Northwest Explorers 1271-1791

Compiled by Stephenie Flora

Around 1271 a young boy from Venice joined his father and uncle for a voyage to the far east. His name was Marco Polo. Upon his return to Venice some 24 years later, he told of the riches of the far east--the teas, spices, silks and jewels. At first his stories seemed so farfetched that few listened.

Finally a few explorers and adventurers decided to investigate his claims. In time, trade to the far east became a lucrative proposition. One of the barriers to increased trade was the lack of a shorter route. The southern routes were extremely long and dangerous. It seemed probable that there was a northern route and thus began the long search for a northwest passage.

In the ensuing years numerous explorers sailed along parts of the Pacific coastline searching for this passage. They included Spanish explorers, Juan Cabrillo and Bartalome Ferrelo in 1542; Martin Aquilar and Sebastian Vizcaino in 1602 and 1603 and Englishman Sir Francis Drake in 1578. From 1689-1725 Russia joined in the exploration.

In 1728 Vitus Bering, a Danish explorer and sea captain, had sailed northward and had proved once and for all that the two continents were separate. In 1741 Vitus Bering and Alexi Chirikov, a Russian naval captain sailed eastward from Kamchatka. Chirikov's ship sighted land near present day Sitka. He sent small boats ashore but never heard from these men again. It was believed that they were killed by local natives.

Meanwhile, Berings was exploring some 70 miles to the north. He lost his way and he and his crew had to spend the winter on what is now known as Bering Island. Bering and many of his crew died. The following spring the few survivors found their way back to Kamchatka.

On their voyage to the waters near Alaska, Chirikov and Bering had discovered the wealth of furs in the area. Furs were in great demand in Russia due to the severe winters. This news was as important as the finding of the passage.

In 1766 Catherine the Great, ruler of Russia, organized a trading company to operate in the newly discovered territory. A trading post was set up on Kodiak Island and the local natives were compelled to pay tribute to the Empress in pelts. Trade was extended to the Aleutian Islands and three more major exploring expeditions were sent out.

In 1773 the Spanish Viceroy of Mexico received word from Spain of the Russian movements to the north which threatened Spain's claims to the territory. The Spanish government instructed him to send expeditions northward to strengthen Spain's position.

The man selected to head this expeditions was Juan Josef Perez Hernandez but many have come to know him as simply Juan Perez. His first mate was Don Estevan Jose Martinez.

Perez set out in his ship the Santiago in 1774. He sailed the coastline of the Pacific Northwest, exploring as he went. On Aug 2, 1774 Perez discovered a small harbor which he named San Lorenzo. This harbor lay on the western side of Vancouver Island. It was later renamed Nootka and later became the center of an international controversy.

The following spring, May 21, 1775, another Spanish expedition under the command of Lt. Bruno Heceta, continued the exploration that Perez had begun. Near 46 degrees north latitude Heceta noticed a strong current of water emptying into the sea. He named the river the San Roque and then sailed on south, unable to explore his find because of the scurvy that plagued his crew. More than 15 years elapsed before another explorer guided his ship into San Roque and renamed it the Columbia River.

In July 1776, England sent the renowned explorer, Captain James Cook, to determine, once and for all, whether the Northwest Passage really existed. Earlier explorers sailing for England had sought the passage from the Atlantic. This was to be a final attempt to discover the route eastward from the Pacific. Captain Cook's expedition to the Northwest included two ships, the Resolution and the Discovery.

Cook's route was a long one. He sailed south from England, around the continent of Africa, across the Indian Ocean, and into the Pacific. He spent several months in the Society Islands, which he had visited on previous voyages, and then headed northward to the coast of North America.

On the voyage northward from the Society Islands, he discovered a group of islands, which he named The Sandwich Islands in honor of his friend and sponsor, the Earl of Sandwich. These islands later became known as the Hawaiian Islands.

Cook's expedition sighted the coast of Oregon in March 1778 at Yaquina Bay. Cook also sighted and named Cape Foulweather and Cape Perpetua. Without stopping for exploration, he continued north in his search for the Northwest Passage. Cook continued up the coast without sighting the Columbia River or the Strait of Juan de Fuca.

After reaching Nootka he spent several weeks putting in supplies, repairing his ships, and trading with the natives. He then pulled anchor and headed northward toward Alaska and continued toward the Bering Strait. Concluding that there was no Northwest Passage, he returned to the Hawaiian Islands. He never returned to the Pacific Northwest. He was killed that winter by natives in a quarrel over a stolen boat.

Captain Charles Clarke, Cook's second-in-command, took charge of the expedition with Lt. John Gore as his second-in-command. In the spring they sailed northward through the Bering Sea to the ice cap, southward along the coast of Russia to Kamchatka. It was here that Captain Clarke died and Lt. Gore started the long voyage home to England.

The demand for furs increased in not only Russia, but in the Far East as well. Seamen increasingly visited the Northwest seeking suitable harbors and places to carry on trade with the natives who supplied the furs.

One of the most colorful visitors to the coast was John Meares, a retired British navy officer. He sailed for various nations, wrote a book, carried on a successful fur trade, and explored and charted portions of the coastline of the Northwest. He attempted to establish a colony of Chinese men and Kanaka (Hawaiian native) wives on Vancouver Island and started a quarrel which nearly plunged England and Spain into war. He was a pioneer in two of the Northwest's leading industries-- lumber and shipbuilding. Captain John Meares was also a bit of a rascal.

In the spring of 1786 Captain Meares sailed his ship, the Nootka, from India to the Northwest coast. His intentions were to trade with the Indians for furs during the summer and then take the furs to China to trade for Eastern goods. In late fall, Meares arrived in the Gulf of Alaska. Since it was too late to return to China before winter, he decided to winter at Prince William Sound. It was a harsh winter for his men. By the time spring came, nearly half the crew had died, probably of scurvy.

Meares was contacted by two British sea captains who were in the area. They supplied him with enough supplies to get him to China, warned him that he had no legal license to trade in the Northwest and elicited a promise to not return.

Ignoring his promise to the British captains, Meares returned to the Northwest coast the following year, 1787. This time he was in command of two ships fitted out and supplied by English merchants. The ships were sailing under the flag of Portugal in order to avoid conflict with the British East India Company, which held a tight monopoly on trade in China. In May 1788 Meares sailed into Nootka Sound, prepared to launch his new venture. For a couple of English pistols he was able to buy a plot of land from an Indian chief. He started construction on a small fort. He had brought Chinese laborers with him, the first Chinese on the Pacific Coast. He put them to work building a small ship, for which he had brought the necessary supplies. The Northwest America, a small schooner, was launched September 19, 1788.

With the fort build and the ship construction well under way, Capt. Meares sailed southward in a voyage of exploration. In the fall he returned to China with the pelts that had been collected.

After selling his cargo and his ship, Meares joined several others in the formation of a new trading company. The company secured a British license to carry on a fur trade operation and outfitted two new ships, the Argonaut and the Princess Royal. The two ships, flying the British flag set sail for Nootka.

Meanwhile, the Spanish and Russians also had their eyes on Nootka. In 1788 Spain sent an expedition led by Don Esteven Jose Martinez to Nootka to build a fort and guard Spanish claims. Tensions were rising over claims in the area. A conference was called to decide the issue. Representatives were chosen for each of the nations involved.

It was on April 29, 1792 while enroute to the conference that Capt. George Vancouver saw the sails of another ship. It was the vessel of Capt. Robert Gray. Stopping to exchange greetings, Gray informed Vancouver that he he had recently lain for nine days off the mouth of a large river where the reflux was so violent he dared not attempt to enter. Gray had continued on and had sailed for many miles through the narrow waters of the Strait of Juan de Fuca and was now heading south again, to make a second attempt to enter the river which lay behind the forbidding wall of Cape Disappointment.

Despite the information given him by the American, Vancouver, believed that he could not have passed any "safe navigable opening". Gray's news impressed him but little. He noted in his journal: "If any river should be found, it must be a very intricate one and inaccessible to vessels of our burden." He pushed on northward where he discovered and explored Puget Sound, naming it after one of his lieutenants. He named Mount Baker in honor of another of his lieutenants who first spotted the white crowned beauty. He explored the mainland of British Columbia, and, circumnavigating the island that now bears his name, swung down to Nootka where the Spanish Commissioner, Don Quadra, awaited him.

Meanwhile, Capt. Robert Gray returned to investigate his find and discovered a great river that he named Columbia's River, after his ship.

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