Escalante

Mormon cavalrymen chasing raiders in the 1866 Black Hawk War first noted this green valley; settlers from Beaver came to stay in November 1875, surveying a townsite and raising a bowery. Lacking a flag for their first Fourth of July, they ran up a striped Navajo blanket instead. They named the place for Silvestre Vélez de Escalante, the Spanish priest whose 1776 expedition crossed Utah — though it never reached this valley. The pioneer monument still stands in a town now known as a gateway to Grand Staircase–Escalante.

What the plaque says

In 1866, a group of Mormon Cavalrymen noted this valley, while in pursuit of Indians during the Black Hawk War. In February, 1875, a company of men came from Beaver, Utah and explored the valley. The first permanent settlers came from Beaver, Utah and explored the valley. The first permanent settlers arrived November, 1875. The townsite was surveyed, homes built and a bowery erected. July 4, 1876, in absence of a better flag, they hoisted a striped Navajo blanket. The city was named for Father Escalante, a Spanish priest who visited Utah in 1776. Organized as a Latter-Day Saint Ward Aug. 5, 1877.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Escalante — steps away
  The town that gave Grand Staircase-Escalante its name
• Escalante Interagency Visitor Center — steps away
  Your essential stop before heading into the backcountry
• Escalante Petrified Forest State Park — 0.3 mi
  Walk among 150-million-year-old stone trees
• Lower Calf Creek Falls — 10 mi
  A 126-foot waterfall hidden in a desert canyon

More markers nearby

• L.D.S. Tithing Office — steps away
• Old White Church — steps away
• Escalante-Boulder Veterans Memorial — steps away
• First Public Building — steps away