page_title: History of Utah
section_title: European exploration
hierarchical_section_title: History of Utah / European exploration
caption_attribution_description: English: Map of CA, NV, UT and western AZ when they were part of Mexico
context_page_description: The History of Utah is an examination of the human history and social activity within the state of Utah located in the western United States.
context_section_description: The Spanish explorer Francisco Vázquez de Coronado may have crossed into what is now southern Utah in 1540, when he was seeking the legendary Cíbola.
  A group led by two Spanish Catholic priests—sometimes called the Domínguez–Escalante expedition—left Santa Fe in 1776, hoping to find a route to the California coast. The expedition traveled as far north as Utah Lake and encountered the native residents.
  Fur trappers Also known as mountain men-including Jim Bridger—explored some regions of Utah in the early 19th century. The city of Provo was named for one such man, Étienne Provost, who visited the area in 1825. The city of Ogden, Utah is named for a brigade leader of the Hudson's Bay Company, Peter Skene Ogden who trapped in the Weber Valley. In 1846, a year before the arrival of members from the Church of Jesus Christ of latter-day Saints, the ill-fated Donner Party crossed through the Salt Lake valley late in the season, deciding not to stay the winter there but to continue forward to California, and beyond.
caption: Map showing Utah in 1838 when it was part of Mexico. From Britannica 7th edition.
exif: {"Image Make": "HP", "Image Model": "Photosmart C5200 series", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "300", "Image YResolution": "300", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Adobe Photoshop Elements 6.0 Macintosh", "Image DateTime": "2013:03:06 04:41:48", "Image HostComputer": "Apple Mac OS X", "Image ExifOffset": "248", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "386", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "4955", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "2243", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "3139"}