USA > California > The history of Oregon and California & the other territories of the northwest coast of North America > Part 15
USA > Oregon > The history of Oregon and California & the other territories of the northwest coast of North America > Part 15
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In this expedition, the commander, Heceta, certainly acquired no laurels, though he effected, at least, one discovery, from which a nation more enterprising and powerful than Spain might have derived im- portant advantages. Bodega and Maurelle, however, nobly vindicated the character of their countrymen, by their constancy and persever- ance in advancing through unknown seas, at a stormy period of the year, in their small and miserably-equipped vessel, with a diminished crew, the greater part of whom were laboring under that most debil- itating and disheartening of diseases, the scurvy. Fortunately for their reputation, a copy of Maurelle's journal escaped from its prison-house in the archives of the Indies at Madrid, and was given to the world, in an English version, before the appearance of any other authentic account of the parts of the world which they had explored ; and, by this means, together with the publication of their chart about the same time, their claims as discoverers were estab-
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124
IMPORTANCE OF THESE DISCOVERIES.
[1775.
lished beyond all cavil. Thus, without reference to the voyage of Perez, it is conclusively proved that the Spaniards, in 1775, exam- ined with minuteness the whole western shore of the American continent, from Monterey, near the 37th degree of latitude, north- ward, to and beyond the 48th degree, and determined the general direction of the west coasts of the westernmost islands, bordering the continent between the 48th parallel and the 58th. Of these coasts, the portion south of the 43d degree of latitude had been seen by Ferrelo, in 1543, and possibly by Drake, in 1578; Juan de Fuca had probably sailed along them to the 53d parallel, in 1592; and the Russians, as will be hereafter shown, had discovered the part near the 56th parallel, in 1741 : but no definite information had been obtained, respecting any point, on the Pacific side of America, between Cape Mendocino and Mount San Jacinto, previous to the expedition of Perez. The geographical positions of the places visited by the Spanishi navigators in 1774 and 1775, were, indeed, left very uncertain as regards their longitudes, though the latitudes have been found nearly correct ; yet the great question as to the extension of North America towards the west was approximately answered, and useful hints were afforded for the organization and conduct of future voyages.
The results of this expedition were considered, by the Spanish government, as highly important; a short notice of them was published in the official gazette, at Madrid, which was copied, with many additions, (nearly all of them erroneous,) into the London newspapers ; * and orders were sent to the viceroy of Mexico, to
* "Several Spanish frigates having been sent from Acapulco to make discoveries, and to propagate the gospel among the Indians, to the north of California, in the month of July, 1744, they navigated as high up on the coast as the latitude of 58 degrees 20 minutes, six degrees above Cape Blanco Having discovered several good harbors and navigable rivers upon the west coast of this great continent, they established, in one of the largest ports, a garrison, and called the port the Presidio de San Carlos, and, besides, left a mission at every port where the inhabitants were to be found. The Indians they here met with are said to be a very docile sort of people, agreeable in their countenance, honest in their traffic, and neat in their dress, but, at the same time, idolaters to the greatest degree, having never before had any intercourse with Europeans. M. Bucarelli, the viceroy of New Spain, has received his Catholic majesty's thanks for these discoveries, as they were made under his direction ; and the several navy officers upon that voyage have been preferred. It is imagined that those new discoveries will be very advantageous, as the coast abounds with whales, as also a fish, equal to the Newfoundland cod, known, in Spain, by the name of Baccalao."
The above notice appears in the London Annual Register for 1776, under date of June 28th, which was a few days before the departure of Captain Cook from England for the North Pacific.
125
VOYAGE OF ARTEAGA AND BODEGA.
1779.]
have the discovery of the west coasts of America completed with- out delay, under the care of the same officers who had already effected so much for that object. With this view, the viceroy, Bucareli, ordered a large ship to be built at San Blas, and another was, at the same time, constructed at Guayaquil, in Quito. In these preparations, nearly three years were consumed, so that the vessels were not ready for the expedition until the beginning of 1779 ; they then quitted San Blas, under the command of Captain Ignacio Arteaga, who sailed in the larger ship, the Princesa, the other, called the Favorita, being commanded by Bodega, with Mau- relle as second officer. Heceta had been transferred to new duties.
Of this voyage a short notice will suffice, as all the places dis- covered in the course of it had been visited, and minutely examined, in the preceding year, 1778, by the English, under Captain James Cook .*
On the 7th of February, 1779, Arteaga and Bodega sailed from San Blas directly for Port Bucareli, which they entered after a voyage of four months ; and there they remained nearly two months, engaged in surveying the bay, in refitting their vessels, and in trading with the natives, of whom very minute and interesting accounts are given in the journals of this voyage. From Port Bucareli they sailed northward, on the 1st of July, and in a few days saw the land stretching before them from north-east to north- west : on approaching it, they beheld rising from the coast a great mountain, "higher than Orizaba," which was, no doubt, Mount St. Elias ; and they began their search, west of these places, for a pas- sage leading northwards into the Arctic Sea, as laid down in the charts of Bellin, which they carried with them. In the course of this search, they entered a great bay, containing many islands, on the western side of the largest of which, called by them Isla de la Magdalena, they found a good harbor, where they cast anchor on the 25th, and took possession of the whole region for the king of Spain. From this harbor, named by the Spaniards Port Santiago, parties were sent out in boats to explore the coasts ; but the com-
* The papers relative to this voyage, which have been obtained, in manuscript, from the hydrographical department at Madrid, are - the official account of the whole expedition - and the journals of Bodega and Maurelle - accompanied by several tables of the navigation, and vocabularies of Indian languages, and the chart of the coast about Prince William's Sound, which is utterly worthless. A translation of a part of Maurelle's journal may be found in the first volume of the narrative of the expedi- tion of La Perouse, accompanied by some severe, and not altogether just, reflections on the conduct of the Spanish navigators in general.
126
SPAIN AT WAR WITH GREAT BRITAIN.
[1779.
mander, Arteaga, becoming anxious to return to Mexico, soon found that the men were beginning to suffer from scurvy, that the pro- visions were failing, and that there was no probability of their dis- covering any passage, through which they might penetrate farther north ; and he, in consequence, resolved that both vessels should immediately proceed to Monterey. They accordingly sailed from Port Santiago on the 7th of August; on the 15th of October they entered Port San Francisco, and on the 21st of November they arrived at San Blas, " where," says Fleurieu, with more justice than usually characterizes his remarks on Spanish voyages, " they might have passed the whole time which they spent in their expedi- tion, without our knowledge in geography having sustained any loss by their inaction." The voyage was, in fact, productive of no benefit whatsoever, and the Spanish government should have been mortified at its results ; instead of which, however, the officers engaged in it were all promoted, for their good conduct and exertions.
Of the places visited by Arteaga and Bodega, after leaving Port Bucareli, the great bay, called by them Enseñada de Regla, is now generally known by the name of Prince William's Sound, and their Isla de la Magdalena is the Montague's Island of the English maps. It is needless to mention any other of the many appellations given by the Spaniards to capes, bays, islands, and mountains, in that part of America, as they have fallen into disuse.
In 1779, Spain became involved in war with Great Britain, and her flag did not again appear on the coasts north of Cape Mendo- cino until 1788. Before relating the events which occurred in that interval, it will be proper to present an account of the discoveries effected in the North Pacific, since the commencement of the cen- tury, by the Russians occupying the north-eastern extremity of Asia.
127
CHAPTER V.
1711 To 1779.
Discoveries of the Russians from Kamtchatka - Voyages of Bering and Tchirikof to the Arctic Sea and to the American Continent- Establishments of the Russian Fur Traders in the Aleutian Islands - Voyages of Synd, Krenitzin, and Levashef - First Voyage from Kamtchatka to China, made by Polish Exiles under Ben- yowsky - General Inaccuracy of the Ideas of the Russians respecting the Geogra- phy of the northernmost Coasts of the Pacific, before 1779.
AT the beginning of the eighteenth century, the coasts of Asia on the Pacific, north of the 40th parallel of latitude, were as little known as those of America on the opposite side of the ocean.
In 1643, Martin Geritzin de Vries and Hendrick Schaep, two Dutch navigators, commanding the ships Kastrikom and Breskens, explored the seas near Japan, as far north as the 48th degree of latitude, and probably entered the great gulf, called the Sea of Ochotsk, between the main land of Asia on the west, and Kamt- chatka and the Kurile chain of islands on the east. It is also related, that Thomas Peche, an English bucanier, sailed along the same coasts in 1673, while in search of the Strait of Anian, the entrance of which he was said to have found north of Japan, though he was unable to pass through it, on account of the violence of the winds from the north. .
From such imperfect accounts the maps of that part of the world were generally constructed, before 1750. In those maps, Jesso, the northernmost of the Japan Islands, appears as part of the Asiatic continent, and Kamtchatka and the Kurile Islands are represented as one extensive territory, under the name of the Company's Land, united to America on the east, and separated from Jesso on the west, by a narrow passage called the Strait of Vries, or the Strait of Anian.
In 1711, the whole of Northern Asia had been completely sub- jugated by the Russians, to whom the rich furs * abounding in those
* See the article on Furs and the Fur Trade, among the Proofs and Illustrations at the concluding part of this volume, under the letter B.
128
PLANS OF PETER THE GREAT.
[1728.
regions proved as attractive as the gold and silver of America were to the Spaniards. In the course of their expeditions, the Russians had traced the northern shores of Asia, to a considerable distance eastward from Europe, and they had formed establishments on those of the peninsula of Kamtchatka. But they had not yet, by their discoveries, afforded the means of determining whether Asia and America were united on the north into one continent, or were sepa- rated by a direct communication between the Pacific and the ocean north of Asia, called the Arctic or Icy Sea; nor, indeed, was it ascertained that the sea around Kamtchatka was a part of the Pacific, though it was generally believed to be so, from the traditions preserved by the natives of that peninsula, of large ships having been wrecked on their coasts .*
By these conquests the Russians had been enabled to secure, in addition to the other advantages, a commercial intercourse with China, which was carried on, agreeably to a treaty concluded in 1689, by caravans, passing between certain great marts in each empire. But the ambitious czar Peter, who then filled the Russian throne, was not content with such acquisitions ; he was anxious to know what territories lay beyond the sea bounding his dominions in the east, and whether he could not, by directing his forces in that way, invade the establishments of the French, the British, or the Spaniards, in America. With these views, he ordered that vessels should be built in Kamtchatka, and equipped for voyages of discovery, to be made according to instructions which he himself drew up; while, at the same time, other vessels should proceed from Archangel, on the White Sea, eastward, to explore the ocean north of Europe and Asia, in search of a navigable communication, or north-east passage, through it from the Atlantic to the Pacific.
Various circumstances prevented the execution of any of these projects during the lifetime of Peter. His widow and successor, Catharine, however, resolved to carry them into fulfilment; and a small vessel was, at length, in 1728, completed and prepared at the mouth of the River of Kamtchatka, on the north-east side of that peninsula, for a voyage of discovery, to be made agreeably to the instructions of the great czar. The command of the expedition was intrusted to Vitus Bering, a Dane, who had been selected for
* The particulars related in the present chapter are derived, principally, from the History of Kamtchatka, by Krascheninikof-the Account of the Russian Voyages from Asia to America, by Muller - and the Account of the Discoveries of the Russians in the North Pacific, by Coxe, the last edition of which, published in 1803, is the most complete work on the subject.
129
BERING'S VOYAGE TO THE ARCTIC SEA.
1728.]
the purpose by Peter, on account of his approved courage and nautical skill ; his lieutenants were Alexei Tchirikof, a Russian, and Martin Spangberg, a German, each of whom afterwards acquired reputation as a navigator.
Bering was instructed, first- to examine the coasts north and east from Kamtchatka, in order to determine whether or not they were connected with, or contiguous to, America ; and next -to reach, if possible, some port belonging to Europeans on the same sea. With these objects he sailed from Kamtchatka River, on the 14th of July, 1728, and, taking a northward course along the Asiatic shore, he traced it to the latitude of 67 degrees 18 minutes: there he found the coast turning almost directly westward, and presenting nothing but rocks and snow, as far as it could be perceived, whilst no land was visible in the north or east. From these circumstances the navigator concluded that he had reached the north-eastern ex- tremity of Asia, that the waters in which he was sailing were those of the Icy or Arctic Sea, bounding that continent on the north, and, consequently, that he had ascertained the fact of the separation of Asia from America. Being satisfied, therefore, that he had attained the objects of his voyage in that direction, and fearing that, if he should attempt to advance farther, he might be obliged to winter in those desolate regions, for which he was unprepared, he returned to Kamtchatka, where he arrived on the 2d of September. All his conclusions have been since verified ; he, however, little suspected that he had, as was the fact, twice passed within a few leagues of the American continent, through the only channel connecting the Pacific with the Arctic Sea. When the existence of this channel was satisfactorily determined, it received, by universal consent, the name of Bering's Strait, which it still bears.
In the ensuing year, Bering attempted to reach the American continent, by sailing directly eastward from Kamtchatka ; but, ere he had proceeded far in that course, he was assailed by violent adverse storms, which forced his vessel around the southern extrem- ity of the peninsula, into the Gulf of Ochotsk. He then went to St. Petersburg, from which he did not return to engage in another voyage of discovery until twelve years afterwards.
While Bering thus remained at the Russian capital, the existence of a direct communication between the sea which bathes the shores of Kamtchatka and the Pacific was proved, - first, in 1729, by the wreck of a Japanese vessel on the coast of the peninsula, -and, ten years afterwards, by the voyages of two Russian vessels, under
17
,
130
DISCOVERIES OF SPANGBERG AND KRUPISCHEF.
[1740.
Martin Spangberg and William Walton, from Ochotsk, through the passages between the Kurile Islands, to Japan. Within the same period, also, the connection of the Pacific with the Atlantic, by the Arctic Sea, north of Europe and Asia, had been ascertained by means of expeditions, partly on land and partly on sea, along the northernmost shores of the continents; though all the attempts made then, and since, to pass, in one vessel, around those coasts, from Europe to the Pacific, have proved abortive. Moreover, a Russian commander, named Krupischef, had sailed, in 1732, from Kamtchatka, northward, as far as the extreme point of Asia, which had been reached by Bering in his first voyage ; and he had thence been driven, by storms, eastward, upon the coast of an extensive mountainous territory, which was supposed to be, and doubtless was, a part of America. Thus the great geographical fact of the entire separation of Asia and America was supposed to be deter- mined ; and all doubts as to the practicability of navigating between the Russian dominions, in the former continent, and those of Spain, in the latter, were dissipated.
These discoveries encouraged the empress Anne, who had suc- ceeded to the throne of Russia in 1730, to persevere in endeavoring to extend her authority farther eastward; and she accordingly commissioned Bering, in 1740, to make another expedition from Kamtchatka, in search of America. For this purpose, two vessels were built in the Bay of Avatscha, on the south-east side of Kamt- chatka, which had been selected for the establishment of a marine depot ; and scientific men were engaged, in France and Germany, to accompany Bering, in order that precise information might be obtained on all points connected with the seas and territories to be explored.
Before the preparations were completed, the cmpress Anne died ; but her successor, Elizabeth, the daughter of Peter the Great, immediately declared her determination to prosecute the enterprise ; and, no delays being experienced, the vessels sailed together from the Bay of Avatscha, on the 4th of June, 1741. The larger vessel, called the St. Peter, was commanded by Bering ; the other, the St. Paul, by 'Tchirikof, who had accompanied the Dane in his previous voyages. On leaving the harbor, they took an eastern course, and continued together until the 21st of the month, when they were separated during a violent gale, after which they never met again.
Of Bering's voyage, after his separation from 'Tchirikof, the only definite accounts are contained in the journal of Steller, the surgeon
131
BERING'S VOYAGE TO AMERICA.
1741.]
and naturalist of the ship, which was first published, in the original German, by Professor Pallas, in 1795. Before that year, all that was known on the subject was derived from a meagre and incorrect abstract of the same journal, in Muller's collections of Russian history. Steller is by no means precise on points of navigation and geography, in consequence of which very few spots described by him can now be identified, although the general course of the voyage may be ascertained.
From Steller's journal, we learn that Bering, after parting with Tchirikof, sailed south-eastward, as far as the 46th degree of lati- tude ; and, not reaching America, he then altered his course to the north-east, in which he continued until the 18th of July, when land was seen ahead, nearly under the 60th parallel of latitude. The point first descried by the Russians was a mountain of such extra- ordinary height, as to be visible at the distance of more than eighty miles : on advancing towards it, other peaks, and then ridges, appeared, stretching along the coast, and into the interior, to the utmost limits of the view ; and, on entering a narrow passage, between the main land and an island, where they anchored on the 20th, they perceived a strong current of discolored water issuing from it, which convinced them that a large river emptied into the sea in its vicinity. From these indications of the extensiveness of the territory, together with its geographical position, they concluded that they had, at length, reached the American continent ; and the officers thereupon entreated their commander to pursue the dis- covery towards the south-east, in which direction the coast trended. But Bering was then enfeebled in mind, as well as in body, by severe illness, and was anxious to return to Kamtchatka ; in conse- quence of which, he resisted their entreaties, and, after a supply of water had been obtained from the island, they set sail for the west. None of the crew were allowed to go on the main land, lest they should be cut off by savages. On the island were found several huts, which seemed to have been recently abandoned, and various implements of fishing, hunting, and cooking, similar to those used by the Kamtchatkans ; of the natives, however, not one was seen.
According to Steller, the name of Cape St. Elias was, much to his discontent, bestowed on this island, or some other in its vicinity, because it was reached on the day of St. Elias, agreeably to the Russian calendar. The old accounts of the expedition, however, state that Bering honored with the name of that saint the lofty mountain which had first attracted his attention ; and, under this
132
BERING ON THE AMERICAN COAST.
[1741.
impression, Cook, when he explored the north-west coast of Amer- ica, in 1778, applied the name of Mount St. Elias to a stupendous peak which he observed, rising from the shore, under the 60th parallel, believing it to be, as it most probably was, the same dis- covered by the Russians in 1741. Vancouver, who examined this coast minutely in 1794, was convinced that the place where the Russians first anchored is on the eastern side of a bay at the foot of Mount St. Elias, on the east, which is called Admiralty or Bering's Bay, on English maps, and Yakutat on those of the Russians. The current of discolored water, setting out from that part of the coast, was observed, in 1838 by Belcher.
After their departure from the island, the Russians continued sailing westward, occasionally seeing the land in the north, until the 3d of August, when, in the latitude of 56 degrees, they beheld a chain of high mountains, (those of the great peninsula of Aliaska, and the contiguous island of Kodiak,) stretching before them from north to south. Upon discovering this impediment to their prog- ress, they turned to the south-west, in order to reach the 53d parallel, under which they were sure, from their observations in coming out, that they should find an open sea to Kamtchatka : but their course was so much retarded by violent opposing winds, that they had scarcely advanced sixty miles before the end of the month ; and, being then exhausted by fatigue and sickness, they anchored among a group of small islands, on one of which they remained ashore several days. There they first saw natives of America, who resembled the aborigines of Northern Asia in their features and habits, and were provided with knives, and other articles of iron and copper ; although they appeared never before to have held any intercourse with civilized people. There, also, occurred the first death among the Russians, in commemoration of which, the name of the deceased sailor, Schumagin, was bestowed on the group. The islands now so called are about ten in number, situated near the latitude of 553 degrees, on the eastern side, and not far from the extremity of Aliaska.
On quitting the Schumagin Islands, the Russians continued their course south-westward, and passed by other islands, which were those of the Aleutian Archipelago, extending westward from Aliaska, nearly under the 53d parallel. They were then assailed by furious storms, and were, for nearly two months, driven over the seas at random, while famine, disease, and despair, were daily lessening their numbers. " The general distress and mortality," says Steller,
133
DEATH OF BERING.
1741.]
" increased so fast, that not only the sick died, but those who pre- tended to be healthy, when relieved from their posts, fainted and fell down dead ; of which the scantiness of the water, the want of biscuits and brandy, cold, wet, nakedness, vermin, and terror, were not the least causes." At length, on the 5th of November, they again saw land, which proved to be an island, in the latitude of 55 degrees ; and on it they resolved, at all hazards, to pass the winter. With this view, they anchored in the most secure place which could be found, close to the shore, and, having landed their stores and other necessaries, they began the construction of huts out of sails and spars ; but they soon had an abundant supply of materials from the wreck of their vessel, which was dashed in pieces on the island by the waves.
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