As the geographic and spiritual center of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Utah is not often considered Catholic country. Catholicism, however, has a long history in the state. The first non-Native Americans to explore the territory were Franciscan missionaries. The Dominguez-Escalante expedition entered Utah Valley in 1776, and Catholicism grew as the territory grew. Salt Lake City became the center of a new diocese and the diocesan newspaper, Intermountain Catholic, was first published on October 7, 1899. That issue carried an item about an apostolic delegation to the Philippines and an article responding to the Dreyfus Affair. Similar stories would make up the bulk of the reporting over the next several decades, and the paper covered six states: Utah, Colorado, Idaho, Wyoming, Nevada, and Montana. The Intermountain Catholic is still being published in the early 21st century and it includes an online edition. Read more.