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The expedition of Domínguez and Escalante - named after the two Franciscan priests who led it - set out from Santa Fe in July of 1776 with the goal of locating a route to California. Over the course of five months, this small expedition traversed the Colorado Plateau, mapping the region and engaging with Native cultures that thrived there for centuries prior to European arrival.

“Part of what is so interesting about the story of Domínguez and Escalante is that it’s happening at the same time as the Revolutionary War,” said Jeremy Morton, exhibition developer and historian at History Colorado. "While British colonists ignite a revolution to form a new nation, these Spanish priests are pushing through jagged mountains, icy rivers, and relentless winds, determined to find a way to California.”

While Domínguez and Escalante’s expedition never made it to California, their mapping of the Southwest and interactions with the Tribes that called it home – including the Ute, Paiute, Hopi, and Zuni peoples – left a lasting mark on both the landscape and the historical record.

“The impacts of this expedition rippled through history for centuries to come,” Morton said. “The maps born from the expedition informed where future settlers made their homes. Their path laid the foundation for trade routes like the Old Spanish Trail, opening the Southwest to the flow of people, goods, and animals. And Escalante’s journal remains an invaluable record for understanding the lives of the people who shaped what became the American West."

The highlight features of Expedition 1776 include:

• Pottery, baskets, and trade goods created by the ancestral Puebloan, Paiute, and Zuni peoples.
• Rare maps depicting the American West during the late 18th and early 19th centuries
• Travel and survival gear dating to the Spanish Colonial period.
• Spanish Catholic artwork and religious artifacts crafted prior to the signing of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo.

Expedition 1776: The Journey of Domínguez & Escalante is designed as part of a trio of upcoming exhibitions intended to commemorate the twin anniversaries of American independence and Colorado statehood in 2026. Complementing exhibitions in this series include:

• 38th Star: Colorado Becomes the Centennial State – opening September 26, 2025 – explores Colorado’s long road to statehood and the more than fifteen years of debate and negotiations it took. 38th Star shows visitors where Colorado began by revisiting its origins through the authentic photographs, documents, artifacts, and voices that formed the Centennial State. 
• Moments That Made US – opening November 22, 2025 – is a once-in-a-lifetime exhibition that assembles artifacts spanning eight centuries such as ceramics made by ancestral Puebloans, tobacco pipes used by the colonists in Jamestown, the spurs George Washington wore at Valley Forge, the inkwell used by Grant and Lee to sign the Confederate surrender at Appomattox Court House, Jackie Robinson’s bat, moon rocks from Apollo 11, and more. These objects bore witness to powerful moments of our history and highlight how the story of the United States was never inevitable. We shaped it at every turn.

Expedition 1776: The Journey of Domínguez & Escalante opens July 18 at the History Colorado Center in Denver. The History Colorado Center is located at 1200 N Broadway and is open daily from 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. Admission for kids 18 and under is free every day.

This exhibition is sponsored by AARP Colorado. 

About History Colorado
History Colorado is a division of the Colorado Department of Higher Education and a 501(c)3 non-profit that has served more than 75,000 students and 500,000 people in Colorado each year. It is a 146-year-old institution that operates eleven museums and historic sites, a free public research center, the Office of Archaeology and Historic Preservation which provides technical assistance, educational opportunities, and other access to archaeology and historic preservation, and the History Colorado State Historical Fund (SHF), which is one of the nation’s largest state funded preservation programs of its kind. More than 70% of SHF grants are allocated in rural areas of the state. Additionally, the offices of the State Archaeologist and the State Historic Preservation Officer are part of History Colorado. 

History Colorado’s mission is to create a better future for Colorado by inspiring wonder in our past. We serve as the state’s memory, preserving and sharing the places, stories, and material culture of Colorado through educational programs, historic preservation grants, collecting, outreach to Colorado communities, the History Colorado Center and Stephen H. Hart Research Center in Denver, and 10 other museums and historic attractions statewide. History Colorado is one of only six Smithsonian Affiliates in Colorado. Visit HistoryColorado.org, or call 303-HISTORY, for more information. #HistoryColorado