Copyright 2000 - 2003 - Janine M. Bork
This page is part of the
Union County, OR AGHP
CHAPTER VIII.
(1787 - 1792. )
Page 49 - 56
Strait of Juan de Fuca Discovered - Examinations of
Strait by Meares, Gray, Kendrick and Spanish Navigators - Vancouver's Survey
of Strait, Admiralty Inlet, Puget Sound and Gulf of Georgia - Discovery
of Columbia River - Trade of North Pacific Coast Exclusively Enjoyed by
American Vessels - Tragic Fate of Crew of Ship Boston - National
Character Ascribed to Several Portions of North Pacific Coast - Termination
of Coastwise Voyages of Discovery - Coast Between Forty-three and Fifty-five
Degrees Latitude Claimed by Spain, Great Britain and United States.
WHILE the events which led to and grew
out of the Nootka Treaty had been transpiring, discoveries and explorations
of especial interest were being made in the seas and inland waters adjacent
to Nootka Sound.
In the year
1786, La Perouse, the illustrious French navigator, was on the northwest
coast. The expedition consisted of the frigates L'Astrolabe and
La
Boussole. Its purpose was the exploration in the Pacific and examination
of the coasts of America, China, Japan and Tartary. It sailed from Brest
August 1, 1785, doubled Cape Horn and journeyed thence to northwest America,
where it arrived June 23, 1786. La Perouse sailed southward August 9, 1786,
and thoroughly examined the coast from Mount St. Elias to Monterey, where
he arrived September 14, 1786. In latitude fifty-eight degrees he discovered
and named Port des Francais, in which harbor the vessels remained about
six weeks. He forwarded his charts and notes from Petropaulovski, but they
were not published until 1798, by which time later voyages of navigators
had superseded the names given by La Perouse. On the 7th of February, 1788,
La Perouse, from Botany Bay, advised the French Minister of Marine of his
future movements, which was the last intelligence ever received from the
French expedition.
In 1787, Captain
Berkley, in the Imperial Eagle, an Austrian East Indiaman, had arrived
at Nootka. During the summer he examined the coast as far south as forty-seven
degrees north latitude. He discovered the entrance of the strait on the
south shore of Vancouver Island. To him belongs the honor of having ascertained
the existence of the Dolores of the Spanish charts. Dispatching a small
boat to the same shore in quest of fresh water, the crew were all murdered
by the natives. As a memorial of their sad fate, he named the island opposite
to the mouth of the stream Destruction Island.
During the next winter (1787 - 8), Captain Berkley communicated to Captain Meares of Macao, that the outlet of the strait had been observed by him, but that he had not attempted an entrance or examination. In 1788, Captain Meares again arrived upon the northwest coast. Having left a small party at Nootka building the schooner Northwest America, Captain Meares sailed southward in the Felice, on the 11th of June, on a voyage of exploration. On the 29th, he made a limited examination of the strait south of Vancouver island. He described the entrance as twelve or fourteen leagues broad.
In 1789, in
a summer voyage from Nootka down the coast, Captain Robert Gray, in the
Washington,
entered the Strait of Juan de Fuca and "sailed through it fifty miles in
an east-southeast direction, and found the passage five leagues wide."
In returning to Nootka, he met the ship Columbia in the strait,
ready for sea, bound for China. Captain Gray transferred to the Columbia;
Captain Kendrick exchanged to the sloop, and wintered upon the coast. The
Columbia
sailed
to Canton, where Gray exchanged his furs for a cargo of tea, with which
he arrived at Boston August 10, 1790, via Cape of Good Hope. To him belongs
the honor of having commanded the vessel first to circumnavigate the globe
under the national standard of the United States of America. In the fall
of 1789, after parting with the Columbia, Captain Kendrick, in the
sloop Washington, sailed through the Strait of Juan de Fuca. Steering
northward, he passed through some eight degrees of latitude, and came out
into the Pacific ocean, north of latitude fifty-five degrees north.
The waters adjacent to Nootka Sound continued to be explored by Spanish navigators while Spain remained in occupancy of Nootka. An expedition, consisting of the ship Conception, Lieutenant Francisco Elisa, the San Carlos, Fidalgo and the Princess Royal (the Princess Royal captured from Captain Colnett), commanded by Manuel Quimper, fitted out by the Viceroy of Mexico, sailed form San Blas February 3, 1790, arriving early in April at Nootka. Fidalgo was sent north as far as Prince William's Sound, thence southward to examine the coast between fifty-seven degrees north and Nootka. The unfavorable weather prevented the coast examination, and Fidalgo returned to San Blas. To Quimper was assigned the exploration of the Strait of Juan de Fuca. His survey included the strait and main channel of what is now known as the Gulf of Georgia, - the main channel between Vancouver Island and the continent, to which he gave the
Étienne
Marchand, a West India navigator and merchant, in 1788 projected a voyage
around the world for commercial purposes. He sailed from Marseilles in
the ship Le Solide December 14, 1790, and in August, 1791, reached
Queen Charlotte's Island. A complete map and scientific description of
the northwest part of Queen Charlotte's Island was published in 1798, among
the charts prepared by this navigator, and in the narrative of this voyage.
On the 30th
of April, 1792, the Vancouver expedition had entered the Strait of Juan
de Fuca, and penetrated to a point on the south shore named by Vancouver
New Dungeness. On May 1st, they sailed eastward, and entered a bay by him
called Port Discovery. The island abreast of its mouth received its name
of Protection Island. The channel to the southward of Point Wilson was
called Admiralty Inlet. Its two great southern arms were respectively nominated
Hood's Canal and Puget Sound. Each of those, with their numerous islands,
inlets, bays and harbors, were successively explored and described. The
names conferred by Vancouver still remain, and are the perpetuation of
the testimony that no physical feature of interest escaped Vancouver's
notice. He determined the inlets of the great inland sea, happily called
the Mediterranean of the Northwest. Its ever-tortuous channel he traced
to its very head, and fully and forever set at rest any thought that the
Strait of Juan de Fuca afforded a water passage through the continent.
His labor accomplished in those inland waters, he passed out to the northward,
through the Gulf of Georgia, which separates the island of Vancouver from
the continent. Having circumnavigated that island, upon which was conferred
the name of Quadra and Vancouver, he arrived August 28th at Nootka.
A departure
from strict chronologic order has again become necessary. It has been observed
in preceding pages that a discovery, an event or a historic result
frequently depends not upon a single act, but a series of acts through
agencies inaugurated independently of each other, sometimes dictated by
adverse interests for rival purposes. Hence such series of acts, with the
motives of the several actors, must be represented in continuous statement
to lead up to the real result, - to intelligently make the record. It is
eminently proper, therefore, not to say indispensable, even at the expense
of repetition, to aggregate those chief incidents, which develop the search
and determine the existence of the "great river of the West," and to whom
belongs the honor of its discovery.
Heceta, on the 17th of August, 1775, while coasting homeward to Monterey, discovered an extensive bay, which he placed in forty-six degrees, seventeen minutes north. Midway between the headlands he noticed that the currents were too strong for his vessel. Says he: "These currents and eddies of water caused me to believe that the place is the mouth of some great river, or of some passage into another sea." He named the entrance Assumption Inlet. To the river, which he believed to exist, he gave the name san Roque. In the summer of 1788, Captain Meares made an examination, called the bay Deception Bay, and its north headland Cape Disappointment. He emphatically denied the existence of a river, and that Hecta's Bay was the mouth of any river.
Captain Vancouver
attached but little importance to that statement of Captain Gray. He continued
upon his course, entering the Strait of fuca, and upon April 30 he anchored
at New Dungeness. With the utmost self-complacency he assured himself that
he "has proceeded further up this inlet than Mr. Gray, or (to our knowledge)
any other person from the civilized world." He then observe:
"Considering
ourselves now on the point of commencing an examination of an entirely
new region, I cannot take leave of the coast already known without obtruding
a short remark on that part of the continent, comprehending a space of
nearly 215 leagues, on which our inquiries had been lately employed under
the most fortunate and favorable circumstances of wind and weather. It
must be considered as a very singular circumstance that, in so great an
extent of sea coast, we should not until now (the Strait of Fuca) have
seen the appearance of any opening in its shores, which presented any prospect
of affording shelter, the whole coast forming one compact, solid and nearly
straight barrier against the sea. The river Mr. Gray mentioned should,
from the latitude he assigned to it, have existence in the bay, south of
Cape Disappointment. This we passed on the forenoon of the 27th; and I
then observed, if any inlet or river should be found, it must be a very
intricate one, and inaccessible to vessels of our burthen, owing to the
reefs and broken water which then appeared in its neighborhood. Mr. Gray
stated that he had been several days attempting to enter it, which at length
he was unable to effect, in consequence of a very strong outset. This is
a phenomenon difficult to account for, as, in most cases where there are
outsets of such strength on a seacoast, there are corresponding tides setting
in. Be that however as it may, I was thoroughly convinced, as were also
most persons of observation on board, that we could not possibly have passed
any safe navigable opening, harbor or place of security for shipping on
this coast from Cape Mendocino to the promontory of Classet; nor had we
any reasons to alter our opinions, notwithstanding that theoretical geographers
have though proper to assert, in that space, the existence of arms of the
ocean communicating with a mediterranean sea, and extensive rivers with
safe and convenient ports."
The usually
accurate Vancouver then chronicles objections to parties setting up claims
of discovery, or asserting a belief that channels of communication into
the interior do exist. "These ideas, not derived from any source of substantial
information, have, it is much to be feared, been adopted for the sole purpose
of giving unlimited credit to the traditionary exploits of ancient foreigners,
and to undervalue the laborious and enterprising exertions of our own countrymen,
in the noble science of discovery."
The feeling may be natural to the scientific British navigator, that the American sailor, making no pretensions to "the noble science of discovery" possessed by Vancouver's own countrymen, should have the audacity to believe that there was an extensive
river near Cape Disappointment asserted by Heceta to exist,
which Captain Cook had failed to obtain sight of, and which Captain Meares
asserted did not exist. Awarding no faith to the statement of Captain Gray,
Vancouver prosecuted his voyage northward. The latter, satisfied by his
own observations, more practical than scientific, returned southward in
search of that river "whose outlet or reflux was so strong as to prevent
for nine days his entering." On the 7th of May, "being within six miles
of land, saw an entrance in the same, which had a very good appearance
of harbor, lowered away the jolly boat, and went in search of an anchoring
place, the ship standing to and fro, with a strong weather current. At
one o'clock P.M. the boat returned, having found no place where the ship
could anchor with safety; made sail on the ship; stood in for shore. We
soon saw from our masthead a passage between the sand-bars. At half past
three, bore away and run in northeast by east, having four to eight fathoms,
sandy bottom; and, as we drew in nearer between the bars, had from ten
to thirteen fathoms, having a very strong tide of ebb to stem. Many canoes
came alongside. At five P.M. came to five fathoms of water, sandy bottom,
in a safe harbor, well sheltered from the sea by a long sand-bar and spit.
Our latitude observed this day was forty-six degrees, fifty-eight minutes
north." Captain Gray called this bay Bulfinch Harbor, in honor of one of
the party owners of the ship Columbia. It is now known as Gray's
Harbor. Captain Gray remained there until the afternoon of the 10th.
On the 11th, Captain Gray, "at
four A.M., saw the entrance of our port, bearing east southeast, distance
six leagues; in-steering sails, and hauled our wind in shore. At
eight A.M., being a little to windward of entrance into the harbor, bore
away and run east northeast between the breakers, having from five to seven
fathoms of water. When we came over the bar, we found this to be a very
large river of fresh water, up which we steered." To this river, into which
he sailed to Tongue Point, Captain Gray gave the name Columbia,
after the name of his ship.
Upon his return to Nootka Sound,
Captain Gray furnished Señor Quadra a sketch of his summer explorations
and discoveries, by whom Captain Vancouver was informed of them. The Quadra-Vancouver
negotiations having been brought to a close, Vancouver sailed on the 12th
of October on a southern cruise with the Discovery, accompanied
by the Chatham and Doedalus (1), "to re-examine the coast
of New Albion, and particularly a river and a harbor discovered by Mr.
Gray in the Columbia between the forty-sixth and forty-seventh degrees
of north latitude, of which Señor Quadra favored me with a
sketch."
The Doedalus was left
to explore Gray's Harbor. "At four o'clock on the afternoon of the 19th,
when having nearly reached Cape Disappointment, which forms the north point
of entrance into Columbia river, so named by Mr. Gray, I directed the Chatham
to lead into it, and, on her arrival at the bar, should no more than four
fathoms of water be found, the signal for danger was to be made, but, if
the channel appeared to be navigable to proceed."
The Discovery followed
the Chatham till Vancouver found the water to shoal to three fathoms,
with breakers all around, which induced him to haul off to the eastward,
and to anchor outside the bar in ten fathoms. The Chatham came to
anchor in ten fathoms, with the surf breaking over her. Vancouver was unwilling
to believe there was much of a river as he before had been to attach any
credit to Captain Gray's statement. He thus exhibited his repugnance to
acknowledge Mr. Gray's claim of
(1) The
Doedalus
had been dispatched from England August 20, 1791, to carry additional instructions
to Captain Vancouver. She was a storeship in command of Captain-Lieutenant
Hengist, who died on the voyage out. She arrived at Nootka prior to the
Discovery
and Chatham.
discovery. Says he: "My former opinion of this port being
inaccessible to vessels of our burthen was now fully confirmed, with this
exception, that, in very fine weather, with moderate winds and smooth sea,
vessels not exceeding 400 tons might, so far as we are able to judge, gain
an admittance."
Lieutenant Broughton, in the
Chatham, having rounded Cape Disappointment, was surprised by the firing
of a gun from a small schooner at anchor in the bay. It proved to be the
Jenny,
from Bristol, Rhode Island, commanded by Captain James Baker. This incident
suggested Baker's Bay as the proper name for the little harbor inside Cape
Disappointment. The Chatham sailed up the river to Gray's Bay, where
Broughton anchored. With a cutter and launch, Lieutenant Broughton pursued
the
further examination of the river. He continued the ascent for seven days,
to a distance, as he reckoned, of one hundred miles from his anchorage.
This point he named Point Vancouver. It is the site upon which is erected
the city of Vancouver. He then returned to his vessel. Having been in the
river twelve days, and having, as he says," took possession of the river
and the country in its vicinity in his Britannic Majesty's name, having
every reason to believe that the subjects of no other civilized nation
or state had ever entered this river before, he recrossed the bar, the
schooner Jenny leading, and sailed south to join the Discovery.
The only palliation for this attempt of Broughton to claim the honor of
discovery of the river will be found according to him sincerity of belief
in his theory, that the widening of the Columbia below Tongue Point really
constituted a bay, of which bay Gray was the discoverer; that the true
river emptied into Gray's Bay, and that Gray was never above its mouth.
Broughton's ungenerous and unjust denial of Gray's claim has long been
ignored; and Captain Robert Gray, the American sailor, is universally accepted
as the discoverer of the great river Columbia.
Vancouver continued upon the
coast until late in 1794. His exploration of coasts, bays, rivers, sounds
and inlets was minutely made. To all he gave a name, and with notable accuracy
determined their positions. The narrative of his voyage is the record of
the most extensive and complete nautical survey which up to that time had
ever been made. His charts are yet held in the highest regard. His nomenclature
is deferentially adhered to; and the thorough manner in which he performed
his labor left to his successors the mere task of verifying its accuracy.
The general war which waged throughout
Europe in the closing years of the last and the early years of the present
century accounts in a great measure for the suspension of voyages to Northwest
America in European ships, and the withdrawal of European commerce from
these northern seas. The East India Company had discontinued issuing licenses
to British subjects to trade within the limits of their grant. British
vessels other than those of the company could not land cargoes in any East
India port. Neither under their license could the company trade in Northwest
America. China had excluded Russian vessels from its ports. The carrying
trade of the North Pacific was for the time necessarily restricted to vessels
of the United States.
In March, 1803, the American
ship Boston, Captain John Salter, while trading at Nootka, was attacked
by natives under the lead of Maquinna, the chief. The ship was destroyed
and but two of the crew escaped massacre. Those two survivors (one of whom
was John R. Jewett, whose name is widely known from the publication of
the narrative of this disastrous voyage) made their escape, after three
years' capacity.
With this ends the chronicle
of voyages, which had for their object the exploration or discovery of
the coast, - voyages which either entirely or partially partook of national
character; - which were in fact expeditions projected to acquire or maintain territorial claim; also those voyages, the incidents of which subsequently affected adjustment of respective national claims to the coast. Those already recounted will be found to have constituted the acts and facts by which the coast between certain parallels of latitude was stamped with nationality of claim. Russia's claim upon the extreme northwest was undisputed, except that Spain had not abandoned the imaginary right arising from the grant of Pope Alexander VI. Russian discovery had ben followed by settlements which extended southward to about fifty-five degrees north. Spain had discovered coasts as high north as Prince William's Sound, sixty-one degrees, but had not attempted settlement north of the mission of San Francisco, latitude thirty-seven degrees, fifty minutes, - properly speaking, north of the north line of the Spanish department of California. Great Britain had asserted claim because Drake, in 1579, had called a part of the coast New Albion, which coast so named, according to Vancouver, was included between forty-three degrees and forty-eight degrees. From forty-eight degrees to fifty-five degrees, that navigator designated New Georgia. Great Britain also denied Spanish claim to the northern coast above forty-eight degrees north, claiming that Spain had abandoned such territory by the first article of the Nootka Treaty. The claim by Great Britain of New Albion was a denial also of Spanish claim north of forty-three degrees. The United States claim by right of discovery was the territory watered by the Columbia river. Thus the North Pacific coast, between the north line of California and south boundary of Russian America, had become a matter of dispute between Spain, Great Britain and the United States.