Pageant in the Wilderness

Father Escalante, who was born in Treceno, Cantabria, Spain around 1750, became a Franciscan in the Convento Grande in Mexico City at the age of 17. In 1774, he came to present-day New Mexico in the Mexican province. He was first stationed at Laguna pueblo and then in January 1775 assigned as a minister to the Zuni.

In June 1776, he was summoned by Fray Francisco Atanasio Dominguez, who had arrived...