The Acquisition
Part 1
1
of
Di scovery
E
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x pl o ra t i
on
of
O regon Territory
an d
th e
Ex plorati on
O regon Coast
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The ear liest voyages al ong the P aci fic s eaboa rd o f what is now
the ! nited S tates wer e mad e by Spaniards
The expedition of
C ab ril lo an d F er el o fro m Mexico i n the yea r 1 5 4 2 3 bro ught
i nto view nearly the e n ti re e x ten t of the Ca li fornia coast ; these
d iscoveries w ere con fi rm ed an d exte n ded to at least the fo rty
—
second paral lel
the so u th ern bo u n dary of Oregon
b y Vizcaino
a nd A g ui l ar l in 1 6 0 2 - 3
B ut havi n g thus early established a
c lai m upo n more territo ry th an she was ever able to sub du e and
o ccu p y i n a thoro u gh m a n n er S pai n too k n o fu rther i nterest in
m aritime discoveries northward from M exico for o n e hu n dre d an d
W hen she at l ast bestirred h ersel f i n 1 7 7 4 and
s eventy years
1 7 7 5 se n din g o u t expe ditions as far north as A l aska the p u rpose
was not to seek a new fiel d for th e expan di n g energi es o f her
p eop le ; histo ry p roved that they we re not a b le to mak e proper
u se eve n of C a lifornia
The n orth er n voyag es wer e u n dertak en
i n response to a sp ecies of co u n sel o f despai r
The Spani ards
f eared that Ru ssia al ready lod g ed in A l aska ; wo u l d come do wn
the coast an d that E ngla nd might succ eed in findi n g a northwest
p assage from the A tl a n tic into the P aci fic j eop ardi zin g al l Span
i sh possessions al ong that coast ; they hoped to avert both o f t h ese
c alamities by faste n in g their c lai m u po n as grea t a stretch o f
I n a wo rd the voyages of P e rez H eceta an d
coast as possi ble
B o dega whi le notab le as exp loits of eightee n th ce n tu ry seaman
an d historical ly fortu na te in becomi n g connected with the
s hi p
A merican territorial clai ms o f hal f a centu ry l ater r ep r ese n t a
forced i rrational expression of t h e Spa n ish n ationa l l i fe an d
cou ld not have been exp ected greatly to ben efit that nation
On
the other ha n d i t can be show n that B ritish n avi gators w ere
b ro u ght to th ese coasts i n depe n de n tly o f the Spa n ish activi ti es
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‘T h e
pr esent p ap er i s d es igned to cov er on e f eatur e of t h e hi storic al
p roc ess by which t h e t erritory of O r ego n or t h e r egi on k n ow n as t h e P acific
N orthw est fel l i n to t h e h and s of t h e ! n it ed S t at es
T h e att empt h as b een
mad e to set out t h e essen ti al fact s r el ativ e to di scov ery and expl or ati on not
f or t h e sak e of th ei r d r am atic eff ect as p art of an hi st ori c al n arr ativ e but
for th e b eari ng th ey h av e upo n t h e evol utio n of a t it l e to t erritory
T he
f act s r el ati n g to t h e earl y hi s tory of t h e occup atio n of t h e O r ego n cou ntry
Fi n al ly an att empt wil l be m ad e to
wil l be pr esen t ed i n t h e sam e spirit
cl ear up t h e qu es ti o ns of dipl om acy i n vol v ed i n t h e acqui s itio n of O r ego n
O n thi s h ead t h e autho r h as r ec en tl y com e i n to p os s essio n of a l arg e amou n t
of n ew d at a gl ean ed chi efl y from t h e m an u s cript s ourc es pr eserv ed i n t h e
archiv es of t h e Briti sh Gov er n m en t
1 A co n v en i en t an d c ar eful s umm ary of th es e voy ag es may be fou n d i n
S Co ast and G eod etic
V oy ag es tow ard s t h e N orthw es t Co ast
!
D avi d so n
R eport 1 88 6
S u rv ey
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[4]
and a lmost co ntempora n eo usly with them i n di rect response to a
stro n g nationa l d emand for co m mercial expansion an d as a fea t
u re in a wel l matu red consiste n t policy o f mari ti me discovery
The search fo r a North west Passage so ardentl y p ursu ed b y
the B ri tish du ri n g the first thi rd o f the seventeenth centu ry was
thereaf t er p arti al l y tho u gh not who l ly intermi tted 2 The i dea o f
co n ti n uing t h e search fro m Hu dso n s B ay p ersisted 3 so that wh e n
i n the tw enty s eco n d year o f C har les I I the H u dso n s Bay Com
pa n y was o rgani zed on e o f i ts p ro fesse d o bj ects was to u nderta k e
exp loratio n s to the n orthw est from H u dso n s Bay with a vi ew t o
the discovery o f a p assage into the So u th Sea ; u nder th e cha rte r
the co mpa ny was expecte d to p ro secu te this search 4
The com
pa n y however which was at fi rst composed of l eadi ng cou rt i er s
an d afterwards of a few o f the merchant p ri n ces o f London be
cau se engross ed i n the sa fe p r ofits to b e rea ped fro m th e trad e
either whol ly forgot t h e exp loratory ai m s p rofessed at the ti m e
or seeki n g i ts charter or r emem b ere d them o n ly when strenuo us l y
i mpo rtu n ed by those of its agents who w ere ambitiou s to expl o re 5
B u t at l ast p u blic se n ti m ent i n E ngla n d grew extremely h osti l e
to t h e Company th reat en ed them wi th loss of the cha rter f or
fai lu re to fu l fil l their engagements to the p u b lic an d in a wo r d
p rac tica l ly compel l ed them to act
T h e m an who more tha n any other was instru mental i n aro u s
i ng th e p ubli c co n science on the q uestio n o f the delinqu enc y o f
the Company and at t h e sam e time blo wi n g the em bers of th e
coo ling n ation a ambitio n to discover the Northwest Passage was
M r A rth u r Dobbs 6 This gentle ma n stu di ed w ith care the reco rd s
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2 T h e early voy ag es b egi nn i n g with C abot an d end i ng with Fo x e an d
J am es may be s tu d i ed i n V oy ag es T owar d s t h e N ort h west , 1 5 96 -1 6 3 1
H ak
l uy t S oci ety , V
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co n v en i en t s umm ary of t h e m att er i s giv en by M il l er Chr i sty i n h i s
i n t roductio n to t h e Voy ag es of F ame an d J ames H akl uyt S oci ety 1 8 94
4 Copi es of t h e ch art er may b e fou n d i n D obb s A rt h ur A n A ccoun t of
t h e Coun t r i es A d j oi ni n g t o H u d s on s B ay A p
an d i n t h e R epo rt of t h e
A
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S el ect Commi t t ee of t h e H o us e of C omm on s on H ud son s B ay , 1 7 4 9 , Ap
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T h e ch art er recit es that t h e
Ap
al so i n W i l l son s T h e Gr ea t C omp any
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i n corpor'ato r s nam i ng th em h av e al r eady u n d ert ak en an exp ed ition f or
H ud so n s B ay i n t h e n orthw es t p art s of A m eric a, for t h e di scov ery of a n ew
p ass ag e i n to t h e S out h S ea and for t h e fi ndi n g of s om e tr ad e i n furs . mi n
t h e ch art er was gr an t ed
and oth er co n s id er abl e commodi ti es
er ai s
"
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to en cour age t h e said u n d ert aki ng
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For evi d en c e co n c er n i ng t h e org ani z atio n of t h e comp any at thi s tim e
i t s profit s an d i t s n egl ect of ex pl or ati o n s ee D obb s supr a es eci al l y 2 3
4 3 4 7 4 8 ; 9 3 ff
R ep or t on H u d s o n s B ay Comp any supr a 2 1 2 3 4
34 7
I t s fi r s t ex pl ori n g ex p edi ti on was sen t out i n
257
258 9 260 6 1
2 6 2 ff
1 71 9
two v essel s t h e A l ban y an d D i scovery u nd er C apt ai ns Berl ey an d
Vaugh n
Th ey nev er r etur n ed
T h e i ns tructio n s giv en th es e navig ators by
A l i st
t h e comp an y a re pri n t ed i n t h e R eport on H ud so n s Bay A p XX
of t h e v ess el s sen t out by t h e comp an y on a s ami l ar err and i s given i n
A p I I of t h e sam e r eport
6 W e k n ow v ery l ittl e about h i s early l if e
H e was bor n i n 1 6 89 or 9 0
was a m em ber of t h e I ri sh P arl i am en t i n 1 7 3 2 an d was t h e author of an
E ncl o s ur es A ct for I r el and : h e wrot e m any p amphl et s on t h e qu es tio n of t h e
N orth wes t P as sag e mo st of th em s trictur es on t h e co nduct of C apt Middl e
w hich was p ubl i sh ed i n
an d was t h e auth o r of t h e bo ok cit ed abov e
t on
In 1 7 4 9 h e t es tifi ed b efor e t h e [ l ou s e of C o mm on s sel ect committ ee
1 744
which i nv es tig at ed t h e H ud s o n s Bay Comp any an d from 1 7 5 3 to 1 7 6 5 h e
was G ov er n or of t h e R o y al C ol o n y of N orth C arol i n a
S om e l i g ht i s throw n u po n h i s ch ar act er by c ert ai n offici al l ett er s of h i s
“
r ec en tl y publ i sh ed i n t h e C orr espo n d en c e of W i ll i am P itt wi th Col on i al
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[5]
o f a l l t h e earl ier voyag es to H u dso n s Bay an d convinced hi m self
that the p assage existed
He also i nvesti gated privately the
cond uc t of the Hu dson s Bay C ompany proving to his own satis
faction that they were do in g a l l they cou l d to p reve n t the d i s
covery
of a p assa ge which by d evelo pi n g a great northern
comme rce wo u l d be li ke ly to destroy th ei r monopoly
H e too k
deposi tio ns from ship cap tai ns sai lo rs retired H u dson s Bay
servants an d Fre n ch woo dsmen gatherin g information u pon every
p hase o f no rthern geo graphy an d u po n the state of the comp any s
b usiness i n those r egions
The resu lts were p u bl ished by hi m in
1 7 4 4 in his boo k on Hu dson s Bay which al tho u gh wri tten in a
very ba d style with no sense of order an d wi th mu ch repeti tio n
i s nevertheless i n som e resp ects on e of the most si gni ficant boo ks
In it Mr
p rodu ced i n the first hal f o f the ei ghteenth c entu ry
Dobbs wh o has the characteristics o f a tru e seer traces for us
wi th star t li ng disti nctness the great o u tl ines of that mari time
an d trade po licy whose exec u tion was to make u p so large a
p art o f E nglish history from his day to o u rs
M r Dob bs b egins wi th a discussion of the geography p eop les
an d potentia l tra de of the H u dso n s Bay co u n try a nd the adj a
cent regio n s extending so u thwest towards the Ro cky Mountai ns
an d so u th towards the Great Lakes
He show s that the H u d so n s
Bay C ompa ny have faile d to develop the trade of those cou ntries
contenti ng themselves wi th mai ntaining a few fa cto ries near the
Bay and there exchan gi n g an unvaryi ng rou n d o f trade artic l es
with the I ndi ans who brin g do wn thei r fu rs at a comparative l y
I n conseq u ence the French
u nvarying bu t exo rbitant price 7
fro m C anada have been p ressi n g i n an d they h ave a lready gaine d
a very l arge share of the trade p rop erl y b elon gi ng to B ri tish
s ubj ects i n the so u thern eastern ; and western districts appe rtain
“
Besi des he says :
The C ompany avoi d
i ng to Hu dson s Bay 8
or
al l they can makin g Discoveries to No rthwar d of C h u rchi ll
for fea r th ey sho u l d discover a
exten di ng their trade tha t w ay
p assage to the W estern Ocean of A merica and tempt by that
means the rest of th e En glish merchants to lay open their
"
9
Hi s remedy is t o tak e away the Comp a n y s mo
trade
nopol y and make the trade free to al l wh o desi re to enga ge i n it
T his wo u l d resu l t i n the p lanti n g o f tradi ng settle m e n ts in the
eastern so u thern an d western districts which hav e b ee n neglected
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H e was an i n t en se P rot es t an t of t h e
vol s N Y 1 9 0 6
A ngl ic an typ e an ard en t h at er of Fr an c e and an enthu si asti c b el i ev er i n
W h en Q u eb ec was t ak en D obb s procl aim ed a
t h e high d est i n y of E ngl an d
”
“
and compo s ed a hym n to b e s u ng throughout
S ol em n Th an k s givi ng
d ay of
H e h as b een h e say s i n a l ett er to P i tt encl o s i n g t h e hym n
t h e provi n c e
“
a l ittl e en thu s i as ti c i n my ex p ect atio n s ; as t h e obj ec t of my wi s h es for
m or e th an thi rty y ears i n r eg ard to ”t h e B riti sh do m i n i o n ov er N orth A m eric a
D obb s di ed i n 1 7 6 5
II 206
i s n ow so n ear i t s accompl i shm en t
7 H u ds o n s Bay 4 3 4 6 8 : 5 7 : al so tr ad e t abl es on pp 1 9 3 2 0 2
8 H ud son s Bay
S ee es p eci al l y t estimo n y of J o seph L a Fr an c e pp 2 9 3 9 :
p 20 1
Als o
and comp ari s o n of Fr en ch and H B Co for s al es i n 1 7 4 3
i n ci d en ts r el at ed on pp 5 5 6
G ov ern or s
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9 H ud son
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[6 ]
to the adva n tag e o f the French as w el l as the more comp lete
develop ment of the northern tra de 1 0
Mo reove r by thus p ressing so uthward u nder the i mpetus o f
trade riva lry the B ritish wou l d soo n reach the Grea t Lakes an d
these they ou ght to s ec ure by p la n ti ng a stro n g settlement o n
the River C onde whi ch flows into Lake E rie near its sou theastern
extremity an d there b u i ldin g vessels to navigate the l ake s
throu ghou t
This settl ement protected by the I ro q uois an d Fort
Osw ego an d suppo rted by i ts nei ghborhoo d to the co lonies o f
Pennsylvania an d Maryland whence constant accessions of pop a
latio n might easi ly be d erived Dobbs re garded as the key to
the co n trol of the continent
The Fre n ch wo u l d thereb y be co n
fined to Lo wer C anada bein g cut off no t on ly fro m the Great
Lak es b ut a lso from the M ississi ppi
To make assu ra n ce dou b l y
s ure a n o ther settlement mi ght be ma de on the O hio near Lak e
“
E rie
By having the C h ero k ees an d Ch i casaws to th e sou thward
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as a barrie r betw een u s an d Lo uisiana
he says
an d by secu rin g
the Choctaws we mi ght sp read o ur commerce b eyo n d the M issis
sipp i ; by whic h means the inl an d trade o f tha t vast northern
co n tinen t mu ch greater than E u rop e wo ul d i n ti m e be whol ly
enj oy ed by us i n B ri tain independent of any o ther E u ropean
”
Power 1 1
Whe n we add that Dob bs p ro posed th e acqu isi tio n
of the Great La kes and thei r free navi gation by treaty i n case
of victory over the F re n ch i n war we have fil led up the ou tl i n e
what may be termed the conti n ental divisio n of his scheme 1 2
0
The seco n d p ortion is eq u al ly bo ld an d sti ll mo re a ll u ring in
its c h aracter
I t emb raced as a point o f departu re the openin g
of th e Northwest Passage into the P aci fi c
This don e an i m
me n se trade co ul d at once be begu n with C hi na Japa n the P hil ip
pi nes an d the S pice I s lands ; with Mexico P er u C hil i an d a l l
the isl an ds thu s far d iscovere d i n the P acific 1 3 B u t this wo u l d
be onl y a b egi n ni n g ; f or the P acific O cean had as yet been ex
p l ored only in certai n narrow re gi o ns a long wel l defi ned li nes
N o do u bt he says
o f navi gatio n u sua l l y fo llowed by al l ships
the vast reaches of that ocean not yet searched contai n many
islan ds perhap s co n tinents i nhabited by n u mero u s p eop l es
He
p roposed a systemati c explo ration by Great B ri tai n o f th e Paci fic
Ocean i n both the southern a nd the northern h emispheres fo r
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1 0 H ud son
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H u d s on
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Bay
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6
5 7
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qu ot ed from p 6 5 T h e schem e of a settl em ent on
L ak e E ri e and anoth er on t h e O hio
was l au n ch ed by Fr an kl i n t en y ear s
l at er and for r easo ns not altog eth er di ss imil ar S ee Fr ankl i n s W ork s (Big e
A n ab str act of Fr ank l i n s pl ans may be fou n d i n A l d en New
low ) 1 1 : 4 7 4
Gov er nm en ts W es t of t h e A l l egh an i es 3 5
1 2 In di s cu ssi n g D obbs s adm i n i str atio n of N orth C arol i na D octor R ap er
“
s ay s :
But to D obb s i t was much m or e i mpo rt an t to ai d
(N C arol i na 5 7 )
t h e oth er colo n i es esp eci al ly th os e i n t h e N orth
th an to d efend or w ork
for t h e i n t er es t s sol ely of North C arol i na T o d riv e t h e Fr ench from N orth
A m eric a seem ed to hi m of f ar mor e i mport anc e th an to m ak e North C arol i na
”
a v ery pro sp erou s provi nc e
S ee al s o l ett er to P i tt O ct 3 1 1 7 5 9 i n which
D obb s ex ul t s ov er pr esen t pro sp ect s
W ith t h e Fr ench ex p el l ed from t h e
co nt i nen t t h e Mi ssi ssippi “and Mobil e i n po ssess io n of E ngl and t h e on ly
thi ng l eft to d o woul d be op eni ng t h e H u d so n s Bay tr ad e to giv e us t h e
”
whol e tr ad e of t h e north er n con ti nen t to M ex ico
Corr espo nd enc e of W i l
l i am P itt et c 1 1 3 1 6
1 1
s
Bay 6 1 if
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1 3 H uason
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Bay, 1 6 6 -7
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[7]
the p u rpose o f bringin g these lands and peo p les to the li ght and
be g i nning a trade wi th each in tu rn 1 4
I n conc lu sion Dobbs su ggests the method to be fo l lowe d by
Great B ritai n i n maki ng discoveries in th e So uth S ea and i n
carryi ng on a trade w ith the islands an d cou ntries discove re d
“
He says :
I f then a discovery shou l d be ma de of this (No rth
west ) P assage to carry on so vast a trade to a dva n tage a con
si d erab l e settlem ent sho u l d be i m mediately made i n C a li fornia
or rather up on so me convenient island nea r the coast
That
settl em ent sho u l d be made the rendezvo us fo r al l ships going from
o r retu r n ing to E u rop e
and sho u l d be the head settle ment
as B atavi a is to th e D utch in I n dia and fro m h ence the trade
mi ght spread to A sia I ndia Mexico and Pe ru ; an d fro m this
p lace the islan ds in th e great Sou th S ea mi ght be discovered
and a co m merce b e begu n with them
“
A fter this settl ement is ma de sec u re another sho ul d be
formed i n a so u thern latitu de abou t 3 0 degrees abou t 7 or 8 0 0
l ea gues from th e A m eric an coast p erhaps the I s le of E aster or
some other island with a goo d harbo r and fru i tfu l soi l where
the natives a re p eaceabl e and h u mane and from thence a fu rther
discovery so uth erly an d westerly and a trade may be begu n with
these re g ions as wel l as wi th those nearer th e line ; so that those
t wo settleme nts wou l d be as two centers t h e one for the so u thern
and th e ot h er for the northern co untries and islands dispersed
thro u gh those s eas ; when these were ma de i f the o nl y tru e an d
lau dab le metho d wa s fo llow ed of civi lizin g and assisti n g the
natives an d p u tti n g the m u po n proper i mprovements in thei r
several cou ntries an d isl ands suitab le to their di fferent c li ma tes
that mi gh t be benefi cial to themse lves and p roper for trade ;
the E ngl ish mi gh t be th e carriers o f al l those nations wh ich
wou ld g i ve them an i m mense pro fi t and fu r n ish them with al l
our ma nu factu res an d su ch other E u ropean com mo di ties as they
sho u ld want wi tho ut bein g at any gr eat expe nse of peop le to
settle other co u ntries i n those seas
H ere wo u l d b e room fo r
im provements i n tra de f or ages to co m e an d wou l d give f u l l
emp l oyment to our ma n u factu rers and m erchants i n B ri tain an d
a perpetu al retu rn to wea lth ; and at th e sa me ti me we shou l d
civi l ize an d make h ap py nu m berl ess nations an d bring them by
”
degrees to be capable of k n o win g divi n e tru th s 1 5
T u rning fro m this literary for ecast of events to the even ts
themselves we fi n d fi rst that the search fo r the Northwest
Passa ge was resu m ed as a conseq uenc e of D obb s s agi ta tion
The
H u dso n s Bay Compan y i n 1 7 3 7 had sen t o ut two vessels p ro
f essed l y to make exp lo ration for a passa ge b ut the exp edition
accomp lished n othi ng o f conseq u ence 1 6
M r Dobbs next tu rned
to the L p rd s of the A dmi ralty ind uci n g them to devote govern
ment ships to the obj ect
Two vessel s of the n avy w ere selected
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To show how sm al l a sp ac e i n th e Pacific com
1 34
1 4 H ud son s B ay
l
l
h
s
a
t
e
a
e
s
D
s
e
i n th at
b
rch
e
d
obb
r
e
vi
w
voy
g
n
s
e
a
s
r
i
l
h
a
d
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e
t
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e
a
a
t
v
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y
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-1 6
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8
ocean of whic h j our nal s h ad b een publ i s h ed
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15
f rom
16
The
1 67
quot ation
is
from
th e
l ast p age of
th e
boo k
,
1 6 8,
with four li nes
.
Barrow
,
Voyag es Int o t h e A r ct i c R
voy age h as been publ i sh ed
.
eg ai ns,
2 7 8-9
.
N o jo urnal of thi s
[8]
“
”
“
”
the F urnace an d Discovery
an d were p lace d u nder C aptai n
M i ddleton an d Wi l liam Moo r
The voya ge was ma de in 1 7 4 1 -2 ;
i t resu lted i n a carefu l su rv ey of the waters n orth of Hu dso n s
B ay an d i n the conclu sion that no passage ex i sted 1 7 This co n
elu sion M r
Dobbs undertoo k to refu te ; an d so influ entia l wa s
he wi th p u b lic O pinion a ll ru nni ng i n his direction tha t he was
ab le to in duce P ar liament i n 1 7 4 5 to p ass an act 1 8 o fferi ng a
“
reward o f
to any of his M ajesty s s ubj ects who sho u l d
”
discover a No rthw est Passage thro u gh Hu dson s Straits 1 9 H e
also raised by p u blic su bscrip tion the su m of
and p u r
“
”
“
”
cha sed two v essels ca l le d the
Dobbs
and
C ali fornia
whi ch
sai led in M ay 1 7 4 6 u nder the di rection of C aptai n W i lliam Moo r
and C aptain Francis S mith
Th e expedi tion retu rne d i n 1 7 4 7 no
more su ccessfu l than i ts p redecessors had b een 2 0
This was the last attemp t to fi n d a passage fro m Hu dso n s B ay
o r Strai t
I n deed for a p erio d o f abo u t twenty years the general
q uestio n of the Nor thwest Passage remained i n partial abeyanc e
M eanti me the B ritish Govern ment had secu red C anada and th e
eastern po rtion of Lo u isiana in cons eq u ence o f the S even Y ears
W ar
Bri tain ha d also beco me i nterested i n maki ng exp loratio ns
i n the P aci fic an d by a series of great voyages p rosec uted by
A nso n Byron W al lis C a rteret and C ook had won f or h ersel f
the vast new empi re o f which Dob bs i n 1 7 4 4 had onl y dreame d
An so n s voyage was begu n i n 1 7 4 0 and termi nated in 1 7 4 4
I t had a s i ts obj ect to attack the Spanish power wi th Which
En gland was then at war i n the Paci fic esp ecia l ly on the coast
of S o u th A merica an d i n the Phi lippi nes 2 1
Throu gh great m is
fo rtu nes at sea the program of o ffensive warfare co u ld be onl y
Y et t h e resu lts o f the voya ge were i m
partia ll y carried o ut
po rtant
Anso n stormed P ayta a por t on the Per uvia n coast
an d cap tu red it i n sp i te of the weakened condi tion o f his o wn
fo rces 2 2 He cru ised off th e M exican coas t f or the M ani la gal leo n
b u t i t w ent into hi din g and escaped hi m ; 2 3 he then sai led to
C hi na and arou n d the C ap e o f Good H O p e to E ngland
The
histo rian of the voya ge 2 4 insists that had the sq u adron ro unde d
C ape Horn at the p roper season an d t h us saved i tsel f from partia l
destru ctio n i t cou l d easil y have ca ptu red Ba l divi a in C hi l i terri
“
fied that kin gdom an d
awed the most distant p arts of the
”
S panish E mp ire in America 2 5
He a lso gave to his E nglish
readers a graphi c accou nt o f th e trade between M anil a and the
M exica n Po rt o f A cap u lco with su ggestions as to h o w B ri tish
seamen mi ght p rofit by the i nformation ; 2 6 an d he described the
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1 7 Barrow , 2 80 -2 8 6
1 8 1 8 Geo
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19
Ch ri st
a
II
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c
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.
17
.
t rod uct tcn t o t h e Voy ag es -of F ac e and J am es
.
I bi d
2 1 A ns on s Voy ag e R oun d t h e W or l d 2 3
2 2 I bi d ; 1 8 7 ff
A nso n aft erw ard s sail ed from Chi na to M an i l a
2 3 I bid ; 2 4 9 ff
c aught t h e n ex t g al l eon for M anil a t aki ng a pri z e v al u ed at
I bid 2 7 0 2 8 5
2 4 M r R ich ard W al t er
2 5 An so n s V oy ag e 2 8 0
2 6 An so n s Voy ag e 2 8 3 ff
20
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[9]
S panish governm ents along the P aci fic as a l most at the point o f
di sso lu tion an d o nl y wai ting fo r a po w er li ke B ritai n to give them
the cou p de grace 2 7
“
”
A nson s Voyage A ro und the Worl d p roved a book of un co m
mon i nt eres c to the B ritish p ublic
T h e fi rst editio n was p u b
“
l i sh ed i n 1 7 4 4 a l most co n tem po raneously wi th D ob b s s
H u dson
”
Ba y i and i t ran thro u gh seven di ffe r en t edi tions within fo u r
years 2 8
Mo reover the 1 7 4 4 acco u nt of A nso n s Voyage is
“
pu blished i n Doctor Joh n Harris s stup en dou s work the Navi
”
which s u mmarized the
g ant i u m atqu e It i n eran t i u m Bi b liotheca
co n tents of mo re than six h u n d r ed vo lu mes o f voyages an d travels
was dedicated to th e m ercha n ts of Gr eat B ri tai n an d ha d as i ts
chief i n direct obj ect the developm ent of B ri ti sh trad e 2 9 C learl y
th e peopl e of Great B ri tai n were at this ti me k ee n ly alive to
every com mercia l O pportu n ity that mi ght be p res en ted i n what
ever po rtio n of the wor l d
Fo r the space o f tw en ty y ears a fter t h e retu rn of A n s on s
expedi tio n no n ew e n terp ris e was set on foot i n tha t di r ectio n
a ne glect easi ly expl ai ned by the wars which practical l y fil led
up that interval
Th en in 1 7 6 4 ca me the voyag e of Lord B yron
who too k possessio n of the Falk lan d I sl a n ds for Gr eat B ritai n
and mad e vario us m i n or discoveri es i n th e S o uth Sea ; 3 0 I n 1 7 6 6
the voya ge o f C ap tain Wa l lis and C aptai n C a r t eret which re
s u l t ed i n the discovery of m any is l a n ds i n the sam e waters ; 3 1
fina ll y the exp loits o f al l of thes e n avi gators w ere su rpa sse d both
in magnitu de an d i n bri l liancy by t h e two fi rst voyages o f C aptai n
C ook , which occu rred betw een t h e y ears 1 7 6 8 an d
Cook thoro u ghly explo red the r ec en tl y discovered la n ds al so
New ! eala n d and portio n s of A ustralia besi des discovering new
i sla nds and b egin n i ng th e systematic st u dy of the n ative p c p u
R eturnin g to E n gla n d i n 1 7 7 5 he fou n d the Gover n me n t
l at i o n s
ready to p ro pose a thi rd exp editio n destined to be his last bu t
also in some respects his great est
“
”
We have a lr ea dy n ot ed that th e voyage of th e Dobbs and
”
“
was the last attempt to discov er the
in 1 7 4 6 7
C al ifornia
Northwest P assa ge by saili ng n o rth an d west from H u dso n s B ay
Bu t with p u b lic s en ti ment as i t w as there was no possibi lity
that the i d ea wo u l d b e d ro pped by t h e B ritish p eopl e
In 1 7 6 8
Thomas J efferys geogra p her to the Ki n g pu bl ished a boo k to
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ff
2 8 T h e B ri ti s h M u seum co n t ai ns tw en ty d i ff er en t editio n s of A ns on s
V oy age
S ee C at a l og A n s o n G eorg e
“
29
A s t h e m ai n poi n t I h av e h ad i n vi ew h as b een t h e s etti n g t h e h i s
tory and advan t ages of comm erc e i n a tru e l ight I pr es um
e th at I coul d n ot
”
H arri s argu ed for
h av e i n scri b ed thi s p erfo rm an c e to m or e p rop er p atro ns
“
s trik e out
t h e send i ng of an oth er ex peditio n t o t h e S outh S ea i n ord er to
”
H e show s much r esp ect for D obb s and h i s
som e new br an ch of comm erc e
vi ew s on t h e Northw es t P ass ag e
3 0 Hawkeswort h A ccoun t of V oy ag es 1 1 1 3 9 p ass im
3 1 I bid ; 3 6 3 5 2 2 d es crib es t h e voy age of W a l li s an d I 5 2 3 6 7 6 th at of
C apt ai n C art er et w ho was ea rl y sep ar at ed from W al l i s
3 2 H awkes wor t h I I I I I
27
s
Voy ag e 2 3 2
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[ 10 ]
“
”
p rove The Great Probabi li ty of a No rthwest Passage
dedicati n g
the p erformance to Lord H i l lsboro u gh
By this ti me the op era
tions of the R ussians had become w el l known i n E ngl an d J ef
f ery s havin g in 1 7 6 1
p u b li she d a translation of M uel ler s wo rk
“
Voyages from A sia to A meri ca for C o mp l eting th e Discoveri es
”
of the North W est C oast of A merica
I n the years 1 7 6 9 to 1 7 7 2 Sam uel Hearne an agent of
the H u dson s Bay C ompany ma de his over land j o u rney fro m
C hu rchi l l to the mou th o f C op p ermine River which h e fou nd to
discharge i nto a sea i n as he recokn ed it l atitu de 7 1 degrees
5 4 min u tes 3 3
The resu lts of this j ou rney which b ec ame kno w n
p ro mp tly on He arne s retu rn 3 4 cou p led w ith the new inte rest i n
t ne Paci fic and the i mp roved knowl edge concernin g the geograph
ica l relations b etween A sia an d A merica gave a n ew direction to
exp lorati ons for the discovery of a p assage fro m the A tlantic to
I nstead of looki ng f or i t from Hu dson s Bay o r
me Paci fic
Strai t as fo rmerl y the i dea was adopted o f searchi ng in highe r
la titu des as f or examp le from B affin s Bay ; an d since Berin g s
S trai t was known to co mm u nic ate with the A rctic Ocean and
B ri ti sh ships w ere al ready b usi ly expl oring i n Paci fic waters it
was reso lved to conduct a thorou gh search from both the A tlantic
si de and the Pacific si de 3 5
Fo r the second enterp rise the Gove rnment se lecte d C ap tai n
C oo k who had j ust retu rned from the second of his successfu l
vo yages to the S o u th S ea an d was beyon d q u estion the most
ski l lfu l navigator i n the B ritish s ervice
H e was expected to
fol lo w u p his exp lorations i n the S o uth Paci fic bu t it was t h ese
no rthern O perations which wer e regarded as o f g r eaest i m
portanc e 3 6
Cook sai l ed from P lymo uth England with two S p l endi d ly
“
“
”
”
eq ui pped vessels the Discov ery an d the R eso l ution
J u ly 1 2 t h
After comp letin g his explo rations in the S o u th P aci fi c
1 776
which occu pi ed the better p art of t wo years he ran north ward
discoverin g early i n Janu ary 1 7 7 8 an islan d to which he gave
the n ame o f his patro n the E arl of Sa n dwi ch
Accordi n g to the
secret instructio n s issu ed to hi m on l eavi n g E n glan d Coo k was
to fal l in with the A merica n co ast or New A lbion as it was cal led
in a l l usion to Drak e s su p pos ed discov eri es 3 7 at abo u t l atitu de
He i n fact si gh t ed the mou n tai ns o f O rego n at
4 5 degrees 3 8
abo u t l atitu de 4 4 on Ma rch 6
For so m e days t h e sq u ad
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33
O c ean
A j our ney fr om P ri nc e of W al es Fort i n H ud s o n s B ay to
By S amu el H ear n e L o n do n 1 7 9 5 esp eci al ly 1 6 2 4
'
th e
North er n
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,
Th ey w er e w el l k n ow n to L ord S andw ich wh en h e dr ew up Cook s
i nstructio ns i n 1 7 7 6
Co ok s Voy age I I I
3 5 L i eut P ick er s gil l was sen t out i n 1 7 7 6 to ex plor e from D avi s S tr ai t
outw ard
P ick er sgil l sail ed b efor e J u ne 1 0 1 7 7 6 and att ai n ed l atitud e 6 8
d egr ees 1 4 m i nut es north wh en h e was tur ned b ack by i ce F or st er H i s tory
of t h e Voy ages an d D i s cov eri es m ad e i n t h e North L o ndo n 1 7 8 6 4 6 7 9
3 6 S ee C ook s I n structio n s Coo k s Voy ag e 1 7 7 6 1 7 8 0 I n t r od XXX I f f
3 7 In f act D r ak e m ad e no di scov ery worth di s cu ss i ng i n thi s p ap er
3 8 Coo k s Voy ag e I n tro d
p XXX I I
3 9 I bid ; I I 2 5 8
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[ 11 ]
rema i n ed in this region an d was even forced bac k to near ly
the paral lel of 4 2 degrees the land bei ng usu al ly in si ght
C ook
n am ed on this portion of the co ast C ap e F o u l weat h er a lso Capes
P erpetu a and St Gregory 4 0
After th e lapse o f fi ft een days th e wi n ds became propitio us
f or th e n orthw ard voyag e an d on M arch 2 2 Co ok fou nd hi mse l f
i n si ght o f land i n latitu de 4 7 degrees 5 minu t es
Here he began
a carefu l search for the Straits o f J u an de Fu ca co ncl u di n g there
“
”
was not the l east pro babi lity that any su ch thi n g ev er existed 4 1
I n latitu de 4 8 degrees 1 5 mi n u tes he na m ed C ape Flattery 4 2 A t
t h e en d of M arcn the fl eet ent ered a sa fe an d commodio u s harbo r
j ust u nder the fi fti eth p aral le l in a n i n dentation which C ook
at fi rst nam ed King G eo rg e s Sou nd
b u t which later was cal led
Nootka
H ere he remai ned ti l l A p ril 2 6
He explo r ed the soun d
thoro u ghl y and received on board dai ly ma n y natives who were
eager to exchan ge o tter ski ns f or trinkets and bau bles of eve ry
kind 4 3 Leavin g Nootka he stood to th e northwest saw a mou n
tain which he named M t E dgecom be 4 4 an d a little late r sighted
Mt S t E li as where h e c ross ed t h e path o f the ear lier Ru ssian
exp lo rers on the A lask a coast
H e exa mi ned eve ry p romisin g
in let observed on that coast i n o rder to settl e o nce for al l the
q u estions o f a passage i nto the Atlantic in the exi stence of which
0 n the 9 t h of A u gust
he ap p ears to have had b u t li ttle faith
”
“
Cook reached the
western extremity o f a l l A merica
at what
he ca ll ed C ap e Pri nce of W a les i n latitu de 6 5 degre es 4 6 mi n u tes
and longitu de 1 9 1 degrees 4 5 minu tes
I t was then too late to exp lo re fro m Bering Strai t eastward
and C ook p roceeded to Hawaii to wi n ter and there m et his death
at the hands of t h e natives
Th e fl eet retu rned t o the no rth the
n ext season b ut fai l ed to fi nd the passa ge aroun d A merica
C ook s voyage was perfo rmed t oo late to give Great B ritai n
the strongest c lai m u pon the territo ry explored ; yet in every
particu lar except p ri ori ty i n ti me his exp loration m ust be a l lowed
to poss ess a su p eriority ov er those o f the S paniards Perez Heceta
a nd B ode ga
H is wo rk was m uch mo re thorou gh esp ecia lly b e
tween 4 2 de grees an d 4 4 d egr ees an d a gain fro m 4 7 degrees
no rth than thei rs had b een ; an d his r eports gave to the world
its fi rst d efi nite k now led ge of th e g eography o f the Orego n coast
B u t more than al l Cook s voyage was the lo gical c u l mination o f
a long co n tin u ed mariti m e an d trade policy 4 5 which was raising
th e Bri ti sh natio n to ever hi gher p la n es o f co m m ercia l greatness
whi l e the Spanish voyag es w er e t h e despai ri ng e ffort of a d ecli n
i n g power to save its el f by a measu re of exp a n sion which i t was
r on
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S upr a,
258
2 6 0 -2 6 1
.
Coo k s V oy age I I 2 6 3 an d n
4 2 I bid ; 2 6 3
4 3 Coo k s V oy age 1 1 2 7 0 2 8 8
4 4 T h e s am e l an dm ark h ad b een s een by t h e S p an i s h ex pl or er Bod eg a i n
1 7 7 5 and was n am ed by hi m S an J aci n t o
4 5 Th at t h e B riti sh n avig ator s w er e p erf ectl y aw ar e of thi s f act at t h e
tim e i s show n by t h e r em ark s of t h e writ er of t h e i n troductio n to Cook s
S ee es p eci al ly XX V I I ff
V oy ag e L o n do n 1 7 8 4
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[ 12 ]
u n ab l e prop er ly to susta i n
These considerations d o no t f or th e
mome nt ma ke the B ri tish c lai m better or the S panish c lai m
wo rse i n int ernational law 4 6 bu t they stron gly su ggest what m u st
be the historical o utcome of a con flict entered i nto by two nation s
u pon such u nequ al t erms
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11
D i sco ver y
.
of
P u g et S o un d
an d
t h e Col u m b i a
.
The history of exploratio n on the No rth west coast aft er t h e
voya ge of Cook is the record o f a series o f i ndivi du a l disc ov erie s
cov eri n g separately onl y loca l geographical f eatu r es b u t in th e
a ggregate servi n g to fil l in the o u tl ine that C oo k co nstru cted
A
comp arison of Coo k s m ap wi th a mod ern m ap of that c oast
wi l l q u ic kly r eveal th e most stri king chan ges effec ted by the later
discoveri es an d ou r attention is at o n ce draw n to the cha n ges in
Coo k was u nawar e of any b reaks in th e c oast line
t n e n orth 1
fro m C ape Flattery to far beyo n d Nootka S ou nd ; for au ght h e
k n ew it might have been a so li d conti nenta l ri m wi thou t a si ngle
i n dentation save t h e i nsignificant ones h e lai d down
We at
the p resent ti me k n o w th at neither C oo k nor the Sp anish navi
gato rs who prec ed ed h i m touc h ed or even saw the conti n ental
la n d mass b etween C ap e Flatte ry an d the A laska coast bu t that
they sai led a l on g a grou p o f isl an ds the l argest of which Van
co uver I sla n d and Que en Charlotte s I slan d form a barri er to
the coast fro m t h e para l l el o f 4 8 degre es to ab ove 5 4 degrees
These isl ands served to co nc eal from the early navi gators that
gr eat i n land sea which und er the nam es o f P u get So u nd Qu een
Charlotte s S o u n d etc
fo rms the most si gnifica n t featu re in
the geo graphy of th e u p per coast
The l ater exp lo ration of this region meant essential ly th e
mappi n g o f the contin en tal sho res of those seas the strai ts
leadi n g i nto them and the gr eat islan ds by which the ocea n is
r estrain ed o n the west an d whose ou ter coasts consti tut ed the
‘
l i l S t land s ee n i n this r egio n
w e have goo d evi d enc e to p rove that P erez in 1 7 7 4 reach ed
the northern poi nt o f Qu een Charlotte s I sla n d after havi n g sai l ed
withi n si ght o f i ts coast th ro u gh mo re tha n a d egr ee o f latitu d e ; 2
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fail ur e of t h e S p an i ard s to prop erly r eport th ei r d i s cov eri es
es t opp ed th em from d en yi n g t h e i nd ep en d en c e an d origi n al ity of tho s e m ad e
by Capt ai n C ook
1 C ook s map l ay s dow n on t h e Northw es t co as t o n ly C ap es S t Gr egory
P erp etu a an d F ou l weat h er i n t h e s outh an d i n t h e n orth Cap e Fl att ery
T h e r es t of h i s co ast i s t h e
Nootk a S ou nd H op e Bay an d W oody P oi nt
co nv en ti o nal dott ed l i n es
2 L and was d es cri b ed on t h e 1 7 t h of J uly
an d aft er s t andi n g to t h e
53
n orth n orthw es t for two d ay s
an ob s erv ati on pl ac ed t h e s hip at L at
d egr ees 4 1 mi nut es
Th en c e P er ez sail ed n orth north eas t an d on t h e 2 2 d
5 5 d egr ees
H i s toric al S oci ety of S outh er n
at n oo n fou n d hi m sel f i n L at
C al ifor n i a I I 1 2 0 1 2 1 an d 1 2 4
46
Bu t t h e
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[
13
]
b ut he fai l ed i n an attemp t to rou nd that p oi nt 3
Bodega in
1 7 7 5 and C ook in 1 7 7 8 sli pped p ast the p oi nt wi tho u t observin g
i t at a l l ; indeed both were far ou t at sea 4 So the interio r wat ers
rem ai ned u ndiscovered fro m that q u arter
The actu al discovery an d the p artial mappi ng of th is no rthern
litto ral was one of the resu lts of an i mp ortant t rade movement l n
ci ted by t h e O perations of C ap tai n Co ok 5 We have seen that whi le
at Nootka S o u nd C ook received on board n u merous delega t i o ns
o f I ndians wh o were ea ger to trade anythi ng of va lu e they pos
“
sessed for knives chise ls pi eces o f iron and tin n ai ls loo ki ng
”
glasses b u t t ons or a ny kind of meta l
The articles they gave
in exchan ge w ere variou s k inds o f fu rs and skins of ani ma ls
the most in te restin g and si gni fican t being those o f the sea -o tte r 6
Some of the fu rs sec u red i n this way were so l d to t h e R ussi ans
at Kamchatka
On reachi ng Canton th e remainder were disp osed
o f to C hi nese merchants
They pai d f or the fi rst twenty sea otter
skins offered by C apta in Ki ng the su m o f
B ut therea fter
the p rice steadi ly wen t up a few o f the best skins sel li ng for $ 1 2 0
O ne s eaman so ld the fu rs he had perso n a l ly co llected for
each
the s um of
Thou gh C ook s m en had gathered these fu rs
o nly inci denta l ly and had taken no pai ns whatever to p reserve
them i n good condi tion they rec eived a tOt al o f abou t two tho u
sa nd po u nds for wh at th ey so ld at C anton 9 and both o fficers and
men b ecame at onc e imp r essed wi th the possi bi li ti es Of gain i n a
voyage to the North west c oast for trading p u rposes distinctl y 1 0
The fi rst defini te pl an so far as is kno wn fo r i mp rovi ng this
com mercia l opportuni ty was pu t forth by C apta i n Ki ng who
i n the history of C ook s voyage p resents an ou tli ne of his p roj ect
H e reco mmen ded tha t th e East I ndi a C omp any i n th ei r C hi na
s hips carry a n u mber o f extra men an d on thei r arrival at C anto n
fit them ou t with t wo vessels an d a fu l l su pp ly o f artic les f o r
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W e stood for l and on an east by n orth cour s e for t h e purpose of
t ryl a to doubl e t h e poi nt ly i ng to t h e eastw ard of S an t a M argarit a (now
I sl an d ) i n or d er to di scov er wh eth er th er e was an chor age
cal l eg N orth
grou nd i n t h e co ast b ehi n d th at poi nt but t h e curr en t took us s o f ar to
l eew ard th at we w er e u na”b l e to f etch t h e poi n t ; so we s tood off shor e on a
and B an croft
S ee al so 1 8 9 9 0
w est course
I bid 1 2 3 4
s outh
s outh
H ad P er ez rou n d ed t h e i sl an d h e woul d h av e
1 5 2 -3 and n ot es
N W C
en t er ed t h e i n l an d sea by t h e pr esen t D i x o n S tr ait
‘
B od eg a saw l an d n ear
( us h l n g s R epo rt 4 4
4 S ee M aur el l e s J ou r n al
S ee al s o C ook s Voy ag e 1 1 3 4 1 4 4 es p e
S an J aci nt o now M t Edg ecumb e
“
ci al l y 3 4 3 4
A t sev en i n t h e ev en i ng [ M ay 1 ] b ei n g i n t h e l ati tud e of 5 5
d egr ees 2 0 mi n ut es we got s ight of t h e l an d
Thi s was t h e fir s t s ight
Cook h ad h ad of t h e l an d si n c e l eavi n g N ootk a on t h e ev eni n g of A pri l 2 6
H e h ad mi s sed Q u een
T h e l an d seen was a p art of t h e A l as k an co as t
Ch arlott e s I s l and en ti r ely
A S p an i sh ex p editio n of 1 7 7 9 u n d er A rt eaga and Bod eg a r an to 5 5 d egr ees
1 73
b efor e s ighti ng l an d
S ee Ban crof t N W C
5 C oo k s V oy ag e I I
271
6 I bid 2 7 0
C ook m en t io n s b ear s wolv es fo x es d eer r accoo n s pol ec at s
m art ens
7 1 bid
III 43 1
8 I bid
9 I bid 4 3 7
“
1 0 I bid
Capt ai n Ki n g s ay s :
T h e r ag e with w hich our s eam en w er e
po s sessed to r etur n to C ook s R iv er and by an oth er c a rgo of s k i ns to m ak e
th ei r fortu ne at one t i m e was l ittl e short of muti n y
“
3
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[ 14 ]
trade with the North ern natives
These vesse ls sho u l d be req u i re d
to sai l alon g th e co asts of C h ina an d J apa n i n o rd er to comp l ete
the exp loratio n of those regions an d afte rwa rds ru n to the
American coast f or f u rs
H e tho u ght that the o tter ski ns th at
c ou l d be gathered incid enta lly with no loss of ti me an d at a
tri fling ou tlay o f money might be made to pay the enti re cost
o f s ucn a voyage 1 1
Th es e su ggestions were not carri ed ou t p erhaps beca use th e
East I ndia Co mpany was not p repared to fu rther the enterp rise ; 1 2
bu t at th e ti me of the p u b li cation o f his j ou rnal of C ook s voya g e
1 7 8 4 Cap tai n King appare n tly fo resa w that the fu r trade w as
li kely to becom e a regu lar featu re of B ri tish com m erce and h e
Th at
l ooked to this trade as a means of fu rthering exp loration 1 3
such expec tatio ns w ere wel l fo u nded is show n by the fact that i n
1 7 8 5 a d efi n ite com mercial p roj ect o f the
th e fol lo wing yea r
ki nd contemp lated w as lau n ch ed at London
M r Richard C adma n
Etches and others mercha n ts of Lon don were the p rincipals i n
the ent erprise b ut they e n listed the h earty su pport of the B ri ti sh
ministry and the enco u ragement o f the leadi n g scienti fi c men
“
Etches p lan was to estab lish a regu l ar an d recip rocal system
c om merce between Great B ri tain the Northwest coast o f
Oi
Am erica the J apanese K ur ei l and Jesso I sl ands and the coast of
”
“
Asia Corea and C hina
Two vessels the King George
”
“
an d th e Q ueen Char l otte
w ere eq u ipped p laced i n charge o f
Nathanie P o rtlock and George Dixon both of who m h ad b een
”
“
wi th C ook an d se n t o u t for
discovery an d co mmerce ;
they
w ere fu rnishe d at the same ti me wi th a n u m b er of extra seamen
a nd arti ficers S t ores amm uni tio n p rovisions etc f or the estab
N
t
oo
e
n
two
factories
the
e
i
n
Ki
ng
Georg
s
Sou
nd
o
(
n
f
l i sh me t o
and a n other to the north ward and for op ening new com
ka )
“
mercia i channe ls to the ma n u factori es o f Great B ri tai n
So
satisfied were th e ministry with th e great an d p u b lic advantages
n
e
e
the
enterp
rise
i
th
the
li
b
e
ral
eq
u
i
pm
t
a
nd
xtensive ar
w
Oi
rangements o f the ow n ers that M r Rose M r Steele S ir Joseph
B anks Lo rd M u lgrave and a n umb er of other disti nguished an d
pu bl i c spi ri ted g entl emen visi ted the ships at Dep tford sp ent
the day convivial ly on board and honored the expedi tion by ch ri st
the officers o f which were d ressed i n f u l l
eni n g the two ships
u ni form ; an d as an embl em o f so novel and en te rp risi ng an
u ndertakin g H op e leani n g on an anchor was painted on thei r
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C oo k
I bi d
I bid
11
12
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13
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s
V oy age
1 1 , 4 3 7 -4 4 0
,
438
440
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A n A u t h ent i c S t at em en t
of al l t h e fact s r el ativ e t o Noot k a S ou nd ;
i t s di s cov ery hi s tory
tr ad e an d t h e prob abl e ad vant a e to be
s ettl em en t
“
The
d eriv ed from it : i n an addr ess to t h e K i ng
Lo ndo n 1 7 9 0
p
pl an was w armly appl aud ed and p atro n iz ed by t h e m i ni stry by S ir J oseph
Ban k s S i r J oh n D ick and m an y oth er p ers o n ag es of r an k and acknowl ed ed
abil iti es who r end er ed M r Etch es ev ery ass i st an c e i n dig es ti ng anu m aturg
ng
”
T h e abov e d escrib ed p amphl et
t h e pri n cip al outli nes of t h e u n d ert aki ng
“
”
A rg on au t
i s r ar e
From i n t ernal evi d enc e
of o n l y tw en ty s i x p ages s ig ned
one woul d be i n cl i ned to s ay t h e author was M r Etch es or s om e one auth or
T h e p amphl et co n t ai n s a mor e i n tim at e accou n t of
i z ed to sp eak for him
t h e b egi nni ng of t h i s t r ad e proj ect th an can be d eriv ed from P or t loc k
D i x o n and M ear es
14
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[ 15 ]
”
co lo rs 1 5 A license was p roc ured from the Sou th S ea C o mpan y
to enabl e the new concern 1 6 to trade and m ake discoveries i n
thei r fi el d and another license was ob tai ned fro m the East I ndia
“
C ompany f or disposin g o f thei r c argo es i n C hi na 1 7
The i n
"
st r uct i ons
both p u b lic and p rivate de livered to th e ca ptains
“
says the above wri ter
w ere previo usl y su b mitted to yo u r M aj
est y s ministers f or perusal and retu rned w ith the utmost ap p ro
”
b ati on 1 8 These facts go to prove that we are dea ling here with
a p roj ect which w as both p rivat e an d p u b lic : p rivate i n that i t
was financed by a grou p of merchants who hope d for a gai n fu l
trade ; p u b lic in that both the Gov er n ment a nd th e p eo p l e of
Great B ri tai n were i nterested i n the ou tcom e of the experiment
which wou ld determ ine f or th e No rth A merican regi on th e co m
m ercia i val ue of th e po licy of gover n m ent exp lorations so lon g
‘
and so succ essfu l l y p u rsu ed an d might help to co m p l ete those
exp loratio ns
”
“
”
“
The Ki n g George an d Q u een Charlotte sai l ed i n S ep te mber
ro u n ded C ap e H orn an d i n J u ly of the fol lo wi ng year
1 7 85
made C oo k s River (o r C ook s I n let ) i n A laska wh ere they were
w elcomed b y a party of Ru ssia n trad ers 1 9 H ere they col lected
a smal l q uantity of fu rs an d then trie d to make i n su cc ession
P rince W i l liam s So un d C ross So u nd an d Nootka b u t fai led in
every case ; they final ly ran to th e H awai i a n I s lan ds to wi nter
0
2
n
n
i
whereas i t h ad b een the int en tio n to wi nter
Nootka S ou d
I n M arch 1 7 8 7 they p roceeded once more to the no rth maki ng
P rince W i l liam s Sou nd 2 1
H ere th e shi ps separat ed Di x o n i n
”
“
the C har lotte sta n di n g to the east an d sou th i ntendi n g to make
2
2
a
n
i
Nootka S ou nd after tradin g a lon g the coast
hi gh er l ti tu des
;
visi
ted
Admi
ral
ty
B
ay
an
d
Norfo
l
k
Sou
n
d
in
A
laska
then
h e
in p rosec uti n g th e trade fu rther a lon g the coast he saw the strait
b etw een Qu een C har lotte s I sland so cal led by him and th e con
n
ti nent o r rather what he erroneo u sly su p posed to be the conti ent
Dixon ran al l a lon g the west coast o f the great island alon g part
on t h e east
e
n
n
d
a
d
e
the
n
rth
coast
aro
u
n
d
the
sou
th
w
l
l
u
p
o
of
si de
H e was thu s enab l ed to m ap th e island wi th consi derab le
a ccu racy and to fix certain definite poi nts o n the sup positio us
mai n land to th e e ast C ap e P itt C ap e Chath am and C ape Dal
2
3
e his su rveys l eft
which
o
u
tli
ed
Dixon
s
S
trai
t
W
hi
l
n
ry mp l e
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de a
and
I b id 3
For a con fi rm atio n of som of th
t il
for oth r
”
“
A rgon aut
s ee P ort l ock s
not giv en by
4
a
n
n
s
e
e
S ou d Comp y
P ortl oc k
1 6 I t was c al l ed T h e Ki n g G org
“
4
A rgo naut
1 7
1 8 I bi d
1 9 P ortl oc k 9 9 1 0 2
2 0 P ortlock 1 2 7
2 1 I bi d 2 0 6 ff
2 2 I bi d 2 2 4 ; and D i xo n s Voy ag e 1 5 9
ear es d en i ed t h e origi nal ity of
2 3 S ee map D i xo n : al so p 2 2 4 ff
M
'
D i xon s d i s cov ery
cl ai mi ng it for L auri e an d Gui s e 1 7 8 6
S ee map i n
M ear es Voy ag es 1 7 9 1 E d In t h e ab sen c e of oth er proof how ev er it seem s
“
prop er t o accord to D i x o n t h e cr ed i t h e cl aim
ed
of
addi ng th es e i sl an d s
”
T h e Fr en ch n avig ator
t o t h e g eogr aphy of thi s p art of t h e co ast
La
P erou se who p assed d ow n t h e co as t i n 1 7 8 6
al mo s t m ad e thi s di s cov ery
15
ese
e
4
e
7
V oy ag .
s,
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[ 16 ]
’
m uch to be desired i n t h e way o f thorou ghness Dixo n s voyage
neverthel ess mark ed an i mporta n t adva n ce i n t h e wo rl d s geo
L et us now see what was
graphica l k no wl ed g e o f t his r egio n
taki n g p l ace fa rth er to t h e sou th
We have sev er al ti m es i n th e pr ecedi n g chapt er referre d t o
the su p posed str ai t s of J uan d e Fuca which w ere so u ght fo r
betw een the paral l els of fo rty seven an d fo rty ei ght fi rst b y
Th e
H eceta and Bod ega i n 1 7 7 5 an d agai n by C ook i n 1 7 7 8
s tory that i ncit ed ei ght een th centu ry n avi gators to su ch i nvesti
g at i ons is one of th e most c u riou s i n th e history o f exp loratio n
“
”
I t w as first p u blish ed by Samu el P urchas in his
Pi l gri mage
edi tion o f 1 6 2 5
The story 2 3 is to th e effec t that D e F uc a a
Greek w ho wa s at that time in th e service of the Vi c eroy of New
S pain sai l ed from M exico in th e year 1 5 9 2 with o ne sm al l car avel
for the discovery o f the S trai ts o f Anlan an d throu gh them the
North Sea or Atlantic
De Fu ca p roc eeded northward til l h e
“
came to latitu de forty seven and th en
fin di ng tha t the la n d
trended north and no rtheast with a b road i n let of sea b etween
4 7 and 4 8 degrees of latitu d e he enter ed therei nto sai li n g thence
m ore than twenty days and fo u nd that land tre n di ng sti l l som e
time n o rth west an d north east a nd north and also east and
sou th eastward and very much b roader sea than was at th e
sai d entrance and that he passed by div ers isl ands i n that sai lin g ;
and that at the entrance of this sai d strait there is on the
north w est c oast th ereof a great h eadland or island with an
”
exceeding hi gh pi n nac le o r spi red rock l ik e a pi lla r th ereon
He clai med to hav e sai led th rou gh this strait to the Atl antic an d
bac k agai n to M exico wh ere as also in Spai n h e fai led of th e
reward which h e su rely expec ted f or this notab le s ervice an d
ther efore h e was pr ep ared t o stri ke a bargai n with the B ri tish
wh o were at that ti me keenly a n xiou s t o fi nd j ust su ch a strai t
I t is not necessary to dwell on the p robabi lities and i m p ro b ab i l
iti es o f this sto ry
The i n teresting fact is that it stro n gl y in f i n
an d th at th e st rai t l ai d
enced the co u rse of l ater exp lo ratio n
down o n the west coast of America on the basis of this repo rt
p roved to be after a l l o n ly one degre e sou th o f th e extremel y
i mportant waterway in whose modern d esi gnation the ol d Gree k
p ilot is vou chsaf ed a ki n d of i mmortal i ty which he may not
a lto gether deserve
W hen P ortlock and Dixon reached th e A l aska coast i n May
they fo und i n P ri nce Wi lli am s Sou n d a shi p cal led the
1 7 87
”
“
Nootka
comman d ed by C aptain J oh n M ear es
M ear es was
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but
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quit e S ee h i s V oy ag e 3 d E ng E d L o ndo n 1 8 0 7 1 5 4 f f ; al s o
1 75
Ban croft N W C I
4 09
2 3 Vol I I I p 8 4 9 as cit ed by Gr een how O re an d C al
1 84 5 E d
T h e s tory d o es n ot app ear i n t h e 1 6 1 4 editi o n of P urch as which i s b efor e
T h e authority i s M ich ael L ock an E n gl i s hm an eng ag ed i n t h e L ev an t
me
Lock cl ai m s to h av e m et
trad e who was a fri end of R ich ard H akl uyt
D e Fuc a at Ven i c e i n t h e y ear 1 5 9 6 an d to h av e obt ai n ed t h e fact s from
L ock tri ed on sev er al occ as io n s to i nduc e D e Fuc a to g o t o
him di r ectly
E ngl and and t ak e s ervic e u nd er t h e Q u een but al w ays f ail ed b ec au se h e was
D e Fuc a
nev er qui t e pr ep ar ed to sati s fy t h e G r eek s p ecu n i ary d em an d s
cl aim ed to h av e b een i n t h e S p an i sh ship c aptur ed an d l oot ed by Cav endi sh
and to h av e su s t ai n ed h eavy l o sses for w hich h e r equi r ed t o be
i n 1 7 87
r ei mbur sed
S ee t h e r el ati on of L ock and t h e corr esp o n d en c e b etw een him
4 0 9 ff : al so 8 8 9
s upr a
an d D e Fuc a i n Gr een h ow
n ot
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[ 18 ]
W e hav e now re ached the ti me when S pai n and G reat Bri tai n
come i nto co n flict ov er th e q u estion of th eir resp ective rights o n
the Northwest co ast
Fo rtunate ly the enti re history o f th i s
stru ggl e has rece n tly been wo rked o u t wi th great elaboratio n
of d etai l 3 1 so that for the pu rposes of this p ap er we n eed n o t
be detai ned lo n g by i t
The mai n poi n t is that Spai n fi n din g
that Nootka So u n d was become a pl ac e of rendezvous for B ri tis h
tradi n g v ess els an d fea ri n g l est her own c l ai ms of sover ei gnt y
over the regio n shou ld su ffe r in cons equ en ce reso lved t o forti f y
Nootka So un d an d excl ude al l fo r ei gn ers fro m the coast
Fo r
this p u rpos e she se n t warships from M exico i n 1 7 8 9 whose co m
ma n d er D on M arti nez si ez ed several o f the shi ps belon gi ng t o
the B riti sh co mpany and se n t th em to Mexico
T h e two gov er n
m en ts th ere upo n entered i n to a co rr espo n d ence which seem ed
In th e
li k ely at o ne ti me to be ab ru p tly termi nated by wa r
end ho wev er the S paniards w ere forc ed t o a d mit the ri ghts o f
th e B ritish t o trad e u po n the No rth west coast and to occ upy any
“
portions of the same not al ready occu pi ed
fo r the p urpose o f
carryi n g on thei r com m erc e wi th the natives of the co u ntry or
”
o f maki n g estab lish me n ts th ere
I t was a lso stip u lated tha t
B ritish su bj ects shou l d n ot carry o n thei r navigation or fisheri e s
withi n th e dista n ce o f ten mari n e l eagu es fro m an y p l ac e on
th e coast al r eady occu pied by Spai n which was i ntende d as a
p rotectio n to th e i nfant estab lishm e n ts i n C a li forni a 3 2
Th es e
wer e o f m uch greater i n t er est to S p ain than was the ba rre n
stretch of coast fro m Cali forni a to A laska o f which she cou l d
n ever mak e an eff ectiv e u se
I t may b e r emarked here tha t
aft er the s ettleme n t of th e Nootk a diffic u l ty S p ai n p ro mptl y
reti red to Ca li fo rnia an d ended once fo r a l l her career on th e
“
Northwest coast
I t (th e Nootka C onve n tion ) was the fi rs t
exp ress renu nciation of Spai n s anci en t c lai m t o excl usive sov
erei g n t y over the Am e rica n shor es of t h e Paci fic Ocean and t h e
”
S ou th S eas 3 3 B u t f or B ritai n an d fo r A merica the con trovers y
had far more si g n i ficant resu lts as the fo l low i n g pa ges wi l l show
There was sti ll on e p oint w ith re fere n c e to no rthern geog
r aph y
which int er ested the Spaniards namel y the p ossi bi lity
of t h e existence of a passage to the A tlantic by way o f F uca s
Strait
I t was t o satisfy themselves on th is hea d tha t i n the
years 1 7 9 0 1 7 9 1
and 1 7 9 2 expeditions w ere sent o u t fro m
M exico to su rvey these waters 3 4
The resu lts of so me of thei r
exp lorati ons were very i mpo rtant
Qu i mper i n 1 7 9 0 ca refu l l y
m apped F uca s S trai t to the C anal de H aro ; the next year E li z a
co n ti n u ed the e x ami na tio n of C ana l de Haro exte n di ng his oh
servat i o ns n orth ward into Rosa rio Straits ; and in 1 7 9 2 Galieno
and Val dez pass ed e n ti rel y arou n d Vanco uver s I sland su rveyin g
an d map pi ng i t with great c ar e 3 5
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31
H i st
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S ee
A ssn
32
S ee
33
I bid
M ann i ng W il l i am R ay T h e N ootk a S ou nd Con t rov er sy
A n R ept
1 904 2 7 9 4 7 8
M an n i n g 4 5 5
t h e Nootk a Co nv entio n
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46 2
3 4 B an cr oft
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C
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I
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,
273
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I bi d
4
2
4
2
4
0
3
4
4 8 : al s o P ap er s R el ati ng to t h e T r eaty of W ash
;
.
Thi s co nt ai ns ’ a short accou n t of
i ng t on. V , Berl i n A rbitr ati on . 8 8
voy ag e, and m or e
Q ui mper s voy ag e, ex tr act s from t h e j our nal of E l i z a
ex t en d ed ex tr act s from t h e r eport of t h e voy age of G al i eno an d Val d ez
35
’
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[ 19 ]
I n th e events which brou ght t h e E nglish n avi gator C ap tain
G eo rge Va n couver to the North west coast at this time we h ave
o ne more p roof of the i ntimate rel atio n the action and reaction
betw ee n tra de and exploration as f eatu res of B ri tish pol icy
It
was the repo rts an d map s o f the voyages o f B ritish traders like
Po rtlock Dixon and M ea res which p roved the existence of an
a rchipela go where Cook had fo un d n o b reak in th e coast lin e
that stim u lated m e Governm ent to m ake one more ca refu l search
fo r the lon g sou ght passa ge 3 6
The instru ctions issued to Van
co uv er by the Ad mi ra lty brin g o ut thi s poi nt in a stri kin g man
“
ner :
The Kin g havi n g j u d ged it exp edient that an exp edi tio n
sho u l d b e u nderta ken for acq u iri n g a more comp lete kno wl edge
than has yet b een obta ined of t h e Northwest coast o f A merica ;
you are
[ after s u rveyi n g the Sand wich I s lands ] to re
pai r t o the No rth west coast of A m erica for the p urpose o f
”
ac q ui rin g a more c omp l ete k n ow l edge of it as above me n tio n ed
Vancou ver was instr ucte d to exami ne that coast betw een t h e
p aral le ls of thirty and sixty degr ees wi th two mai n o bj ects i n
“
view :
The acq ui ri ng acc u rate i n fo rmation wi th respect
i st
to t h e natu r e an d extent of an y wat er co mmu nicatio n which
may tend i n any consi derab le deg ree to faci litate an i n terco urse
e
e
ee
fo r the p u rpos s of com merce b tw n h e North west coast an d
th e cou ntry [ co u ntries ] on th e o pposite si de o f the co ntin ent
which are inhabi te d o r occu pied by H is M aj esty s s ubj ects
“
2 d l y The ascertai nin g wi th as m uch p recision as p ossi b le
t h e n u m ber extent and si tu ation o f any settlements which have
been made wi th in the li mits above m en tioned by any E uropean
”
nation a nd the ti me when s uch settl ement was first mad e
I n carryin g o ut his i nstru ctions u n der the fi rst head which was
empha tica l ly spoken o f as th e p ri n cipal obj ect of the expeditio n
Vancouver w as req u i red to asc ertai n not a lone the genera l co u rse
“
of the co as t l i n e
bu t a lso t h e di r ection an d extent of al l such
consi d erab le inlets whether m ad e by arms of the sea o r by the
mou ths o f large rivers as may b e l ik ely to l ead t o o r faci l itate
su ch com m u nication as is above d esc ri be d
“
The p articu lar co urse o f t h e su rv ey m ust depen d o n the di f
fere a t circ u mstan ces which may arise i n the exec ut i o n of a
servic e o f thi s nature ; i t is how ev er p roper that y o u sho u ld
and y ou are th erefore hereby di r ect ed to pay a partic ula r atten
tion to the exami nation o f the s upp osed strai ts of Ju an de F uca
sai d to be si tuated betwe en 4 8 degr ees and 4 9 deg r ees north
latitu de and to lead to an o pe ni n g thro u gh which the sloop
W ashi n gto n is reported to have p assed in the year 1 7 8 9 an d to
h ave com e o u t a gain to the northwa rd of N ootka
The discovery
o f a near comm uni cation betw een any s uch sea or s trai t and
any river ru nni n g i nto o r fro m the lake of the W oods wo u l d b e
”
partic u larly usefu l 3 7
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Van couv er
s
V oy age. E d
“
of 1 8 0 1 I 4 0 1
T h e fav orit e opi n i o n th at
”
h ad s l ept s i nc e t h e publ ic ati o n of C apt ai n C oo k s l as t voy ag e
say s Van
“
couv er
of a north eas t er n commu n ic ati on b etw een t h e w at ers of t h e Paci fic
and A tl anti c oc eans was agai n rou sed from i t s st at e of sl umb er an d brough t
forw ard with r en ov at ed vigor
O n c e mor e t h e A rch ip el ago of S t L az aru s
was c al l ed f orth i n to b ei ng and i t s ex i st en c e al m o st ass um ed
T h e s t r ai t s
s ai d to h av e b een navig at ed by J u an d e Fuc a w er e al s o b rought forw ard
”
i n s upport of thi s opi n io n
3 7 Vancouv er s Voy age I 5 8 6 7
36
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[ 20 ]
Havi n g shown w hat V anc ouver was expec t ed to do i t wi ll n o t
be n ec essary to d esc ri b e his wo rk in detail bu t on l y to add that
he execu ted his orders with the u tmost fi d elity a nd s uccess
devoting three su m mers to the s ervic e and givin g to the wo r l d
a great map of the w est coast o f A merica from San Di ego i n
'
C aliforni a to Cook s River in A laska
Vancouv er named Pu g et
Sou nd fo r Lieu tena n t P u get an d h e gave th ei r m odern designa
tions to nea rly al l th e most striki n g na tu ral obj ects i n that
vici n i ty
the nu mero us cana ls between F uca s Strai t and Norfo l k
Sou nd th e isla nds asi de fro m a few that had been named by
thei r commercia l discove rers or by the Spani ards and the mo un
tai n p eaks discerni b l e from di ffer ent p oints in this la byri nth
of waters
At ma n y p oi nts Vanco uv er was p reced ed by the
Spa n i ards who as we have se en made a carefu l su rvey o f
F uca s S trai t and th e waters reach ed from i t i n 1 7 9 0 9 1 and 9 2
Neverthel ess he a dd ed materia l ly to thei r work in this regio n
an d connected into o n e great system al l that had been do n e
pr eviously an d all that he was enabl ed to do hi mse lf 3 8
J u st above th e pa ra ll el of 4 6 degre es Va n couver l ays d o w n
on his map an i nlet
trac ed for abou t one hu ndred mi l es fro m
“
”
t h e sea which he ca lls
The River Col u mbia
The si g n i ficanc e
attaching to this feat u re of North west geography wo u ld i n itsel f
j u sti fy a so mewhat detai led accou nt of i ts discovery ; bu t when
we recal l that this was the fi rst memo rable ac t p erform ed
by ou r ow n cou ntrym e n i n the drama of western mari ti me ex
p loration we have an a dditional r eason fo r li n gerin g over th e
i ncident
Th e o ri gin of the Am erican in terest in the fu r trade of th e
Northwest co ast i s not know n with as much definiteness as we
co u l d wish
I t seems c lear ho wev er that as i n the cases o f
t h e B ri tish merchants of London Bo mbay an d China the gene ra l
inci tin g cause was Cook s voya ge and the report o f th e sal e o f
fu rs by Coo k s m en i n C a n to n
The story of John Ledyard s
connectio n with Coo k s expeditio n his retu rn hom e to Conn ecti
c ut after its comp l etio n his pu bl ication of an acco u nt of the
vo ya ge an d his enthu siastic b u t fu ti l e attempts to enl ist New
Y ork P hi lade lphia an d Boston merchants i n the fu r trade o f
the North west coast an d Chi na has be en freq u en tly tol d an d need
not be repeated h er e 3 9
I t is reasonable to su p pose that Led
yard s rep resentatio n s i n the y ears 1 7 8 3 an d 1 7 8 4 were not at
once forgotten an d th at they may hav e ex ert ed som e i n fl u ence
at a lat er ti me toward i n ducin g a g ro u p of Boston m erchants to
fi t o u t ships fo r this trade
B u t we hav e no positive evi denc e
o n t h e poin t and i t is eq u al ly p rob able that the recital i n Cook s
narrative i ts elf or r u m ors of t h e i n ter est i n this trad e i n E n gland
an d els ewh ere co n stituted t h e moving cause
An acco u nt o f
the ori gi n of t h e tradin g mov em en t a t Boston was p u b l ished
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co as t map I bid
3 9 S ee S ch af er T h e P ac i f i c
L i fe of J oh n L ed y ar d Ch ap V I
3 8 S ee
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N or t h wes t
33 37
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The
s
ourc e
is
S par ks
’
s
[ 21 ]
there i n
O f co ntempo ran eou s evi d ence w e have no thi ng
that gives an inti mate acco u nt of the o ri gi n of the enterp rise ;
b ut in the Bosto n C enti nel of S ep tember 1 7 8 7 an d the American
H era ld (Boston ) Septe m ber 3 0 of th e sa m e year the re appears
“
the fo llowin g notice :
Si lver and copper m edal s we a re to l d
a re stri kin g o f f to b e carried by Ca p tain Kendrick b ou nd to
the P aci fic Oc ean t o b e distrib u ted amo n g the n atives of th e
”
I ndian I sles
The description of thes e w el l k now n meda ls fol
“
T h e en t erprisi n g adv en tu r ers on
lo ws
The artic le contin ues :
the voyag e to N ew Al bio n are d etermin ed t o se nd in their ves
stru ck at the
s els a q u an tity of the copper c ents an d ha l f cents
p ub lic mint u n der the a uthority o f this co m m on w eal th to b e
d isp osed of a mon g the n ativ es o f thos e co asts th ey m ay visit i n
the so u th ern ocean
They are fi n ely exec u t ed t h e device on one
si de th e sp r ead eagl e of th e ! n io n en ci rcl ed wi th the wo rd
C ommo nw ealth o n t h e o th er an I n d i an wi th his bo w an d arro w
”
T h e Ce n ti n el a lso
su rro u nded with t h e wo r d M ass ach us etts
”
“
in the same iss u e no tes t h e c l ea ri n g of the ship
Colu mbi a
C aptai n Ke n drick bou n d f o r N ew A l bio n
This i s al l t h at t h e pa p ers giv e
T h e en t er p ris e s eems to have
excited littl e p ublic i n t er est or els e t h e inte n sity o f t h e po litical
agitatio n the n ec essity of discu ssi n g al l ph as es o f the p roposed
new c on sti tution t h e lo n g l ett ers o n g ov er n m en t by Doctor John
Adams an d oth ers l e ft n o oppo r t u n ity to p ro perl y reco rd such
intere st as th ere was 4 1
Very di ffere n t was the rec eptio n acc o r d ed th e Co l u m bia o n
h er ret ur n to Bosto n Au gust 9 1 7 9 0 aft er c om p l eti n g h er voyage
rou nd the world 4 2
Th en t h e p eop l e c ro wd ed t h e wharves and
“
”
sent thei r lo u d
H u zzas
ri ngi n g a c ross the w at ers o f the bay
to ch eer the ho mecom ers ; whi l e the Bosto n C enti nel i n a leadin g
edito ri al voiced the p u b lic grati ficatio n at t h e su cc ess achi eved
by the a dvent u rous merchants who h ad i n au gu rat ed a new
bra n ch o f commerc e fo r A m erica 4 3
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4 0 O r eg on an d E l D or a d o by Thom as Bulfi n ch
i n t h e op en i n g p ages
of t h e book h e p rofesses to d es crib e t h e origi n of t h e pl an to s en d s hip s from
Bo s to n to t h e Northw es t co as t an d C hi n a
H e b egi n s w ith an accou n t of
a m eeti n g which occu rr ed at t h e m an s i o n of D r
Bu lfi n ch (po s s ibl y t h e
author s an c esto r ) i n t h e y ear 1 7 8 7
A mo n g tho s e pr es en t w er e Ch arl es
Bul fi n ch an d J o seph Barr el l t h e fo rm er a s on of D r Bulfi n ch t h e l att er
“
T h e co n v er s atio n tur n ed upo n t h e topic
an emi n en t m erch an t of - B os to n
of t h e d ay t h e voy age of Capt ai n C ook , t h e accou n t of which h ad j u st b een
publ i s h ed
(But th i s accou n t h ad b een publ i s h ed thr ee y ear s b efor e an d
“
t h e n eW S p aners afford n o s upport for t h e s t at em en t th at thi s was t h e topic
”
A t l as t i t ch an g ed an d tur n ed mor e upo n t h e com
of t h e d ay i n
m erci ai asp ect s of t h e subj ect
M r Barr el l was p art i cul a rl y s truck with
wh at Cook r el at es of t h e abu nd an c e of v a l u abl e fur s offer ed by t h e n ativ es
of t h e cou n try i n ex ch an g e fo r h ead s k n iv es an d oth er t rifl i n g commoditi es
v al u ed by th em T h e r em ark of‘ C apt ai n Co ok r es p ecti n g t h e sea-ott er was
Barr ell r em ark ed
Th
er e i s a rich h arv es t to b e r eap ed th er e
’
by tho s e who wil l fi r s t go i n
Thi s con v er satio n l ed h e s ay s to t h e
form atio n of t h e comp an y an d t h e s end i n g of t h e s hip s C ol u m bi a and
T h e n arr ativ e mu s t b e u sed with c autio n for it app ear s to
W as h i ng t on
be co nst ruct ed out of l oo s e tr aditio n s r ath er th an tru s tw orthy s ourc es
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N W C
Ap
giv es an accou n t of
d ep artu r e from Bos to n H arbor
4 2 Fo r an accou n t of t h e pr oc eedi n g s of t h e C ol umbi a an d h er co n s ort on
t h e Northw es t co as t 1 7 8 8 1 7 8 9
s ee Ban croft
N W C
1 85 9 2 ; 2 0 4 9 ;
I bi d A p
al s o H asw el l
4 3 C ol um bi a Cen t i n el A ug 1 1
1 7 90 ; p 3
c i
Editori al h ead ed T h e
J our n al s B an cr o ft
t h e ci rcum s t an c es of t h e C ol umbi a s
4
1
H as w el l
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[
]
22
The Co l u mbia sai l ed a secon d ti me fro m B oston S eptemb er 2 8
1 7
an d r eached the No rthw est coast i n Ju n e of the fo llo wi n g
year
A fter a s u mmer sp en t i n trade an d a wi n ter in mak in g
n ew an d more co mp lete arrangements f or the trade o f
Gray sai l ed from C layoq uo t ea r ly in A pri l fo r a cruise i n th e
sou th
O n th e 2 9 t h of April h e met Va n cou ver to whom h e
gave some acco unt o f h i s doi n gs u p to that ti me
R u n nin g sti l l fu rther sou th Gray on the 7 t h o f M ay e n tere d
a harbo r in lati tu de 4 6 degre es 5 8 mi nu tes which he nam e d
“
”
B u l fi nch H a rbo r
b u t which Vanco uver later in the y ear na me d
Gray s H a rbo r its p resent desi gnation
Fou r days late r M ay 1 1
Gray r an i n between the b reakers in to wha t he a t fi rst s up pose d
“
to be another harbor
H e says however :
When we were ove r
the ba r we fou n d thi s to be a large river of fresh water u p
which we steere d
The entrance between the bars bore west
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I t i s with r eal pl easur e we ann ou nc e t h e saf e arriv al i n thi s
port on M o n d ay l ast of t h e ship Col umbi a C apt Gr ay from a voy ag e of
adv en tur e on t h e North W es t Co ast of A m eric a
“
Thi s ship i n comp an y w ith t h e s l oop W as hi ngton sai l ed on t h e 3 0 h
S ept emb er
1 7 87
an d t h e y ear fol l owi ng r each ed th ei r d esti n ati o n ; from
wh enc e t h e C ol umbi a sai l ed with fur s which sh e di spo sed of i n Chi na on
h er way hom e
“
T o M ess r s Barr el l Brow n Bul fi nch H atch D erby an d P i nt ard wh o
pl anned t h e voy age th ei r cou n try i s i n d ebt ed for thi s ex p erim en t i n a br an ch
of comm erc e b efor e u nessay ed by A m eric ans ; an d to th eir c ar e i n providi n g
ev ery n ec ess ary comfort and co nv eni en c e of t h e cr ew s
may un d er H eav en
be attribut ed t h e ex tr aordi nary d egr ee of h eal th w hich th ey h av e enj oy ed ;
h avi n g lo st but one man by si ck ness s i nc e th ey sai l ed
“
Th ei r cou ntry i s al s o u nd er obl igati on to t h e i n tr epid n avigator s who
h av e co nduct ed t h e voy age who se urb an ity and civil ity h av e secur ed t h e
fri end ship of t h e aborigi nal s of t h e cou n try th ey vi sit ed ; and whose ho n or
and i n tr epi dity h av e comm and ed t h e prot ectio n an d r esp ect of t h e Europ ean
L or d s of t h e soi l [ S p an i ard s ] to t h e A m eric an fl ag ; whi l e th at of an oth er
natio n [ Brit ai n ] h as b een forbidd en to be u n furl ed on t h e co as t
“
T h e C ol umbi a and W ashi n gto n are t h e fir st A m eri c an v essel s who
h av e circum n avigat ed t h e glob e an d t h e W ashi ngto n which i s o nl y of 9 0
to ns“ burth en i s t h e fi r st s loop of any natio n ev er sent on so gr eat a voy ag e
O n t h e Col umbi a s arrivi n g oppo s it e t h e c astl e sh e s al ut ed t h e fl ag of
t h e ! n it ed S t at es w ith 1 0 gu n s ; which was imm edi at ely r etur n ed th er efrom
and on comi ng t o h er moori ngs i n t h e h arbor fir ed a f ed er al sal ut e - which
a gr eat co n cour se of p eopl e assembl ed on t h e sev er al wh arfs r etu rn ed with
th ree huzz as and a h earty w elcom e W e are tol d th at One of t h e nativ es
”
of O wyh ee arriv ed i n th e Col umbi a
Coi umb i a
“
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offic er on board t h e Co l umb i a h as favor ed us wi th t h e fol l ow i ng
nautic al m emor andum
T h e sh i p Col umbi a s ai l ed S ept
vi z :
3 ot h
1 7 87
from Bos t on an d arriv ed at S t J ag o s Nov 1 6 1 7 8 7 t h e d i st an c e 4 1 2 4
D ec
1 2
1 7 87
sail ed
mil es
from S t J ago s an d arriv ed at F al kl and
I s l an ds Feb 1 6 1 7 8 8 di s t 4 888 mil es F eb 2 9 1 7 8 8 sail ed from F al k l an d
I sl an d s and arriv ed at J u an F er n an d ez M ay 2 4 1 7 8 8 d i st 5 3 4 9 mi l es
J u ne 6
1 7 88
sail ed from Ju an F er n an d ez
an d arriv ed at Nootk a S ou n d
S ept 2 3 1 7 8 8 di st 7 4 5 7 mi l es
J ul y 3 0 1 7 8 9 s ai l ed from N ootk a S ou n d
and arriv ed at C an to n
Nov 1 6 1 7 8 9 di st 8 4 4 6 mi l es
Feb 1 2 t h
1 790
sai l ed from C anto n an d m ad e A scen t i on I s l an d J u n e 2 4
d i st
1 7 90
mi l es J u ne 2 4 1 7 9 0 s ail ed from As cen t i on I sl an d and arriv ed at Bo sto n
A ug 9 t h 1 7 9 0
di st (comput ed by t h e ed itor as it was omitt ed from t h e
journal ) 7 0 0 0 mi l es Tot al numb er of mi l es 4 8 8 8 9 ! T h e Col umbi a s topp ed
at t h e S an dw ich I s l an d s for p rovi s io ns 2 4 d ay s arriv ed A ug 2 4
1 7 89
and
”
two day s at S t H el an a s for w at er and r efr eshm en t
J our n al E x tr act s : T h e I phig eni a an d a s choo n er s ail ed from N oot k a
O ct 2 6 1 7 8 8 et c (accou n t of v ariou s arriv al s an d d ep artur es at Nootk a from
O ct 1 7 8 8 to J ul y 1 2 1 7 8 9
O f t h e c aptur e of t h e E n gl i sh v essel s et c )
4 4 C0 1 C en ti nel S ept 2 9 1 7 9 0
4 5 By buil di ng t h e sl oop A d ven t ur e an d fitti ng h er for an i n d ep en d ent
crui se S ee H asw el l
An
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[
]
23
so u th w est di sta n ce ten mi les ; the no rth si de o f the riv er hal f a
m i le di sta n t fro m the shi p ; the sou th si d e of t h e same two and
a hal f mi l es dista n t ; a vi ll age o n t h e no rth sid e of the riv er west
b y n orth distant three q ua rters of a mil e
Vast nu mbers of
n ativ es cam e a lo ngsi de ; p eopl e empl oyed i n pu mpi n g t h e sa lt
water ou t of ou r water casks so as to fi l l wi th fresh whi le the
”
46
Su ch is the ori gi n al accou nt o f th e di scovery
s hip float ed i n
a n d fi rst e n trance of the Co l u mbia River e x trac ted fro m Gra y s
1 7 92
u nder t h e date 4 7 of M ay 1 1
We have a lso
l og book
s ome acco u nt fro m the sa me sou rce of Gray s doi ngs in the rive r
betwee n th e eleventh an d twentieth of M ay
O n t h e fou rteenth
”
“
Gray set sai l an d ran
twe lve or fi fteen mi les
f u rther u p the
bu t fi ndi ng the channel h e was i n to b e very n a rrow
s tream
and app arently dangero us he ancho r ed agai n
He spent so me
time view i n g the cou n try on shore an d conti nu ed his trade with
the natives which of cou rse was his sole obj ect i n enteri ng the
river
On the 1 9 t h he gave the river its name cal li ng i t not
“
”
C olu mbia bu t Co l u mbi a s
River f or hi s shi p
Th e northern
“
"
“
”
c ape he cal led Hancoc k 4 8 the so uthern Poi nt Adams
Next
day M ay 2 0 th he sai led o u t ov er the bar
Vancouve r at P u get Sou nd learn ed abo ut Gra y s discovery an d
determi nin g upon an i nvesti gatio n sai l ed i n October with both
”
“
”
“
his vesse ls the
Discovery
an d the
C hatham
to the mou th
of the river
H e wo u l d n ot ventu re to tak e the larger vessel in ;
bu t Li eu tenant B ro u gh ton wi th the Chatham crossed the ba r
and anchored withi n the river
H e then exp lored i t in a cu tter
to the distance of abo ut one hu n dred mi les o r to the head o f
“
navi gation
H e took possession
for the Ki ng at this p lace
”
which he na med P oi nt Va nco uver 4 9
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4 6 Van couv er ,
I I 4 0 ff
4 7 T hi s ex tr act from Gray s l og bo ok was m ad e by Ch arl es Bulfi nch
4 34
1 84 5 E d
S ee Gr een how O re and Cal
4 8 M ear es on t h e 6 t h of J uly 1 7 8 8 h ad n am ed thi s poi n t Cap e D i s ap
H e ex p ect ed to fi n d by rou n di ng it a good
(V oy ag es
p oi n t m en t
harbor but seei n g t h e d angerou s l i n e of b r eak er s acro ss t h e en tr anc e h e
c all ed it D ecept i on Bay
H avi n g g az ed upo n t h e i n d en t ati o n from h i s ship
“
M ear es says (Voy ages 1 6 8 )
W e can now w i th safety a”ssert th at n o such
river as S t R oe ex i st s as l ai d dow n on S p an i sh ch art s
4 9 Van couv er s V oy age I I 3 8 6 f f ; al s o I I I 8 5 f f
which i s B roughton s
accou n t of t h e Col umbi a an d h i s surv ey of t h e riv er
Broughto n and Van couv er do Gr ay t h e i nju s t ic e of d eny i ng th at h e h ad
ev er en t er ed t h e riv er prop er
co n t endi n g th at h e o nl y saw an d ent er ed t h e
es tu ary or i n l et
Y et it was Gr ay s ch art of t h e riv er th at serv ed B roughto n
f or a gui d e i n t aki ng t h e Ch ath am ov er t h e bar !
M or eov er Van couv er h ad
ful ly co nvi n c ed him sel f i n sail i n g up t h e co as t i n A p ril th at th er e was no
riv er of an y co n sequ enc e or any s af e h arb or for shippi ng at t h e poi nt wh er e
in
Gr ay fou n d t h e riv er
S ee h i s r em ark abl e s t at em en t
so oft en quot ed
V oy g s I I 3 8 6 ff
T h e essen ti al p art i s quot ed i n S ch afer P acific No rth
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[
III
E xpl or at i on
.
of
]
24
an
Overl an d R
ou t e
O reg on
to
.
On e featu re of i nstructions issu ed by the Board o f A dmi ralty to
Va n cou ver in 1 7 9 1 seems t o be signi fi cant in co nnection wi th th e
su bj ect of th e present chapter
H e was r eq ui red not si mp ly to
'
seek for a continuo us passage t h i oug h the conti nent of No rth
“
A meri ca b ut also for
any water co m mu n ication which [ mi ght ]
ten d i n any consi dera bl e d egre e to faci litat e an i nterco u rse f or
”
bet ween the Paci fic and the Atl an tic ;
t h e p u rposes of comme rce
an d th e i nj u nction was l ai d u po n hi m to s earch p artic u larl y fro m
“
F a ca s strait an d the sea re ported to li e east o f it becaus e T h e
discovery of a near com m u n ica tion between any su ch s ea o r strai t
an d any river ru n nin g in to or fro m the l ak e o f the woo ds wo u l d
”
I n these clau s es we find an obvio u s
be partic u l arly u sef ul
deviation from or enlarge m en t o f the conc eptio n which had co n
trol led the earlier B ri tish ex p l oring policy
The voyagers to
H u dson Bay had been expected to find a passage rou nd North
America to th e P aci fic ; Cook in 1 7 7 6 had b een s ent o u t to
“
search for A no rthern p ass age by sea fro m the P aci fic to t h e
Atl antic Ocean
b u t Va nco uver s i nstructio ns are in effec t
to try to find a line o f easy comm unicatio n b etween the two coast s
whether who l ly o r only i n p a rt by water
I n o ther words wi t h
“
”
the B ri tish Gov ernment t h e s earch fo r T h e P assage is shadin g
of f into a s earch fo r an overl an d rou te
This is a pe rfectly natu ral evol ution in poli cy
For du ri ng t h e
in terval b etw een C ook an d Va n c o u ver i n which so m uch was
done to det ermi ne the geo graphy of t h e No rthwest coast m uc h
had been do n e also toward a g enera l ex p lo r ation of th e i nl an d
regions of the no rth
The trav els o f S amu el Hea rne ha d a l read y
b rou ght ou t the fact that the co u ntry stretching west from H ud
son Bay was o f vast extent 1 French t raders l i ke Verendrye an d
later B ri tish A meric an . an d Scotch trad ers had added m uch to
the knowledge men had of the cou ntry both west a nd south west
Th ey had even exa ggerated t h e magni ficent distances o f those al l
b u t bo u ndless p l ains makin g it appear that points al ready fixe d
in the i nterior co u l d not be far remov ed from poi nts l n t h e
co rrespon di n g lati tu des which by C ook s scienti fic labors h ad
b een estab lished o n the w est coast
I n de ed it wo u l d app ea r
from Peter Pon d s map of t h e western parts o f No rth America
execu ted i n the yea r 1 7 8 5 that wh at we know as the Assi ni boi n
River ha d its sou rce at l east as fa r west as the m eri di an of 1 2 5
degre es and onl y obo ut two degrees of lati tu de north of Nootk a
So u nd placed i n abo u t lo ngitu de 1 2 6 degr ees a nd rep r esented as
extendin g no rthward i ndefi n itely
One is p rone to i magine that
the writer of Vancou ver s i nstructio ns was glancin g at P on d s
“
map whi l e p enning th e clau se above qu oted abo u t a river r u n
”
ni ng into o r from th e l ake of the woo ds
an d em phasi zi n g t h e
u ti lity o f discov eri ng a co n n ection fro m t h e sea coast wi th su ch
a river 2
In any event si n ce the know l edg e o f interio r No rth
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di scov er ed a l ak e which h e c al l ed A t h ap ap us kow ; thi s
w ould seem to be t h e pr es en t G r eat S l av e L ak e i n s t ead of as t h e nam e
s ugg es t s A th ab as c a
S ee Bryc e G eo rg e M ackenz i e S el ki rk and S i mps on 3
’
2 S ee P o n d s map as r ep rod uc ed i n B ry mner
Can adi an A rchiv es
R ep ort
for 1 8 9 0
Thi s map was commu n ic at ed to G ov er n or H ami l to n i n 1 7 8 5
I bi d X X V
1
H ear ne h ad
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[ 26 ]
ab l e seamen (who accompanied C ap tain C ook i n his l ast vo yag e )
i n order to estab lish a fu rr trade o n t h e North W est C oast o f
"
6
North America at or near P ri nce W i l li ams S o un d
The pl ans o f t h e company were not carri ed ou t at o nce f o r
the Governm e n t showed littl e i nclin ation to grant the lar g e
co nc essions demanded
B u t fo u r yea rs later A lexan der Mac ke n
zi e the vi ri le and reso urcefu l yo u ng Hi ghlander who was se n t
to the A thabasca co u ntry in 1 7 8 7 to succee d the viciou s Pete r
Po nd b egan large ly o n hi s own respo nsibi lity 3 series o f th e
most re markab l e exp lorations o f which the wo rld has any recor d 7
On the 3 d of J u ne 1 7 8 9 M ac kenzie em b arked at Fort C hi pew ya n
on La ke A thabasca i n a canoe with an I ndia n gui de and a f ew
Fr ench vo yageu rs an d made his way to Great Slave Lake
H er e
he entered a river a lready vaguely know n from I ndian rep o r t
which flowed to the northw est an d i n j ust forty da y s from t h e
ti me of setti ng o ut reached ti dewater near the A rctic O ce an
in latitud e h a degrees 7 mi nu tes
Mackenzie saw there u nd e r
the mi d n g h t s u n of J u ly great fiel ds of ice an d i n the op en
sp aces scores o f sp ou ting whales 8
He had traced to i ts del t a
the longest o f the no rth -flowi ng rivers w h ich very app ropriate l y
bears the exp lo rer s name
By this vo yage he had effectu al l y
p roven that no passage exi sted in the fa r northern latitu de s ;
for he had traced the fi rm land fro m 5 8 degrees 4 0 m i nu tes t o
above 6 9 degrees and that i t ran sti l l fu rther north w as sho wn
by the co urse o f a snowy mo untai n range in the west whi ch
stretched no rth as far as eye cou l d see 9
Three years later Mac kenzi e havi ng meanti me spent a wi nt er
i n Lo ndon to perfect his k nowl edge of the u se of astro no mic a l
i n stru m ents entered u po n his second and gre atest ex p lo ri n g
ventu re
This was nothi ng less tha n a p roj ected j o u rney fro m
his statio n o n Lake A thabasca to the Paci fic O cean now k no wn
to be nearly a tho usan d mi les i n a strai g h t li ne t o the westw ar d
and not a short distance merel y as represented by Pond an d o th er
geo graphers 1 0
M ac ken z ie p ro posed to reach the Paci fic b y
ascendi ng Peace River an d crossing from its so u rce to the ne are st
connecti ng waters on the west si de of the Ro cky Mou ntain s
This feat h e ac tu al ly accom p lished i n the space o f abo u t el ev en
months overcoming di ffic u l ti es which i t w ou l d be al most i m
possi b le to exaggerate
He left Fort Chip ewyan Octob er 1 0
1 7 9 2 and ascended Peace River t o a poi nt near the foo t of th e
mou ntains where he sp ent the wi nter 1 1 On the 9 t h of M ay 1 7 9 3
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6 Can
and h i s sch eme
t rad e on t h e Northw est co as t
Th is shows t h at Ledy ard s
som e s ti r amon g tr ad ers, al though i t d i d not i n t h e end
A rch 1 89 0
.
.
to Op en a fur
proj ec cr eat ed
t
s uccee i
,
,
53
P on d mu s t r ef er h er e to L edy ard
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’
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d el ightful br i ef bio ra h y of M ack enzi e i s th at by
9
in
M ak ers of C anada erp
M ack enz i e S el ki rk
es
v
T h e sourc e f or M ack enzi e s ex pl or atio ns i s h i s Voy ag es
-6 1
V
e
s
o
a
5
9
6 2 ff
8
y g
7 A
th e
,
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.
George Bry ce
and S i mpson
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9 Voy ag es, 5 3 -4
.
Th rough t h e i mpo rt un i t y of t h e B r i t i sh G ov ern m ent t h e H uds on s
Bay Comp an y h ad sen t out i n 1 7 9 1 an astro n om er nam ed Ph il i p T urner
H e d efi n it ely d et ermi n ed t h e l o ngi t ud e of Fort Ch i pew an
By comp ar i ng
w i th Cook s ob serv at i o ns i n t h e sam e l atitu de t h e d st ance t o th e wes t
B ry ce Mack enz i e et c 5 7
co ast could now be read ily comp ut ed
1 1 Voy ag es 1 2 1 ff
10
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[ 27 ]
th e great jo u rney was resu med
The party consisted o f o nl y
t en men inc l udi ng the l eader and his faithfu l friend and lieu
t ena n t A lexan der M ackay 1 2
They cross ed the mo u ntai ns and
o n the 1 2 th of J u ne reached a navi gab le river flowi ng sou th
Thi s stream t h e y d e scended f or t w enty five d ay s ;
westw ard
b ut they fo u nd i t so treachero us and di ffic u l t as to be a l most
i m prac ticable ; mo reove r its co u rse beca me so prevai lingly so uth
ward as to su ggest a very i ndi rect ro u te to the Pacific
There
f ore on the a dvice of so me o f t h e natives livin g a long this river
M ackenz ie tu rned off at a poi nt i n abo u t lati tu de 5 3 d egrees
a nd took an overl a nd t rai l which b rou ght hi m to a smal l west
ward- flowi n g river By t h is str ea m th e adv en tu ro us party r eac h ed
the Paci fic i n lati tu de 5 2 degre es 2 0 m i nu tes at a p lace which
had recentl y be en s u rveyed by Captain Vanco uver and cal led
“
”
C ascade C anal
M ackenzie fou n d the co ast I n d i a ns so trou b le
u nsafe to rema in among them an d h e
s ome that i t b ecame
accordin gly set o ut on the retur n j ou rney the very next day 1 3
By the 2 4 t h o f A u gust the party w as back ac ross the mo un tains
at th e u p per fort on P eac e Rive r 1 4
M ack en z ie supposed that th e great river h e had traced for so
”
“
many drea ry da ys was th at mysterio us
Riv er of the W est
which car to graph ers w ere wont to lay down at a ventu r e u pon
”
“
th ei r m aps 1 5
The I n dians ca l led i t T acout ch e Tesse
which is
the nam e given it by M ack en z i e o n h i s map ; b u t belo w t h e poi nt
where h i s pa rty tu rned o ff h e conti n ues t h e rep resentatio n o f
the rive r by a dotted li ne an d i de n ti fi es it wi th the C ol u mbi a 1 6
W e now k now tha t M acke n zie crossed the mo untai ns too f ar
no rth to stri ke t h e heads o f t h e C ol um bia and that th e river
he partly exp l ore d u nder such p ecu liar di fficu lties was in r eal ity
“
”
th e Fr az er Riv er which flo ws i nto the i n l and sea j ust above
-ni nth pa ral l el
h
e
forty
Before this fact was determined how
t
ever the C ol u m bi a i tsel f had b e en reached fro m a noth er q uarter
b y i ts American ex p lorers wh o demonstrated that her e rather
than i n the far north was natu re s highway t o the Pacific
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C
C
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Q
O
Q
O
I n the histo ry o f the exp loration of the P aci fic Northw est the
conscious poi nt o f e ntrance o f t h e Ame ri ca n natio n i s at the
Lewis and C lark exp e d i tion
Gray s discovery of th e Col u mbi a
whi l e i mpo rtant i n its l ate r effects as affording a catchy argu
ment on which to b ase the A merican cl aim to the territory d rai ned
by the river had no p articu lar signi ficance i n itself
Gray was
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1 2 M ack ay b ec am e a l ead i n
and l ost h i s l i fe i n th e T onqu n
p artn er i n A stor s A m eric an Fur Comp an y
di sast er of 1 8 1 1
“
1 3 Befor e l eavi n g t h e vi ci nity of t h e co as t M ac k en zi e
mi xed up s om e
vermil l i on i n m el t ed gr eas e and i nscrib ed i n l arg e ch ar act er s on t h e s outh
east f ac e of t h e rock on which we h ad s l ep t l ast n ight thi s bri ef m emori al
A L E X A N D E R M A C KE N ! I E F R O M C A N A D A BY L A N D T H E T WE N T Y
S E C O N D O F J ! L Y O N E T H O ! S A N D S E V E N H ! N D R E D A ND N I N ET Y
”
T HR E E
Voy ag es 3 4 9
1 4 I bid 3 9 6 -7
1 5 S ee for exampl e C arv er s map as repro d uc ed i n S ch afer T h e P aci fi c
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N ort h west , p 4 7
1 6 Befor e M ac k en zi e
.
map
h ad b een
t h e T acout ch e
.
publ i sh ed h i s boo k and map i n 1 8 0 1 Van couv er s
ubl i s h ed
which of course suggest ed t h e id enti t y of
pesse and th e Col umbi a
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[
28
]
i n maki ng discoverie s ” H e e n t ered t h e Col u m b i a
j ust as h e had p revio usly e n tered F uca s s trai t Gray s har bo r
and p ro bab ly scores o f o th er in lets f o r the sol e p u rpose o f
tradin g wi th th e nativ es amo n g whom the last fo u nd al w a y s
H e took no sp ecial p ai ns t o
best serv ed th e trad er s inter ests
exp lor e the river a fter enteri ng it to cl ai m the territory on
retu rnin g ho me 1 8
The whol e matter was a p u rel y fortu i to u s
ci rcu mstance which li ke so many historical accidents has h ad
notab le resu lts
B u t th e Lewis and C lark exp editio n is an eve n t
of a very di ffere nt o rder
rep resentin g l i ke t h e B ritish voya g e s
of explo ratio n i n the P acific a lo g ica l na tio nal p olicy deman de d
by the hi ghes t re gard fo r the natio nal honor an d wel fa re
Si nc e
both the concep tion and the exec u tion o f this pol icy are d u e
most l argely to T h om as Je fferson the ge n esis o f the Lewis an d
C l ark expeditio n can be stu died b est i n th e li fe and wo rks o f
this great statesma n o f the early national perio d
J ef f erson s i nter est i n the W est had two sou rces envi ronm e n t
and philosop hy b etw ee n which i t is di ffi cu l t to d raw a shar p
li ne of disti nctio n
We k n ow that his home d u ri ng the pe ri o d
i n which J efferso n was grow ing to man h oo d w as p ractical ly on
th e frontier his fath er havi n g been as he tells u s t h e third o r
fou rth s ettler in that part o f Vi rgi nia (the P ied mont re gion ) i n
a bo u t the y ear
I t is a natu ral i n ferenc e that this fac t
is pa rtly responsib le fo r Je ff ers on s i nstinctive app reciation o f
W estern men and W ester n co n di tions ; nor can we do u bt tha t
it contri b u ted so m ethin g to sti m u late his in terest in the merel y
c u rio us featu res of that vast territo ry which w as sti l l so i n ad e
B u t on th e o th e r ha n d Jefferson was t h e
q uat el y kno w n 2 0
typ e of th e eighteenth cen tu ry savant pa ss ionately fond of k no w l
not eng aged
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h av e b een di spo sed to co n t en d th at Gr ay was a di scov er er
or ex pl or er of equ al st atu s wi th t h e Bri ti sh tr ad er s P ortlock D i x o n and
M ear es : but th er e are two r eas o ns for d ecl i n i n to acc ept thi s vi ew
Fi r s t
we h av e seen th at ex pl or atio n was an avow ed ogject of t h e Etch es Comp any
as w el l as t r ad e ; seco n d
th ese voy ag er s k ept r egul ar j ou rn al s which w er e
p romptly p ubl i sh ed tog eth er w ith m aps showi n g th ei r di scov eri es
In a
sen se
al so
t h e B riti sh Gov er n m en t h ad commi ss io ned th ese men to m ak e
exp lor ati ons i n t h e P acific
1 8 G r ay s r etu rn to Bo s to n at t h e en d of J ul y 1 7 9 3 u nl i k e h i s retu rn
i n 1 7 9 0 cr eat ed no new s ap er comm en t wh at ev er
T h e Col umbi a C en ti nel
‘
J uly 3 1 m er ely n ot es :
C apt ai n Gr ay ”of t h e s hip Col umbi a arrived her e
from Ch i na spok e J ul y 5 sl oop S al ly
et c
M r P r evo st sen t to t h e Col umbi a i n 1 8 1 8 to t ak e pos sess io n of Astori a
“
For R el IV
I h av e t ak en t h e
s ay s i n h i s r eport
A m S t P ap
l ib erty to en clo s e a n ot e m ark ed E of t h e authori ti es S p an i s h as w el l as
E ngl i sh th at h av e fal l en u nd er my vi ew il l u s tr ati ng t h e di scov ery of t h e
It s s ub s equ en t occup atio n
in 1 81 1
Gr ay i n 1 7 9 1
by
Col umbi a by M r
which t h e s ov er eig nty of t h e ! n it ed S t at es was compl et ed to t h e ex cl u s io n
of an y Europ ean cl aim an t i s a fact of which t h e surr end er "of t h e sol e
1 8 1 8 1 8 ] i s co n clu s iv e evid en c e
B ulfi n ch
es t abl i shm en t on t h e riv er [ O ct
m ad e t h e ex tr act from G r ay s l og book i n 1 8 1 8
Thi s u n qu esti on abl y was
t h e ti m e at which Gr ay s d i s cov ery was fi r s t brought to t h e att en tio n of
t h e Gov er n m en t and t h e publ ic
1 9 J eff er s on s W riti ng s Ford s E d
I 3
2 0 A s G ov er n or of V i rgi n i a i n cl ud i n
Ken tucky J eff er s o n was comp ell ed
to i n t er es t him sel f i n t h e W es t er n peop e and th at h e did s o mo s t h eart il y
i s evid en c ed by m an y ex ampl es f rom h i s w riti n g s
S ee I I 6 4 6 2 4 0 4 1
256
3 4 5 and p ass i m
257
1 7 A m eric ans
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[
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ge a nd eagerly p u rs ui ng it whatever i ts fo rm o r relative
u tili ty 2 1
”
“
Taki ng u p J ef f erson s famous book
The Notes on Vir gi nia 2 2
w ritten in th e years 1 7 8 1 and 1 7 8 2 we see at once that he k new
e verythi ng that had the n been fo und o ut relative t o the trans
A lleghany region
He discu sses its flo ra its fau na even speaks
o f the l ean mi nes o f far off Galena 2 3 the w i de distrib ution of
coal m easures 2 j1 and those extraordi nary d eposits n ear t h e Ohio
O u r chief concern however
o f bones of hu ge exti nct ani mals 2 5
i s his ideas of W estern geo grap hy and particu l arl y those featu res
o f it which point i n the di rection o f the exp lo ratio ns b e afte r
ward set o n foot
“
Speak in g of Western rivers ; Jefferso n say s z2 6
The M isso u ri
the I ll i nois and no rther n b ranches of
s i nc e t h e treaty o f Paris
the Ohio si nce the cession to Con gr ess are no lon ger W i t h in ou r
l i mits
Y et havi n g been so heretofo re and sti l l op en i n g to u s
c hannels of exte n sive com m u nic ation with the Western and
Northwestern co u ntry they shal l be noted in th ei r o rder
“
The M issou ri is i n fact the p ri nci pal river contrib u ti ng more
to the com mon stream than do es the M i ssi si pi eve n after its
j u nction wi th the I l li nois
I t i s remarkab ly co ld m u dd y an d
rapid
They h app en in t h e
Its ov erflowin gs are consi derab le
m onths of J u ne and J u ly
Thei r com m encem ent b eing so mu ch
l ater than those of the M i ss i si pi wou l d ind u ce a bel ief t h a t t h e
s o urces O I t h e M isso u ri are nort h ward of those o f the M i ssi si p i ;
u nless we sup pose th at t h e col d i ncreases agai n wi th t h e asc ent
o f t h e l and f rom the M i ssi si pi westward ly
That t h is asc en t
i s great is p roved by the rap i d ity o f the riv er
Six mi l es above
its mou th it is bro u ght wit h i n t h e co m pass o f hal f a mil e s
width ; yet th e Sp a n ish merchants at P anco re o r St Lo u is say
they go two thou sand mil es u p i t
What i s the sho rt est d i s
tance between the navigabl e waters of the M isso u ri and t h ose
of the North River [ Rio De l Norte o r Rio Grande ] o r how far
”
this is navi gable above Santa F e I cou l d n ever l ear n
“
A t another p lace 2 7 in the boo k occu rs the fo l lowing :
A Mr
S tan ley taken p riso ner n ear the mo u th o f the T ani ssee r elates
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id ea of t h e wid e r ange of i n t er es t s of men of t h e tim e i s
co nveyed y t h e T r an sactio ns of t h e A m eric an P hil o sophic al S oci ety of
which J efferso n was a l eadi ng m emb er P hil o s ophy m ean t any an d al l ki nd s
of k nowl edge But t h e v ery b es t m eans of gaugi n g t h e i n t el l ectu al i n t er es t s
of J effer so n him s el f i s to run ov er t h e n i ne hu n d r ed and thi rty on e titl es of
W ash
wor k s i n h i s priv at e l ibr ary
S ee Cat of P r es J eff er s o n s L ibr ar
re r an g e
i ng t on 1 8 2 9
I t show s th at h e co nsciou s ly tri ed to comp ass t h e en t y
of hum an k now l edg e
2 2 T h e editi on b efor e me i s th at i n Ford s J effer so n I I I
2 3 I bid 1 1 2
2 4 I bid 1 1 4
2
5 Ibid 1 3 0
2 6 Ibi d 9 2
“
2 7 P ag e 1 3 0
O n t h e s am e p ag e we fi n d t h e u n iqu e i n cid ent :
A d el e
ation of w arrior s from t h e D el aw ar e trib e h avi ng vi s it ed t h e Gov er n or of
i rg i ni a [ J eff er so n ] duri ng t h e p r es en t r evol utio n on m att er s of bu s i ness
aft er th ese h ad b een d i s cu ss ed an d settl ed i n cou n cil
t h e Gov er n or as k ed
th em som e qu estio ns r el at iv e t o t h ei r cou n try and am ong oth er s wh at th ey
k new or h ad h eard of t h e an im al who s e bo nes w er e fou nd at t h e S al tl ick s
on t h e O h o
Th
eir ch i ef s p eak er imm edi at ely put him s elf i n an attitud e of
”
orat ory
e c
21
A
ood
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[ 30 ]
that after being transferr ed t h ro u gh several tri bes from one
t o another he was at l ength carried ov er the mo untai ns w e s t
”
of th e M isso u ri to a riv er wh i ch r u ns westwardly
By pu tti n g
this with his desc ription of t h e M isso uri we shal l p robab ly hav e
a fai rly co mp l ete vi ew of th e state o f J efferso n s knowledge i n
This th ere
1 7 8 2 of the M isso u ri River ro u te to the fa r West
fore is the p rop er poin t o f d epartu re i n tracin g the growth o f
the i dea o f Western expl oration
On the 2 6 th o f Novemb er 1 7 8 2 Jeff erson w rote a lette r t o
J ames Steptoe thanki n g hi m fo r an i ndicated wi lli n gness t o
”
“
p rocu re for Jefferso n som e o f th e bi g bones
to b e fou nd on
“
the Ohio
He adds :
A ny i n fo rmatio n o f yo ur ow n o n th e
su bj ect of the bi g bo nes or th ei r histo ry o r on anythi ng els e i n
the Western cou ntry wi ll com e acceptabl y to me because I k no w
n ot m erel y in detai l
you see the wo rks of natu re in the great
Desc ri ptions of ani ma ls vegetab les minerals or other cu ri o u s
thi ngs notes on th e I ndians fo rmation o f t h e cou n try b etw ee n
the M ississi ppi
waters of the So uth S ea & c & c wi l l stri k e
”
you r min d as worth y bein g com m u n icat ed 2 8 I t w as on e yea r
1 7 8 3 t h at J eff erso n w rote t h e n ow we l l
afterward December 4
k now n letter 2 9 to George Rog ers C lark su ggesti n g an exp loratio n
”
“
fro m the M ississi ppi to C al i forni a
and aski n g the Wester n
gener al how h e wo u l d lik e to l ea d an exp edition for such a
p u rpose 3 0 We do n ot know precis ely w h at t ne E nglish explo ri n g
p roj ect was to which J efferso n al l u des in t h e letter to Cl ar k
N either do we kno w what rou te wo u l d have been fo l lowe d i f th i s
exp edition had materializ ed t h o u gh i t i s q u i te con ceivab l e fro m
Jefferso n s c l ear k n ow led ge of the various rou tes from t h e
“
”
M ississi ppi to Sa nta Fe and to M exico as s h ow n i n his Notes
that the So u thern ro ute wo u l d at this ti me have been selecte d 3 1
The evo l u tion of th e explorin g i dea from thi s point has bee n
fu l l y worked out in a great variety o f forms and p ub lished i n
many di fferent books ; the m eetin g of J efferso n an d Ledyard i n
Pa ris 1 7 8 6 an d the r esu l ting p roj ec t o f an exp loration fro m
Nootka So und eastward ; J efferso n s rela tion to the Michau x
scheme of 1 7 9 2 an d the c u l mination o f al l earli er p lans in t h e
great expedi tio n sent out u nder L ewis and C l ark i n 1 8 0 3
A
repeti tion of the details wo u ld be superfl uou s si n ce th ese can b e
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Co ngr ess edi tio n i n t h e abov e ” Ford h as it 1 1 1 6 3
“
not es on t h e I nd i an s
i nform atio n of t h e cou n try
m aki ng a comm a
et c
out of an apo s troph e u n l ess t h e Co n gr ess editio n r ev ers es t h e proc ess
“
29
h e say s w rit i n g from A n napoli s wh er e Co n gr ess was th en
I“ fi nd
s itti n g
th ey h av e sub scrib ed a v ery l arg e sum of mo ney i n E n gl an d fo r
ex plori n g t h e cou nt ry from t h e M i ss i ss ippi to C al ifor n i a ; th ey p r et en d i t
i s on l y to promot e k n ow l edge
I am afr aid th ey h av e thought of col o n i z i ng
S om e of us h av e b een t alki n g h er e i n a f eebl e way of
i n to th at qu art er
m aki ng t h e att empt to search th at cou ntry But I doubt if we h av e enough
of th at k i nd of spi ri t to r ai se t h e mo n ey H ow w oul d you l ik e to l ead such a
”
p arty ! tho I am afr aid t h e p ro sp ect i s not worth aski ng t h e q uestio n
A m H R ev I I I 6 7 5
Cl ark s y ou ng er broth er W il l i am who accomp an i ed L ewi s i n
0 It
28
I fol l ow
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1 80
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giv es t h e di st anc es from S ant a F e to
t o t h e city of M ex ico w ith a d es cripti o n of
31
an d
.
He
,
the
th e
Gul f to New O rl eans
rout es I I I 1 3 0
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[
31
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fou nd very readi ly i n p rint 3 2
S u ffice i t to say that Lewis and
C lark with thei r b and o f ha rdy fro n tiersmen ascended the Mis
so uri to i ts so u rce crossed the Rocky Mou ntains to the navi gabl e
waters of Lewis River (a ltho u gh they had p revio us ly bee n on
C lark s Fork a mo re no rther ly branch o f the Col u mbia )
a nd
reac h i n g i t i n N ovem ber
f loated down t o the western ocean
A fter a wi nter spent i n the wi lds of Oregon t h ey retu rned
1 80 5
b y near ly t h e sa me rou te t o the ! ni ted Sta tes i n the su mmer
o f 1 80 6
Th e si gni fi cance of th eir explorations wi ll appear i n
the disc ussion of later p h ases of this su bj ect
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(E n d
of
Pa r t I )
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b est sourc e fo r t h e hi st ory of thi s exp ed iti on i s Thw ait es (E d itor )
T h e O ri i nal J ou rn al s of t h e L ewi s an d Cl ark E x p edi tion D od d M ead
Co
N Y
1 04 5
A n accoun t of t h e o ri i n of t h e ex p edi t i on i s giv en i n t h e
ed itor s i n t rod uction
O t h er accou n t s n b ri ef narr at iv e form of t h e ori i n
of t h e ex peditio n and of t h e j our ney it sel f
are to be fou n d i n S ch a er
A H i sto ry of t h e P acific Northw es t an d t h e sam e author s P acific S l op e and
A l ask a
32 The
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