USA > California > The history of Oregon and California & the other territories of the northwest coast of North America > Part 26
USA > Oregon > The history of Oregon and California & the other territories of the northwest coast of North America > Part 26
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Captain Bodega y Quadra, the superintendent of the marine department of San Blas, was at the same time despatched to Nootka, to take the command of the forces in that quarter, and to treat with Captain Vancouver, who was expected to arrive there in the following summer, with regard to the lands and buildings claimed by British subjects, in virtue of the first and second articles of the convention of 1790. He was instructed, in case it should
* The works which have served principally as authorities for the accounts in this chapter are - the journal of Captain George Vancouver, three vols. 4to., published at London in 1797 - the journal of Galiano and Valdes - and the manuscript journal of the voyage of the American brig Hope, written by her captain, J. Ingraham - with others, to which reference will be made.
232
VANCOUVER REACHES THE NORTH-WEST COAST.
[1792.
be requisite, to abandon Nootka, and withdraw all the Spanish forces and settlers to some convenient point of the coast farther south ; and, in anticipation of such a contingency, a vessel was sent from San Blas, under the command of Fidalgo, to seek for a proper spot, and make preparations on it for a permanent establishment.
Vancouver and Broughton reached the American coast in April, 1792, a little south of Cape Mendocino, whence they sailed slowly northward, to the Strait of Fuca, which they were instructed par- ticularly to explore. On their way, they carefully examined the shores, and determined the geographical positions of all the most prominent points, comparing the results of their observations with those obtained by Cook and others who had preceded them. Near the 43d degree of latitude, they sought in vain for the river whichi Martin de Aguilar was said to have seen, entering the Pacific there- abouts, in 1603 ; and they appeared inclined to admit as identical with the Cape Blanco of that navigator, a high, whitish promontory, in the latitude of 42 degrees 52 minutes, to which they, however, did not scruple to assign the name of Cape Orford.
Vancouver also observed with attention the Deception Bay of Meares, which was represented on Spanish charts as the mouth of a river. Of this part of his voyage, he presents the following account in his journal, under date of
" April 27th. - Noon brought us up with a conspicuous point of land, composed of a cluster of hummocks, moderately high, and projecting into the sea. On the south side of this promontory was the appearance of an inlet, or small river, the land not indicating it to be of any great extent, nor did it seem to be accessible for ves- sels of our burden, as the breakers extended from the above point, two or three miles into the ocean, until they joined those on the beach, nearly four leagues farther south. On reference to Mr. Meares's description of the coast south of this promontory, I was at first inclined to believe it was Cape Shoalwater ; but, on ascer- taining its latitude, I presumed it to be that which he calls Cape Disappointment, and the opening south of it Deception Bay. This cape we found to be in latitude of 46 degrees 19 minutes, longi- tude 236 degrees 6 minutes [cast]. The sea had now changed from its natural to river-colored water, the probable consequence of some streams falling into the bay, or into the opening north of it, through the low land. Not considering this opening worthy of more attention, I continued our pursuit to the north-west, being desirous to embrace the advantages of the now prevailing breeze and pleasant weather, so favorable to an examination of the coasts."
1792.] VANCOUVER MEETS GRAY NEAR THE STRAIT OF FUCA. 233
Vancouver accordingly sailed onwards, to the entrance of the Strait of Fuca, which he was eager to explore; having, as he believed, ascertained that " the several large rivers and capacious inlets, that have been described as discharging their contents into the Pacific, between the 40th and the 48th degrees of north lati- tude, were reduced to brooks insufficient for our vessels to navigate, or to bays inaccessible as harbors for refitting." Again he says, " Considering ourselves now on the point of commencing an exami- nation 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 two hundred and fifteen leagues, on which our inquiries had been lately employed, under the most fortunate and favorable circumstances of wind and weather. So minutely has this extensive coast been inspected, that the surf has been constantly seen to break on its shores from the mast- head; and it was but in a few small intervals only where our distance precluded its being visible from the deck. Whenever the weather prevented our making free with the shore, or on our haul- ing off for the night, the return of fine weather and of daylight uniformly brought us, if not to the identical spot we had departed from, at least within a few miles of it, and never beyond the northern limits of the coast which we had previously seen. An examination so directed, and circumstances happily concurring to permit its being so executed, afforded the most complete opportunity of determining its various turnings and windings, as also the position of all its conspicuous points, ascertained by meridional altitudes for the latitude, and observations for the chronometer, which we had the good fortune to make constantly once, and in general twice, every day, the preceding one only excepted. It must be considered a very singular circumstance, that, in so great an extent of sea-coast, we should not until now have seen the appearance of any opening in its shore which presented any certain prospect of affording a shelter, the whole coast forming one compact and nearly straight barrier against the sea."
On the same day, the 29th of April, 1792, Vancouver writes in his journal, " At four o'clock, a sail was discovered to the westward, standing in shore. This was a very great novelty, not having seen any vessel but our consort during the last eight months. She soon hoisted American colors, and fired a gun to leeward. At six we spoke her; she proved to be the ship Columbia, commanded by Captain Robert Gray, belonging to Boston, whence she had been absent nineteen months. Having little doubt of his being the same
30
234
GRAY'S ACCOUNT OF HIS DISCOVERIES. [1792.
person who had formerly commanded the sloop Washington, I desired he would bring to, and sent Mr. Puget and Mr. Menzies on board, to acquire such information as might be serviceable in our future operations. On the return of the boat, we found our con- jectures had not been ill grounded ; that this was the same gentle- man who had commanded the sloop Washington, at the time, we are informed, she had made a very singular voyage behind Nootka. It was not a little remarkable, that, on our approach to the entrance of this inland sea, we should fall in with the identical person who, it was said, had sailed through it. His relation, however, differed very materially from that published in England. It is not possible to conceive any one to be more astonished than was Mr. Gray, on his being made acquainted that his authority had been quoted, and the track pointed out that he had been said to have made in the sloop Washington ; in contradiction to which, he assured the of- ficers that he had penetrated only fifty miles into the straits in question, in an east-south-east direction ; that he found the passage five leagues wide, and that he understood from the natives that the opening extended a considerable distance to the northward ; that this was all the information he had acquired respecting this inland sea, and that he returned into the ocean by the same way he had entered at. The inlet he supposed to be the same that De Fuca had discovered, which opinion seemed to be universally received by all the modern visitors. He likewise informed them of his having been off the mouth of a river, in the latitude of 46 degrees 10 minutes, where the outset or reflux was so strong as to prevent his entering for nine days. This was probably the opening passed by us on the forenoon of the 27th, and was apparently inaccessible, not from the current, but from the breakers that extended across it. He had also entered another inlet to the northward, in latitude of 54} degrees, in which he had sailed to the latitude of 56 degrees, without discovering its termination. The south point of entrance into De Fuca's Straits he stated to be in 48 degrees 24 minutes ; and he conceived our distance from it to be about eight leagues. The last winter he had spent in Port Cox, or, as the natives call it, Clyoquot, from whence he had sailed but a few days," &c.
The part of this account relating to the Strait of Fuca appears to have been received with much satisfaction by Vancouver, as it seemed to assure him that he had not been anticipated in the exploration of that passage; to Gray's statement of his discovery of a river emptying into the Pacific, in the latitude of 46 degrees 10
235
GRAY'S ACCOUNT OF HIS DISCOVERIES.
1792.]
minutes, he gave little, or rather no credit, being content with his own examination of that part of the coast. On the day after his meeting with the Columbia, he writes, "The river mentioned by Mr. Gray should, from the latitude he assigned to it, have existence in the bay south of Cape Disappointment. This we passed in the forenoon of the 27th ; and, as I then observed, if any inlet or river should be found, it must be a very intricate one, and inaccessible to vessels of our burden, 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 sea-coast, 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, [Cape Flattery, at the entrance of the Strait of Fuca ;] nor had we any reason to alter our opinions, notwithstanding that theoretical geographers have thought proper to assert in that space the existence of arms of the ocean commu- nicating with a mediterranean sea, and extensive rivers with safe and convenient ports."
Having thus recorded his convictions, the British navigator proceeded to survey the Strait of Fuca ; whilst the American fur trader sailed towards the mouth of the river, into which he resolved, if possible, to effect an entrance.
After parting with the English ships, Gray sailed along the coast of the continent to the south, and, on the 7th of May, he " saw an entrance which had a very good appearance of a harbor," in the latitude of 46 degrees 58 minutes. Passing through this entrance, he found himself in a bay "well sheltered from the sea by long sand-bars and spits," where he remained at anchor three days, engaged in trading with the natives; and he then resumed his voyage, bestowing on the place thus discovered the name of Bul- finch's Harbor, in honor of one of the owners of his ship.
At daybreak on the 11th, after leaving Bulfinch's Harbor, Gray observed " the entrance of his desired port, bearing east-south-east, distant six leagues ;" and running into it, with all sails set, between the breakers, (which Meares and Vancouver pronounce impassable,), he anchored, at one o'clock, " in a large river of fresh water," ten
1
236
WHO DISCOVERED THE COLUMBIA ?
[1792.
miles above its mouth. At this spot he remained three days, en- gaged in trading and filling his casks with water, and then sailed up the river about twelve or fifteen miles along its northern shore ; where, finding that he could proceed no farther, from having " taken the wrong channel," he again came to anchor. During the week which followed, he made several attempts to quit the river, but was constantly baffled, until, at length, on the 20th, he crossed the bar at the mouth, by beating over it with a westerly wind, and regained the Pacific .*
On leaving the river, Gray gave to it the name of his ship -the Columbia - which it still bears ; though attempts are made to fix upon it that of Oregon, on the strength of the accounts which Carver pretended to have collected, in 1766, among the Indians of the Upper Mississippi, respecting a River Oregon, rising near Lake Superior, and emptying into the Strait of Anian.t The extremity of the sand-bank, projecting into the sea on the south side of its en- trance, was called by Gray Point Adams ; and he assigned the name of Cape Hancock to the opposite promontory, on the north side, be- ing ignorant that Meares had already called it Cape Disappointment, in token of the unsuccessful result of his search for the river.
The principal circumstances relating to the discovery of this river, the greatest which enters the Pacific from America, have now been fairly presented. It has been shown - that the opening through which its waters are discharged into the ocean was first seen in August, 1776, by the Spanish navigator Heceta,¿ and was distinguished on Spanish charts, within the thirteen years next following, as the mouth of the River San Roque -that it was examined in July, 1788, by Meares, § who quitted it with the con- viction that no river existed there - and that this opinion of Meares was subscribed, without qualification, by Vancouver, after he had minutely examined that coast, "under the most favorable con- ditions of wind and weather," and notwithstanding the assurances of Gray to the contrary. Had Gray, after parting with the English ships, not returned to the river, and ascended it as he did, there is every reason to believe that it would have long remained unknown ; for the assertions of Vancouver that no opening, harbor, or place of refuge for vessels, was to be found between Cape Mendocino and the
* See the extract from the log-book of the Columbia, containing the account of the entrance of Gray into the river, among the Proofs and Illustrations, in the latter part of this volume, under the letter E, No. 2.
t See p. 142. # See p. 120. § See p. 177.
.
237
WHO DISCOVERED THE COLUMBIA ?
1792.]
Strait of Fuca, and that this part of the coast formed one compact, solid, and nearly straight, barrier against the sea, would have served completely to overthrow the evidence of the American fur trader, and to prevent any further attempts to examine those shores, or even to approach them .*
From the mouth of the Columbia River, Gray sailed to the east coast of Queen Charlotte's Island, near which his ship struck on a rock, and was so much injured that she was with difficulty kept afloat until she reached Nootka Sound, where the damage was repaired. The Hope also arrived at Nootka at this time, and Gray communicated the particulars of his recent discoveries to Ingraham, and to the Spanish commandant Quadra, to whom he also gave charts and descriptions of Bulfinch's Harbor, and of the mouth of the Columbia. On this occasion, moreover, the two American captains addressed to Quadra, at his request, a letter + containing a narrative of the transactions at Nootka in 1789, to which particular reference will be hereafter made. Having soon completed their business on the north-west coasts, Gray and Ingra- ham departed severally for Canton, in September, and thence they sailed to the United States. #
* It was, nevertheless, insisted, on the part of the British government, in a discus- sion with the United States, in 1826, that the merit of discovering the Columbia belongs to Meares! " that, in 1788, four years before Gray entered the mouth of the Columbia River, Mr. Meares, a lieutenant of the royal navy, who had been sent by the East India Company on a trading expedition to the north-west coast of America, had already minutely explored the coast from the 49th to the 54th degree of north latitude ; had taken formal possession of the Straits of De Fuca in the name of his sovereign ; had purchased land, trafficked and formed treaties with the natives ; and had actually entered the Bay of the Columbia, to the northern headland of which he gave the name of Cape Disappointment, a name which it bears to this day ; " and that "if any claim to these countries, as between Great Britain and the United States, is to be deduced from priority of the discovery, the above exposition of dates and facts suffices to establish that claim in favor of Great Britain, on a basis too firm to be shaken. It must indeed be admitted," continue the British plenipo- tentiaries, " that Mr. Gray, finding himself in the bay formed by the discharge of the waters of the Columbia into the Pacific, was the first to ascertain that this bay formed the outlet of a great river -a discovery which had escaped Lieutenant Mearcs, when, in 1788, four years before, he entered the same bay." The truth in the last of these assertions atones for the errors in those which precede, and counteracts the impression which the whole was intended to produce. - See the statement presented by Messrs. Huskisson and Addington to Mr. Gallatin, in 1826, among the Proofs and Illustrations, in the latter part of this volume, under the letter G.
t See Proofs and Illustrations, in the latter part of this volume, under the letter C.
# Ingraham subsequently entered the navy of the United States as a lieutenant, and was one of the officers of the ill-fated brig Pickering, of which nothing was ever heard, after her departure from the Delaware in August, 1800. Gray continued to command trading vessels from Boston until 1809, about which time he died.
238
SURVEY OF ADMIRALTY INLET.
[1792.
In the mean time, the survey of the Strait of Fuca had been completed.
Vancouver and Broughton took their departure on the 1st of May, as already mentioned, from Cape Flattery, the point at the south side of the entrance of the Strait, and thence sailed slowly along the coast eastward, about a hundred miles, to its extremity in that direction, where they entered a harbor called by them Port Discovery, the same which had, in 1790, received from Quimper the name of Port Quadra. A little beyond this harbor, they found another opening in the coast towards the south, corresponding with that called by Quimper Canal de Caamano, through which they entered an extensive arm of the sea, with several branches, stretch- ing in various southerly directions, to the distance of more than a hundred miles from the strait. This great arm, called Admiralty Inlet, with its principal branches, Hood's Canal on the west, Pos- session Sound on the east, and Puget's Sound, the southernmost, were carefully surveyed to their respective terminations; and the navigators, having thus ascertained that no passage through the con- tinent was to be effected by those channels, returned to the strait. Of the beauty and apparent fertility of the country surrounding this arm of the sea, Vancouver speaks in glowing terms. The surface near the shores was generally undulating, presenting a succession of meadows, lawns, and hillocks, many of which were covered with noble forests of oak ; " the soil principally consisted of a rich, black, vegetable mould, lying on a sandy or clayey substratum ; the grass, of excellent quality, grew to the height of three feet, and the ferns, which, in the sandy soils, occupied the clear spots, were nearly twice as high." In the distance, on the east, the south, and the west, the view was bounded by lofty mountains, to the stupen- dous peaks of which Vancouver assigned the names of British admirals and diplomatists.
After completing this part of their survey, the English landed on the shore of Possession Sound, and celebrated the birthday of their sovereign, the 4th of June, by taking possession, in his name, and " with the usual formalities, of all that part of New Albion, from the latitude of 39 degrees 20 minutes south, and longitude 236 degrees 26 minutes east, to the entrance of the inlet of the sea, said to be the supposed Strait of Juan de Fuca, as also of all the coasts, islands, &c., within the said strait, and both its shores; " to which region they gave the appellation of New Georgia. With regard to this ceremony, it may be observed, that, although naval
239
VANCOUVER MEETS GALIANO AND VALDES.
1792.]
officers are not expected to be minutely acquainted with diplomatic affairs, yet Captain Vancouver, who was sent to the North Pacific as commissioner to execute the convention of October, 1790, should have recollected that, by the stipulations of that convention, every part of the north-west coast of America was rendered free and open for trade or settlement to Spanish as well as British subjects; and that, consequently, no claim of sovereignty, on the part of either of those nations, could be valid. It may seem pedantic, if not unjust, to make this remark with regard to what may have been nothing more than the result of an exuberance of loyal feeling in the officers and crews of the vessels ; but this taking possession by Vancouver has been since gravely adduced, by the representatives of the British government, in support of its claims to the dominion of the terri- tories above mentioned .*
On returning to the Strait of Fuca, the English examined several other passages opening into it, some of which were found to ter- minate in the land, at short distances from their mouths, and others to be channels between islands. Through one of these latter chan- nels, opening immediately opposite the entrance of Admiralty Inlet, they passed into a long and wide gulf, extending north-westward ; and, after proceeding a few miles within it, they, on the 23d of June, unexpectedly met the Spanish schooners Sutil and Mexicana,t com- manded by Lieutenants Galiano and Valdes, which had left Nootka on the 4th of the month, and had advanced thus far along the northern shore of the strait. The meeting was, doubtless, vexatious to the commanders of both the parties, each being naturally anxious to secure to himself all the merit which might be acquired by deter- mining the character of this famous arm of the sea : they, however, received and treated each other with the utmost civility, mutually exhibiting their charts and journals, and comparing their obser- vations ; and, having agreed to unite their labors, they remained to- gether three weeks. During this time, they surveyed the shores of the great gulf above mentioned, called by the Spaniards Canal del Rosario, and by the English the Gulf of Georgia, which extended
* See statement of the British commissioners, among the Proofs and Illustrations, in the latter part of this volume, under the letter G.
t Vancouver describes these vessels as " each about forty-five tons burden, mount- ing two brass guns, and navigated by twenty-four men ; bearing one lieutenant, with- out a single inferior officer. Their apartments just allowed room for sleeping-places on each side, with a table in the intermediate space, at which four persons could with difficulty sit; and they were, in all other respects, the most ill-calculated and unfit vessels that could possibly be imagined for such an expedition."
240
PASSAGE THROUGH THE STRAIT OF FUCA.
[1792.
north-westward as far as the 50th degree of latitude ; and then, on the 13th of July, the English took leave of their Spanish friends, who, from want of force, were unable to keep up with them.
On parting with the Spaniards, the English entered a passage, named by them Johnstone's Strait, leading from the north-west ex- tremity of the gulf; and after a long and difficult navigation through it, they, on the 10th of August, emerged into the Pacific at Queen Charlotte's Sound, about one hundred miles north of Nootka. Having been, from the commencement, persuaded that the land on the western side of the strait was an island, they had devoted their attention particularly to the eastern shores, through which a passage might be found to Hudson's Bay or the Arctic Sea ; but their search proved vain, and, after tracing to their terminations in the interior a number of long and intricate inlets, they became convinced that the continent extended uninterruptedly northward, at least to the 51st parallel of latitude. Immediately on entering the Pacific, the Discovery struck on a rock, and scarcely had she been got off ere a similar misfortune befell the Chatham; both vessels, however, escaped with little injury, and they soon after arrived at Nootka Sound. Galiano and Valdes also passed through the strait by the same route, and reached Nootka in safety on the 4th of September.
After the arrival of the Sutil and Mexicana at Nootka, Vancouver and the Spanish commander, Quadra, compared together the notes and charts of the two voyages through the Strait of Fuca ; and it was agreed between them, that the great island which that arm of the sea separated from the American continent should bear the names of them both. It has, in consequence, ever since been dis- tinguished on maps by the long and inconvenient appellation of Island of Quadra and Vancouver, which it will scarcely be allowed to retain, when that part of the world shall be occupied by a civil- ized people.
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