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Juan María Antonio de Rivera, also spelledRibera (fl. July - 20 November 1765) was an 18th-centurySpanish explorer who explored southwesternNorth America, including parts of the SouthernRocky Mountains. In 1765, at the request of GovernorTomás Vélez Cachupin of New Mexico, he led two expeditions fromSanta Fe northward through present-dayColorado andUtah, partly in search ofsilver but also to help thwart the expansion of European powers in the region. His expeditions passed through regions inhabited by theUte andSouthern Paiute tribes. Rivera camped with Paiutes along the Dolores River in July 1765 before returning to Santa Fe for supplies. His second trip set out in September 1765 with an explicit instruction from Governor Cachupin to find where the Natives cross the Colorado River.[1] Although his diaries of the expedition do not state when the party returned to Santa Fe, he signed and certified his second diary 20 November 1765. His expedition crossed theAnimas River near present-dayDurango, Colorado (a tributary of theColorado River), which he may have named.[2] The ore samples he brought back to Santa Fe were among the first recorded discoveries of gold in present-day Colorado, although they created no particular interest at the time.
Jacobs, G. C. 1992. "The Phantom Pathfinder" Utah Historical Quarterly 60(3): 201 - 223.
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