Francisco Atanasio Domínguez was born in Mexico City. In 1776 Father Domínguez teamed with a young Franciscan named Silvestre Velez de Escalante to explore a possible route from Santa Fe, New Mexico to Monterey, California by heading Northwest out of Santa Fe. Known as the Domínguez-Escalante Expedition, this exploration was the earliest that white men arrived in the area now known as Utah.