians of the area
Most fur trappers worked for American, English, or French companies

15. Rendezvous Mountain men would trap during the fall, winter, and spring
They would have so many furs that they would need to hide the in caches, holes in the ground or trees where they could hide their furs
When summer came, the mountain went to their caches to retrieve their furs
They then headed to a preselected sight to trade with other mountain men and fur companies
These gatherings were called rendezvous

16. Rendezvous cont.
500 mountain men, 1-2 thousand Indians, and thousands of horses made up these rendezvous
The mountain men would trade, or barter, the furs that they got during the year for supplies for the next year
A mountain man could get about $10 for each beaver pelt, which would be about $100 dollars today
Most rendezvous were held in Wyoming, but many were held in what is now Cache Valley up in Cache county

17. Indian-Trapper Conflict
Not all Indians and trappers got along
Page 74, “What do you think?”

18. Trapping Companies
There were two main fur companies that sent trappers to Utah
Hudson Bay Company – British trappers from the North
They sent people down the Bear River to Bear Lake and explored Cache Valley
Their main trapper was Peter Skene Ogden
Ashley-Henry Fur Company – American fur trappers from St. Louis
Mostly explored Wyoming and Uinta Mountain region
Started the rendezvous
Main trappers were Jim Bridger, Jedediah Smith, Jim Beckworth, John Weber, and John Clyman

19. Other Trappers Many trappers did not exclusively work for one company
These main freelance trappers were Etienne Provost, Antoine Robidoux, Joseph Walker, Osborn Russell, and Miles Goodyear

20. Old Spanish Trail It is a trail from Santa Fe to Los Angeles
The trail was used to send goods across the country to the ports in Los Angeles
Many Indian men, women, and children were traded on the trail along with other goods
The Indian slave trade was most popular in the 1830 and 1840s

21. The End of the Fur Trade
The age of the mountain man only lasted about 20 years
The beaver were almost hunted to extinction and fashion trends changed
Most mountain men become guides for coming pioneers