One would naturally assume that the Dominguez-Escalante expedition of 1776 offered the first non-native American look at the La Sal Mountains. While this famous group did pass by the La Sals (and even named them -- their title means "Salt Mountains"), Jose Knighton -- author of "La Sal Mountains Hiking and Nature Handbook" -- believes there's good evidence they were actually viewed 11 years earlier.

In 1765, Juan Maria Antonio de Rivera passed by the La Sals and entered Castle Valley northeast of Moab. He was a Spanish explorer in search of gold and supposedly went through the area on the advice of an Indian guide.The name La Sal is usually attributed to Fray Silvestre Velez de Escalante. He thought the white on top of the mountains in mid-summer was salt and not snow. After all, this was a desert area. The Indians had previously shown the explorers salt deposits at the base of these mountains.

For the Ute Indians, the La Sals were likely a prime hunting area and also a place to retreat from the summer heat in this desert region.

Mormon settlers entered the Moab area in 1855 at the foot of the La Sals. But less than a year later they were chased out by the Ute Indians. Two settlers of the 44 were killed by the Indians. These pioneers had called the mountains "Elk," oblivious to the Spanish La Sal name.

John Wesley Powell saw the La Sal Mountains from a distance during his 1869-71 trip through the region.

The mountains were renamed La Sal during the 1875 Hayden geographical survey. Many of the peaks were also named at this time. The government survey crew was attacked by the Indians. There was no loss of life, but some of their equipment had to be abandoned during the chase.

Bighorn sheep, grizzly bears and wolves had been exterminated here by the early 1900s. There are also no moose. But there are black bears, bobcats, cougars, deer, foxes, raccoons and other small mammals.

Mount Peale was named for Dr. Albert Peale, a mineralogist during the Hayden Survey.

Although Peale is tallest, it is not the most dominant peak for onlookers. The summit is set back to the east far enough -- 1.5 miles behind Mount 12,482-foot-high Tukuhnikivatz (say "Tuk-a-nik-ivatz") -- that it hardly stands out.

"Tuk," along with Mount Mellenthin (elevation 12,645), are the most striking La Sal Peaks.

Ute Indians supposedly name Tukuhnikivatz for "a place where the sun sets last" or "where the sun lingers." Another legend states that the peak was named after a Ute medicine man and translates roughly to "dirt seer."

"Tuk" is very noticeable because its southern flank has a long slope that drops down like a huge slide.

Mellenthin (say "Melon-teen") was named for Rudolph E. Mellenthin, a U.S. forest ranger in the area, who was shot and killed while attempting to apprehend a World War I draft dodger on Aug. 23, 1918.

Another lofty peak, Mount Waas (12,331), was named by the Hayden survey for a local Ute Indian chief.

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It was finally the cowboys and cattlemen who came to permanently settle at the base of the La Sals in 1877.

There was a gold rush in the area during 1888 when the precious metal was found on the slopes of Mount Waas and Green. This led to a town in Miner's Basin at the 10,000-foot level, complete with a store, saloon and several restaurants. But this was a ghost town by the early 1900s when the gold gave out.

It was a similar story for Gold Basin, another mining site, below and west of Mount Mellenthin.

Some of today's roads through the La Sals probably had their beginnings in the Miners' days. A Civilian Conservation Corps workforce of some 200 men in 1933 improved many roads and trails through the area.

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