Hello, Wednesday. Fall is officially here, and it is officially beautiful.

• ☀️ Today's weather: Sunny, with a high of 80.

🎂 Happy birthday to our member Todd Irwin!

Today's newsletter is 920 words — a 3.5-minute read.

Hispanic Heritage Month is underway, with events around the Salt Lake Valley celebrating Latino culture and history in the U.S.

Why it matters: Latinos are one of the state's fastest-growing demographic groups, representing nearly 1 in 5 Utahns.

Flashback: Mexicans and Spanish speakers lived in present-day Utah before it became the 45th U.S. state in 1896.

• Utah was still part of Mexico when Latter-day Saint pioneers arrived in the Salt Lake Valley in 1847.
• The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo was signed in 1848, putting an end to the U.S.-Mexico war. Under the agreement, Mexico relinquished the region to the U.S.
• Since then, the state's mining, agricultural, and railroad industries have brought generations of Latino families to Utah.

Hispanic Heritage Month runs through Oct. 15.

Here's where to celebrate:

🎨 LatinArte: Nuestras Raíces Exhibition: The exhibit, organized by the Mexican Consulate and Artes de México en Utah, will showcase Latino American art through Friday.

• Where: The George S. & Dolores Doré Eccles Gallery at Salt Lake Community College's South City Campus.

💃 Mi Gente: The celebration will include live performances, a market, food vendors, dancing and a full bar, along with children's activities, 5-10pm Saturday.

• Where: Millcreek Common.

🩺 Health & Heritage Fair: The 11th annual fair by Take Care Utah will provide free health screenings, along with live music, food and folklórico performances from noon-8:30pm Saturday. A procession highlighting more than 30 Latin American countries begins at 1:30pm.

• Where: Utah State Fairpark.

⚾ Béisbol en Salt Lake: Take in Mexican baseball and Hispanic culture Saturday and Sunday as the Águilas de Mexicali face off against the Jaguares de Nayarit. Tickets start at $15.

• Where: The Ballpark at America First Square.

🪡 La China Poblana: The University of Utah is featuring an exhibit on traditional Mexican dresses through Dec. 31.

• Where: J. Willard Marriott Library.

Tell a friend

Two Franciscan priests arrived at the Wasatch Front 250 years ago this week.

Why it mattered: The expedition of Silvestre Vélez de Escalante and Atanasio Domínguez was the first time white people were documented to have set foot in what is now Utah.

• This is Old News, where we trace the map of Utah's past.

Zoom in: On Sept. 23, the entourage was greeted by the Timpanogos Utes near Spanish Fork Canyon.

• A Ute guide was tasked with explaining Roman Catholicism 101 to the community, and Escalante wrote that people asked to be baptized immediately.

Reality check: Escalante's journal should probably be taken with a grain of salt; he also claims the Utes "offered the Spaniards all their land so they might build their houses wherever they pleased."

Between the lines: His account suggests an alliance with Spain against the Comanche was a big factor in their enthusiasm.

• They were surprised the expedition had passed through Comanche lands without violence, "thus verifying what the [priests] had said: Namely, that God would deliver us from all our enemies," Escalante wrote.

Yes, but: Even the priests hit the brakes on formal conversion.

• "We told them that after finishing our journey we would return with more fathers … to baptize them."
• In the meantime, they told the Ute people to "say only 'Jesús Maria! Jesús Maria!'" to earn God's favor.

The bottom line: It took the better part of a century for Catholicism to return and establish a permanent presence.

That other Spaniard

Sen. John Curtis is urging Senate Judiciary leaders to subpoena Donald Trump Jr. and Hunter Biden to investigate whether presidential family ties have been used for private family gain.

Why it matters: Curtis says the same congressional oversight applied to Hunter Biden should apply to presidential families of both parties.

Driving the news: The Monday letter seeks an investigation into "private financial benefit, preferential treatment, or access."

Catch up quick: ProPublica reported that Russian oligarch Umar Kremlev paid hundreds of thousands of dollars toward Trump Jr.'s three-day wedding celebration in the Bahamas, including buying a private-island rental.

• Curtis also pointed to other Trump family business ties.

What they're saying: "A toaster is a wedding gift," Curtis wrote on X. "A private-island party paid for by a Putin-connected oligarch is something else."

The White House, Trump Jr. and Hunter Biden have not responded to requests for comment.

• Hunter Biden has denied involving his father in business dealings.
• Trump Jr. confirmed Kremlev hosted celebrations, describing it as a wedding gift from a friend. President Trump later defended the arrangement as "totally allowed" and said he had been told his son would repay Kremlev.

Read more

🎤 Utah Rep. Blake Moore and Sen. John Curtis — both Republicans — decried Trump's ban on Politico, CNN and MS NOW from the White House. (KSL)

🔎 The Disability Law Center says lax state oversight contributed to the deaths of three men with disabilities who died from carbon monoxide poisoning in February. The men were left in a running van while in the care of a Utah company. (Utah News Dispatch)

⚖️ A postal worker has been indicted by a federal grand jury on accusations that he threw away 300 mail-in ballots being sent to Utah County voters before the June primary election. (FOX 13)

👩‍🌾 Erin is deciding how ambitious her Halloween farm decorations should be.

☕ Kim is checking out Gramercy today.

This newsletter was edited by Astrid Galván.