Page:History of Utah.djvu/61

Rh The party consisted in all of nine persons. Besides the two priests there were Juan Pedro Cisneros, alcalde mayor of Zuñi, Bernardo Miera y Pacheco, capitan miliciano of Santa Fé, and five soldiers. Having implored divine protection, on the day before named they took the road to Abiquiú, passed on to the Rio Chama, and on the 5th of August reached a point called Nieves, on the San Juan River, three leagues below the junction of the Navajo. Thence they passed down the north bank of the San Juan, crossing the several branches, until on the 10th they found themselves on a branch of the Mancos, some distance from the San Juan, and beyond the line of the present state of Colorado. The 12th they camped on the north bank of the Rio Dolores, in latitude 38º 13', and were there joined by two natives from Abiquiú, who had deserted their homes to follow the expedition.

They now followed the general course of the Dolores until the 23d, when they left the San Pedro, which flows into the Dolores near La Sal, and crossed