Utah State Historical Society State Capitol—Salt Lake City, Utah Vol. X X
October, 1952
No. 4
THE DISCOVERY OF T H E GREEN RIVER 1 BY C. GREGORY CRAMPTON*
W,
ITHIN fifty years after the discovery of America, the Colo-
rado River had been seen by Spanish explorers at the Grand Canyon and at places below, but the vast wilderness basin of its principal fork, the Green River, extending from the W i n d River Mountains in Wyoming to Stillwater Canyon in Utah, remained altogether unknown to white men as late as 1776, when it was explored for the first time by the Dominguez-Escalante expedition. Although Spain had been in occupation of New Mexico since 1598, save for the years of the Pueblo Revolt, explorations toward the northwest from there do not appear to have been carried beyond the basin of the Colorado River proper as it is now designated, and it is doubtful if the river itself had been crossed above the Needles before 1776. Although unexplored, the country beyond the river had not remained a blank. From the Indians the Spaniards learned much about it, and with fertile *C. Gregory Crampton is professor of history, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah. 1 A number of persons have contributed to the research, but they may not be held responsible for the conclusions expressed in this paper. A grant from die University of Utah Research Fund defrayed much of the expense involved. Copies of documents from the archives in Mexico and elsewhere were generously provided at the direction of L. H. Kirkpatrick, librarian, University of Utah Library; Dr. Leland H. Creer, chairman, and Dr. David E. Miller, Department of History, University of Utah; Dr. S. Lyman Tyler, Department of History and Political Science, Brigham Young University; Professor Walter E. Cottam, chairman, Department of Botany, University of Utah; Mr. Jess Lombard, superintendent, and Mr. George M. James, ranger, Dinosaur National Monument; Mr. Robert Thorne, Jensen; Miss Maurine Clifford, U. S. Geological Survey, Salt Lake City; and Mr. Jack Baker, Bureau of Land Management, U. S. Department of Interior, Salt Lake City. All of these and others contributed greatly to the interpretation of data in the field and otherwise and tiieir help is here gratefully acknowledged.
