| Show Is Spanish pan ish Trail Trail Left Mark on Moab Valley Some of Moab's newer residents resident may wonder why the Moab Valle Valley sometimes Is called Spanish Val Val- Icy ley ey While no attempt was made to colonize this area until the BillIngs Bilings BillIngs Bill Bili Ings party came in 1855 Spaniards had lad passed through this region for more than a century Father Escalante Escalante Escalante Es- Es calante and his party searching for fora a route from Santa Fe to California Califor Califor- nia nia- had crossed southwestern and western Colorado in 1776 They missed this area on that first expedition ex ex- coming into what now is Utah east of Jensen Later parties found the route south and west of the La that hat came to be known as the Spanish Trail Perhaps a few trappers or mountain men followed the Spanish Trail in the last years of the he eighteenth century but ut if tf so soth th they hoy y left n no record re a First mention men nien- n ion tion pf the valley by speak English-speak- Ing ng travelers comes In 1809 Winford Bunce now a Grand County commissioner tells the story in a history of the county written in 1936 In the spring of 1807 a party of 20 trappers under the leadership leadership leader- leader ship hip of Ezekiel Williams left St. St Louis Bunce wrote On the headwaters of the Arkansas Arkansas Ar Ar- kansas the Commanche Indians surrounded and killed or cut off all but three of them Williams James ames Workman and Samuel Spencer Spen Spen- Williams made his way dOwn the he Arkansas and traveled over over- land and to St St. Louis Workman and Spencer headed for Santa Fe presumably presumably pre- pre by the drainage of the Rio Del Norte Rio Grande but buty by y mistake came d down wn the Gunnison Gunni- Gunni son on and then the Grand Grane rivers the Colorado was known as as the Grand at that time In the s summer of 1809 Workman Workman Work Work- man and Spencer beginning to wonder why they had not reached Santa Fe evidently came to a crossing on the river that evidently evident evident- ly Iy y had been used by many horses and mules This crossing at what now is Moab was the Spanish Trail The two lost trappers followed it toward the south and east and two days later met a caravan of more than 40 Spaniards coming from the south From the Spaniards Span Span- lards Workman and Spencer learned learned learn learn- ed the river they had followed was the he Grand and that they still were were hundreds of miles from Santa Fe The trappers Joined the caravan pan panted led the traders to Southern California I |
