---

Survey of Historic Sites and Buildings

	GLEN CANYON NATIONAL RECREATION AREA Crossing of the Fathers (lost site) Utah
Location: Kane and San Juan Counties, 1-1/2 miles below Ute Ford, in Glen Canyon of the Colorado River. Glen Canyon National Recreation Area

The Domínguez-Escalante expedition, consisting of the 2 fathers and 12 companions, discovered and used the ford now known as the Crossing of the Fathers on November 7, 1776, after searching 2 weeks for a way to cross the Colorado River. The party, on the trail for 5 months, had unsuccessfully attempted to blaze a trail through Colorado, Utah, and Arizona to connect New Mexico with the missions and settlements of California; and was forced to return to Santa Fe by the lateness of the season. The steps its members chiseled into the canyon wall on their return trip were still visible until recently, when completion of the Glen Canyon Dam submerged these last vestiges of an important Spanish exploration in the Lake Powell Reservoir.

This site is within the boundaries of Glen Canyon National Recreation Area.