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turn back to Santa Fe. Cartographer Miera’s
protests over the decision forced the friars to
cast lots to keep peace among the ranks. The
friars won the toss and the expedition headed
south toward Arizona, eventually reaching the
Colorado River near Marble Canyon.
On November 26, 1776, the expedition
reached Zuni Pueblo, south of modern Gallup,
New Mexico. “Not having sufficient strength
tocontinue,” the group rested before continu-
ing on to Santa Fe to present their report on
the lands and people they had seen. On Janu-
ary 3, 1777, they signed Escalante’s diary,
finally documenting the first European explo-
ration of the Great Basin Desert and blazing
part of what would later be called the Old
Spanish Trail between Santa Fe and California.
In the end, the labors of Kino, Anza, Gar-
cés, the Dominguez-Escalante expedition,
and others to open a busy route to California
stalled. Increasing bloodshed between Indi-
ans and colonists in New Mexico made the
frontier a dangerous place to live or cross in
safety. A 1781 Yuma uprising, which took the
life of Fray Garcés, closed the route he and
Anza had opened. By then, however, Spain
was more concerned with new threats arriving
by sea in the Pacific Northwest.(^156) B Discovery of the Americas, 1492–1800
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