USA > Oregon > Douglas County > History of southern Oregon, comprising Jackson, Josephine, Douglas, Curry and Coos counties, comp. from the most authentic sources > Part 4
USA > Oregon > Jackson County > History of southern Oregon, comprising Jackson, Josephine, Douglas, Curry and Coos counties, comp. from the most authentic sources > Part 4
USA > Oregon > Josephine County > History of southern Oregon, comprising Jackson, Josephine, Douglas, Curry and Coos counties, comp. from the most authentic sources > Part 4
USA > Oregon > Coos County > History of southern Oregon, comprising Jackson, Josephine, Douglas, Curry and Coos counties, comp. from the most authentic sources > Part 4
USA > Oregon > Curry County > History of southern Oregon, comprising Jackson, Josephine, Douglas, Curry and Coos counties, comp. from the most authentic sources > Part 4
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The next supposed discovery of the Straits of Anian which attracted much atten- tion, was that claimed to have been made by Juan de Fuca while in the Spanish ser- vice in the Pacific in 1592. The only account or record of this voyage was published in 1625 in the celebrated historical and geographical volume called "The Pilgrims," edited by Samuel Purchas, being "A note made by Michael Lock, the elder, touching the Strait of Sea commonly called Fretum Anian, in the South Sea, through the Northwest Passage of Meta Incognita," Since this reputed voyage entered largely
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into the discussion and settlement of "The Oregon question," the main portion of Mr. Lock's document is given, without attempting to preserve the Old English orthography. It says :
When I was in Venice, in April, 1596, haply arrived there an old man, about sixty years of age, called, commonly, Juan de Fuca, but named properly Apostolas Valerianus, of nation a Greek, born in Cephalonia, of profession a mariner, and an ancient pilot of ships. This man, being come lately out of Spain, arrived first at Leghorn, and went thence to Florence, where he found one John Douglas, an Englishman, a famous mariner, ready coming for Venice, to be pilot of a Venetian ship for England, in whose company they came both together to Venice. And John Douglas being acquainted with me before, he gave me knowledge of this Greek pilot, and brought him to my speech ; and, in long talks and conference between us, in presence of John Douglas, this Greek pilot declared, in the Italian and Spanish languages, this much in effect as followeth :
First, he said he had been in the West Indies of Spain forty years, and had sailed to and from many places thereof, in the service of the Spaniards.
Also, he said that he was in the Spanish ship which, in returning from the Islands Philip- pines, towards Nova Spania, was robbed and taken at the Cape California by Captain Candish, Englishman, whereby he lost sixty thousand dncats of his goods.
Also, he said that he was pilot of three small ships which the Viceroy of Mexico sent from Mexico, armed with one hundred men, under a captain, Spaniards, to discover the Straits of Anian, along the coast of the South Sea, and to fortify in that strait, to resist the passage and proceedings of the English nation, which were forced to pass through those straits into the South Sea ; and that, by reason of a mutiny which happened among the soldiers for the misconduct of their cap- tain, that voyage was overthrown, and the ship returned from California to Nova Spania, without anything done in that voyage ; and that, after their return, the captain was at Mexico punished by justice.
Also, he said that, shortly after the said voyage was so ill ended, the said Viceroy of Mexico sent him out again, in 1592, with a small caravel and a pinnace, armed with mariners only, to fol- low the said voyage for the discovery of the Straits of Anian, and the passage thereof into the sea, which they call the North Sea, which is our northwest sea ; and that he followed his course, in that voyage, west and northwest in the South Sea, all along the coast of Nova Spania, and California, and the Indies, now called North America, (all which voyage he signified to me in a great map, and a sea-card of my own, which I laid before him), until he came to the latitude of 47 degrees , and that, there finding that the land trended north and northwest, with a broad inlet of sea, between 47 and 48 degrees of latitude, he entered thereinto, sailing therein more than twenty days, and found that land trending still sometime northwest, and northeast, and north, and also east and southeastward, and very much broader sca than was at the said entrance, and that he passed by divers islands in that sailing ; and that, at the entrance of this said strait, there is, on the northwest coast thereof, a great headland or island, with an exceeding high pinnacle, or spired rock, like a pillar, thereupon.
Also, he said that he went on land in divers places, and that he saw some people on land clad in beasts' skins ; and that the land is very fruitful, and rich of gold, silver, pearls, and other things, like Nova Spania.
Also, he said that he being entered thus far into the said strait, and being come into the North Sea already, and finding the sea wide enough everywhere, and to be about thirty or forty leagues wide in the mouth of the straits where he entered, he thought he had now well discharged his office ; and that, not being armed to resist the force of the savage people that might happen, he therefore set sail, and returned homewards again towards Nova Spania, where he arrived at Aca- pulco, Anno 1592, hoping to be rewarded by the Viceroy for this service done in the said voyage.
* [Here follows an account of his vain endeavors for three years to secure a proper recognition of his services by the Viceroy or the Spanish monarch, and his resolution to return to his native land to die among his countrymen.] * * *
Also, he said he thought the cause of his ill-reward had of the Spaniards, to be for that they did understand very well that the English nation had now given over all their voyages for discovery
M . M
WALLING-LITH-PORTLAND.OR.
FARM RESIDENCE OF HASKELL AMY, CENTRAL POINT, JACKSON CO.
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of the northwest passage ; wherefore they need not fear them any more to come that way into the South Sea, and therefore they needed not his service therein any more.
Also, he said that, understanding the noble mind of the Queen of England, and of her wars against the Spaniards, and hoping that her majesty would do him justice for his goods lost by Cap- tain Candish, he would be content to go into England, and serve her majesty in that voyage for the discovery perfectly of the northwest passage into the South Sea, if she would furnish him with only one ship of forty tons' burden, and a pinnace, and that he would perform it in thirty days' time, from one end to the other of the strait, and he willed me so to write to England.
And, from conference had twice with the said Greek pilot, I did write thereof, accordingly, to England, unto the right honorable the old Lord Treasurer Cecil, and to Sir Walter Raleigh, and to Master Richard Hakluyt, that famous cosmographer, certifying them hereof. And I prayed them to disburse one hundred pounds, to bring the said Greek pilot into England, with myself, for that my own purse would not stretch so wide at that time. And I had answer that this action was well liked and greatly desired in England ; but the money was not ready, and therefore this action died at that time, though the said Greek pilot, perchance, liveth still in his own country, in Cephalonia, towards which place he went within a fortnight after this conference had at Venice.
The remainder of the long document gives the details of correspondence held by Lock with Juan de Fuca during the next few years, showing that up to 1598 the pilot was still willing to go with him to England, but that in 1602, when Lock had finally finished his business in Venice and prepared to return to England, a letter to the Greek failed to elicit a response, and the writer heard a little later that the old navigator was dead.
Much controversy has been and is still being carried on among historians as to whether such a person as Juan de Fuca ever lived, or such a voyage as Lock described was ever made. Mexican and Spanish records of the period have been carefully searched by those eager to prove the truth of this narrative, withont revealing any confirmatory evidence whatever. The negative the records, of course, could not estab- lish. The voyage must stand or fall by the manner in which the narrator's geograph- ical descriptions bear the light of modern investigation. One thing is clearly notice- able ; its geographical descriptions of regions claimed to have been visited are far more accurate than those of any navigator of the preceding or subsequent century in any quarter of the globe; and the narrative is entirely free from those extravagant asser- tions in regard to the wonderful wealth of the people or magnificence of their cities, contained in the accounts of voyages whose authenticity can not be questioned, which assertions were always found to have been grossly exaggerated and often wholly the creatures of imagination. Prima facie, then, it is more authentic than accounts of nearly contemporaneous voyages of which undisputable records exist. Now to examine its statements by the clear light of facts. Juan de Fuca locates his passage between 47° and 48° of latitude, while the fact is that between the 48th and 49th, just such a passage as he describes exists. This is the entrance to Puget sound and is still known as the Straits of Fuca. His account of the passage, its leading off in all directions and its many islands, is substantially correct, and his error in locating the entrance a few miles to the south is a far less grievous one than those made in every account handed down to us of those times. The advanced age, length of time elapsed and annoyances of his long efforts to secure his just reward, could easily account for so slight an error when detailing the circumstances from memory alone; and it must be remembered that the account was written by Lock, a second party, and is liable to 4
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slight errors in statement, though probably none very material, as Lock was an intel- ligent and respectable merchant and appears to have been an extremely careful and methodical man. Fuca was in the passage twenty days, though he does not state that he sailed straight along through it all this time, but must of necessity have spent fully half his time in circumnavigating islands and running into bays while endeavor- ing to follow the main channel. At the end of this time, saying nothing about the number of miles traveled, he came out again into the open sea, supposing himself to have passed through into another ocean. Here arises the difficulty most historians have in reconciling the narrative with the facts; and the difficulty exists, not in . the narrative itself, but in the fact that these historians have not sufficiently acquainted themselves with the geographical theories which obtained at the time of Fuca's voyage. They seem to think that he must necessarily have supposed that he had gone clear through the continent into the Atlantic, an utter impossibility. Such was most certainly not the case. The Straits of Anian were at that time believed to be a passage running north and south, separating the continents of Asia and America, and extending from the South sea to the North sea. Across this North sea it was many hundred leagues around the north end of America before reaching the Atlantic. In sailing in a generally northward direction, therefore, between Vancouver island and the main land of British Columbia and finally entering again into the Pacific ocean, it was most natural for him to suppose that he had passed from the South sea through the Straits of Anian into the North sea. He did not claim to have sailed eastward, as so many historians seem to assume, for had the passage led so far in that direction he would have doubted its identity with the Straits of Anian ; nor did he claim to have entered the Atlantic, but simply the North sea. It seems then that the only evidence against its authenticity is the negative one of there being no record of such a voyage in Spanish archives ; and this is at least partially explained by the state- ment that neither the viceroy nor the king would recognize the services of the navigator. For this reason, they may have permitted no record of the voyage to be made. If Juan de Fuca made the voyage as narrated, then Spain's claim to the coun- try for some distance above Puget sound, so far as the right of discovery is concerned, was a good one, and the title conveyed from her through France to the United States good to an equal degree. Another argument against it is the fact that even at the time Fuca was pouring his tale into the willing ear of the English merchant, another Spanish expedition was engaged in looking for this passage, and in the letter ordering the exploration the reasons for doing so are set forth at length, though no allusion is made to the Greek, who, according to Lock's narrative must have been importuning the king for his reward at the very time the letter was written. It may be argued, however, that Fuca's statements to the king may have been what induced him to order this expedition, instead of the causes set forth in the royal mandate.
In 1708 there was printed in a London magazine entitled Monthly Miscellany, or Memoirs of the Curious, a most absurd and self-contradictory account of a voyage said to have been made in 1640 from the Pacific to the Atlantic through a great chain of lakes. Though it was probably invented by James Petiver, an eminent naturalist and contributor to the magazine, yet it created a great sensation in England, France and Holland, and was received with considerable faith for more than half a century.
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The narrator states that Admiral Pedro Bartholome de Fonte, sailed from Callao in April, 1640, with orders from the viceroy of Peru to explore the Pacific for a north- west passage and to intercept some Boston vessels which had been reported as bound upon the same mission on the Atlantic coast. Since Boston was in 1640 but a small struggling settlement and the Puritans were not looking for any northwest passage, it would seem as though this statement alone was enough to have condemned the entire narrative ; but as it was not published for sixty-eight years after that date probably neither the writer nor the people stopped to consider the absurdity. The story informs us that at Cape San Lueas Fonte detached one of his four vessels to explore the Gulf of California and with the others continued up the coast. Having sailed for a long time among islands which he named Archipelago of St. Lazarus, he finally reached, in latitude 53 degrees, the mouth of a large stream christened by him Rio de los Reyes, or River of Kings. He sent one vessel further up the coast under the command of Bernardo, and then entered the river and followed it northwesterly until it opened out into an immense lake filled with beautiful islands, which he named Lake Belle. It was surrounded by a fine country, and the inhabitants were very hospitable in their treat- ment of the strangers. Leaving his vessels at their large town, called Conasset, on the south shore of the lake, Fonte and some of his party continued their journey down a large stream ealled Parmentier, though whether in boats or on foot along the bank the narrative is silent, until they entered another lake further east. This he named in his own honor, and then proceeded through a passage, called Strait of Ronquillo in honor of one of his captains, into the Atlantic ocean, having thus passed entirely through the American continent by water. It then goes on to state that he encountered a Boston ship commanded by Nicholas Shapley, with whom, also, was the owner, Seymour Gib- bons, " a fine gentleman, and major general of the largest colony in New England, called Maltechusetts." After exchanging courtesies with these strangers, whom he decided to treat simply as traders and not as hostile explorers for the northwest passage, he returned by the water route to Lake La Belle and thence in his vessels to the Pacific, where he was again joined by Bernardo. The journey elaimed to have been made in the meantime by this lieutenant is equally wonderful. Having coasted as far as the 61st degree of latitude Bernardo discovered a great river, up which he ascended till he, also, emerged into a large lake. He named these Rio de Haro and Lake Velasco. From the lake he went in canoes to the 79th parallel, but as the land was seen "still trending north, and the ice rested on the land," he concluded to return. He was satis- fied " that there was no communication out of the Atlantie sea by Davis's strait ; for the natives had conducted one of his seamen to the head of Davis's strait, which terminated in a fresh lake, of about thirty miles in circumference, in the 80th degree of north lat- itude ; and there were prodigious mountains north of it." Satisfied from the report of Bernardo and his own observations that the Straits of Anian did not exist, Fonte re- turned with his fleet to Peru.
This story, so absurd in the light of modern research, and which was not published till long after the explorers, if, indeed, there were any, had become imperishable dust, was received with great eredence; though it was in every partieular contradictory to those of Maldonado and Juan de Fuca. For fifty years it was copied into all works upon North America and many maps of the continent had indicated upon them a pas-
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sage such as Fonte's was supposed to have been ; and during the eighteenth century all explorers of the northwest coast searched for the Rio de los Reyes, while inland expedi- tions from the Atlantic coast kept the fact that such a river existed constantly before them.
These various narratives, so entirely unreconcilable with each other, all had their firm supporters, and efforts have been made by historians at different times to prove each one of them to be an approximately correct account of a veritable voyage, but without success. The only one that can exist for a moment in the light of the geographical knowledge of to-day is that of the Greek pilot, Juan de Fuca, and to prove that, except by inference and comparison, is impossible. They all served their purpose, however, to stimulate the spirit of exploration, which has resulted in the spread of knowledge and the advancement of civilization.
CHAPTER IV.
VOYAGES IN THE PACIFIC AND ATLANTIC.
Voyages of Viscaino-His Vain Efforts to have San Diego and Monterey Occupied-The Lethargy of Spain -- Explorations of Henry Hudson and William Baffin- Dutch Navigators find the Atlantic and Pacific to be Con- nected by an Open Sea and name Cape Horn-Freebooters Swarm into the Pacific by the New Route- Feeble Efforts of Spain to Protect her Commerce-Attempt to Colonize Lower California-Organization of the Hud- son's Bay Company.
If Juan de Fuca's' statement was true, then the Spanish monarch was simply feigning indifference about finding and taking possession of the northwest passage ; for in 1595, while the old pilot was in Spain, Philip II. ordered a survey of the Pacific coast. Of this move Torquemada says :
His majesty knew that the viceroys of Mexico had endeavored to discover a northern pas- sage ; and he had found, among his father's papers, a declaration of certain strangers, to the effect that they had been driven, by violent winds, from the codfish coast on the Atlantic, to the South Sea, through the Strait of Anian, which is beyond Cape Mendocino, and had, on their way, seen a rich and populous city, well fortified, and inhabited by a numerous and civilized nation, who had treated them well ; as also many other things worthy to be seen and known. His majesty had also been informed that ships, sailing from China to Mexico, ran great risks, particularly near Cape Mendocino, where the storms are most violent, and that it would be advantageous to have that coast surveyed thence to Acapulco, so that the ships, mostly belonging to his majesty, should find places for relief and refreshment when needed. Whereupon his majesty ordered the Count de Monterey, Viceroy of Mexico, to have those coasts surveyed, at his own expense, with all care and diligence.
The phrase in italics in the above extract accounts for much of the delay in fully exploring the northern Pacific coast of America, for the viceroys of Mexico were strik- ingly similar to the office-holders of to-day in their manner of carrying out enterprises that were to be executed at their own expense. Writing half a century later Venegas gives the following for the anxiety of Spain to learn more of the coast. It was the fear
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ASHLAND
WOOLEN FACTORY
WALLING-LITH-PORTLAND-OR.
ASHLAND WOOLEN FACTORY.
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That in the meantime the English should find out the so-much-desired passage to the South Sea, by the north of America and above California, which passage is not universally denied, and one day may be found ; that they may fortify themselves on both sides of this passage, and thus extend the English dominion from the north to the south of America, so as to border on our pos- sessions. Should English colonies and garrisous be established along the coast of America on the South Sea beyond Cape Mendocino, or lower down on California itself, England would then, with- out control, reign mistress of the sea and its commerce, and be able to threaten by land and sea the territories of Spain ; invade them on occasion from the E., W., N. and S., hem them in and press them on all sides.
In compliance with his sovereign's mandate, the viceroy dispatched three vessels from Acapulco in the spring of 1596, under the command of Sebastian Viscaino. Beyond an attempt to plant two colonies, both of which were unsuccessful because of the sterility of the country and the savage hostility of the natives, nothing was accom- plished by this feeble pretense of obeying instructions. The viceroy was not permitted to thus shirk the expense of making a proper survey of the coast ; for though he was respited for a time by the death of the king in 1598, one of the first acts of Philip III. after being securely seated upon the throne, was to command the viceroy to attend to this matter without further delay. Viscaino was, in consequence, again sent out, this time upon a genuine voyage of exploration. His two vessels and small fragata were furnished with all the necessaries of an extended cruise, and he was accompanied by pilots, draftsmen and priests, so that advantage could be taken of all discoveries and proper records and charts made of them.
The fleet sailed from Acapulco May 5, 1602, and began exploring the coast at the southern extremity of the peninsula of California. They were much baffled by a wind blowing almost constantly from the northwest, which Torquemada says was produced " by the foe of the human race, in order to prevent the advance of the ships, and to delay the discovery of those countries, and the conversion of their inhabitants to the Catholic faith." Added to this difficulty was the terrible malady, the seurvy, which made sad inroads upon the health of the crews. They continued up the coast in spite of these discouraging circumstances, entering the ports of San Quentin, San Diego and Monterey. Here it was found that sixteen of the seamen had died and that many others were incapacitated by disease from performing duty ; and it was decided to send back the ship commanded by Toribio Gomez de Corvan with the invalids. Corvan reached Acapulco after a long and terrible journey with but few of the crew of his vessel alive.
A few days later, on the third of January, 1603, the two remaining vessels renewed the voyage, and were soon separated in a gale, from the fury of which the larger one took refuge in a bay spoken of in the record of the voyage as San Francisco, where search was made for a Spanish galleon which had been wrecked there in 1595. Torquemada says: "He anchored behind a point of rocks called La Punta de los Rayes, in the port of San Francisco." It seems impossible that this could have been San Francisco bay ; for one of the chief objects of the voyage was to find a harbor of refuge and supply for vessels in the Manila trade, and yet upon his return Viscaino recommended San Diego and Monterey as being the only ones at all suitable for that purpose ; yet it will be remembered that in later years, before any absolute record of the discovery of this bay was made, a chart upon which such a bay was indicated was found by an Englishman on a captured Manila galleon. The probabilities are, however,
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that the bay Viscaino entered was Drake's bay, just north of the Golden Gate, the place where Sir Francis Drake a few years before had enacted his farce of taking pos- sesion of the country in the name of the queen of England. Viscaino resumed his journey and on the twentieth of January reached a point on the coast opposite a large white bluff, in latitude 42°, which he named Cape San Sebastian. The weather being cold and stormy, his crew being nearly all disabled by the scurvy, and being unable to discover any sign of the other vessel, Viscaino turned back at this point, and reached Mexico in March. The fragata proceeded north when separated from the ship off San Francisco bay, and encountering another severe storm took refuge near Cape Mendocino. Of the remainder of its explorations Torquemada says: "When the wind had became less violent they continued their journey close along the shore; and, on the nineteenth of January, the pilot, Antonio Flores, found that they were in the latitude of 43 degrees, where the land formed a cape or point, which was named Cape Blanco. From that point the coast begins to turn to the northwest ; and near it was discovered a rapid and abundant river, with ash trees, willows, brambles, and other trees of Castile on its banks, which they endeavored to enter, but could not from the force of the current. Ensign Martin de Aguilar, the commander, and Antonio Flores, the pilot, seeing that they had already reached a higher latitude than was ordered by the viceroy in his instructions, that the Captaina [Viscaino's vessel] did not appear, and that the number of siek was great, agreed to return to Acapulco."
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