Carol Hunter, the coordinator of the Dominguez-Escalante Expedition Education Project (DEEEP), released data regarding its website and the educational tools. DEEEP is an interactive teaching platform, based on the historical journey of the Franciscan priests who attempted to make their way from Santa Fe to the California missions. They did pass through the local area.
DEEEP is free for all users, available for schools and homeschoolers as an educational resource, and has accommodations for various types of learners. In the last year it’s been bequeathed to the Rimrocker Historical Society, which now houses a kiosk for the project. Though DEEEP is headquartered in the West End, it’s online presence is apparently far-reaching. The data shows it’s being used by others in Colorado, nationally as well as other in other countries.
The numbers Hunter released began Oct. 14, 2024, which is the date of the DEEEP website launch. She said audio was added at that time. The educational tools, lesson plans and terrain blocks, went live later on July 25, 2025.
The analysis indicates that the number of DEEEP users has grown greatly since its inception. In the first month of availability, with only two weeks of being live, 1,590 accessed the website. Over the next six months, the number rose steadily, and by April of 2025 the number of users was reported to be 6,282. By October of 2025, the number of users was 11,693, and by April of 2026, that number was 18,941.
“It is hard to believe how far DEEEP has gone in trying to answer the question: ‘Who/what was the Dominguez-Escalante Expedition of 1776?’” Hunter said. “We think the numbers will continue to grow … ”
Hunter’s data analysis also includes geographical information, and while the numbers of Colorado cities reached was 57 in October of 2024, that number was 106 most recently in May of 2026. Additionally, in the beginning of its launch, users from 28 different states had logged on; by February of 2026, users from 49 states had logged on, and that has remained through March, April and May.
Regarding international places or outlying regions, the date from the site’s establishment show 122 spots across the globe logging on; most recently that number was 957.
DEEEP’s trends show growth too in the number of users accessing lesson plans, terrain blocks and the audio. While all three types of materials became available in June of 2025, in the last year the number of users for lesson plans has gone from 119 to 772. Similarly, with the interactive tool, the terrain blocks, the number of users went from three to 207 in the last year. And, for the audio, that number went from 30 to 266.
Hunter credits those who worked on the project and who partnered with DEEEP for its success.
“This was the result of over 100 volunteers working up to five years, collecting research and conducting field work on the Dominguez-Escalante Expedition of 1776,” she said.
She said Phase 1 was the website, and Phase 2 was the release of the educational tools. DEEEP will announce updates to the project, other phases, this summer.
