Editing Utah (section)

===Spanish exploration (1540)===

{{Main|New Spain|The Californias#History|First Mexican Empire|Provisional Government of Mexico|First Mexican Republic|Centralist Republic of Mexico}}

The southern Utah region was explored by the Spanish in 1540, led by [[Francisco Vázquez de Coronado]] while looking for the legendary [[Seven Cities of Gold|Cíbola]]. A group led by two Catholic priests—sometimes called the [[Domínguez–Escalante expedition]]—left [[Santa Fe, New Mexico|Santa Fe]] in 1776, hoping to find a route to the coast of California. The expedition traveled as far north as [[Utah Lake]] and encountered the native residents. The Spanish made further explorations in the region but were not interested in colonizing the area because of its desert nature. In 1821, the year Mexico achieved its independence from Spain, the region became known as part of its territory of [[Alta California]].

European trappers and [[fur traders]] explored some areas of Utah in the early 19th century from Canada and the United States. The city of [[Provo, Utah]], was named for one [[Étienne Provost]], who visited the area in 1825. The city of [[Ogden, Utah]], was named after [[Peter Skene Ogden]], a Canadian explorer who traded furs in the Weber Valley.

In late 1824, [[Jim Bridger]] became the first known English-speaking person to sight the [[Great Salt Lake]]. Due to the high [[salinity]] of its waters, he thought he had found the Pacific Ocean; he subsequently learned this body of water was a giant [[salt lake]]. After the discovery of the lake, hundreds of American and Canadian traders and trappers established trading posts in the region. In the 1830s, thousands of migrants traveling from the Eastern United States to the American West began to make stops in the region of the Great Salt Lake, then known as Lake Youta.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Wheat |first=Carl I. |title=Mappig the American West 1540-1857 |url=https://www.americanantiquarian.org/node/11484 |journal=Proceedings of the American Antiquarian Society |volume=64 |issue=1 |pages=110}}</ref>