Silvestre Vélez de Escalante

Silvestre Vélez de Escalante (flourished 1768–79) was a Spanish Franciscan missionary-explorer, who in 1776–77 with his superior Francisco Domínguez, while seeking a route to Monterey in California from Santa Fe (now in New Mexico), rediscovered the Grand Canyon (Arizona). He explored what is now western Colorado and made the first Spanish penetration of what is now Utah (in which he recommended colonization), before returning, unsuccessful in his route search, to Santa Fe.