In November 1776, a party of Spanish explorers and Indian guides passed through this area on their way to the Zuni Mission in what is now New Mexico. Franciscan Fathers Francisco Atanasio Dominquez and Silvestre Velez De Escalante had left Santa Fe hoping to discover an overland route to the presidio at Monterey, but cold weather and rugged terrain forced them to turn south and return to Santa Fe. Although they did not find a shorter route to California, they explored much new territory in the present states of New Mexico, Colorado, Utah, and Arizona. After wandering for miles along the rim of the seemingly impassable Marble Canyon Gorge, they became the first Europeans to discover a usable crossing of the Colorado River. The explorers had also attempted to bring the Christian religion to the Hopis in Oraibi, 100 miles west of here, but their conversion efforts were not well received and the Hopis saved them from starving. They camped near this location in a snowstorm on November 16, 1776, with only one more day's ride before reaching the familiar mission in Zuni, New Mexico.