Explorers of the Pacific Northwest

* Goals and Context of Early European Exploration

- The Northwest Passage

-> sailors sought a “Northwest Passage” between the Atlantic

and the Pacific, making for a short trip to Asia

- also looking for economically worthwhile places

-> gold, timber, furs, cropland, etc. all sought out

- the various European nations, and the USA, were competing to

snag all the “open” land on the globe

-> conveniently failed to notice the Native inhabitants’

claims

- Spanish claims

-> even without ever setting foot in the PNW, the Spaniards

could claim the land

=> Treaty of Tordesillas 1494 gave the Spaniards the

Pope’s blessing to control the entire Pacific Rim

=> needless to say, the rest of the world did not agree

* Explorers by Sea

- 1542 Bartolome Ferrelo - Spain

-> sailed along coast of southern Oregon

- 1592 (Maybe) Juan de Fuca

-> claimed to have sailed as far north as the strait that

bears his name

-> also claimed that it was the Northwest Passage and that he

sailed it

- 1603 Martin Aquilar and Sebastian Viscaino - Spain

-> sailed north to 43rd parallel

- 1725 Vitus Bering - Russian

-> sailed between US and Russia and determined they weren’t

connected

- 1733-41 Vitus Bering - Russian

-> explored Alaska

- 1774 Juan Perez - Spain

-> sailed along British Columbia

-> established a settlement on Vancouver Island

- 1775 Bruno de Hezeta and Juan Bodega - Spain

-> sailed along Washington and Oregon coasts

-> named the Rio San Rouge

=> later the Rogue River

- 1778 James Cook - British

-> sailed along Washington and Oregon coasts

=> did a lot of good mapping

-> correctly concluded that there was no Northwest Passage

-> took some furs along as they sailed to China

=> made a good deal of money selling the furs

- 1779 Ignacio de Arteaga - Spain

-> sailed as far noth as 59th parallel

- 1784 Grigorii Shelikhov - Russian

-> set up permanent Russian settlement in Alaska

- 1785 James Hanna - British

-> sailed to Nootka Sound and traded for furs which he sold

in China for a huge profit

- 1787 Charles Barkley - British

-> sails the Strait of San Juan de Fuca

- 1788 John Meares - British

-> sailed along Washington and Oregon coasts

=> famous for not noticing the Colombia River - oops!

-> started the first regular fur trade with China

=> made a great deal of money

-> also brought back Chinese laborers to work in Nootka Sound

-> built a saw mill and ships

-> strong English claims to the area

- 1789 Don Esteban Jose Martinez - Spain

-> builds a fort on Nootka Sound

-> arrested next English visitors

=> caused a furor

=> US became interested in the area as a result

- 1790 Francisco Eliza and Manuel Quimper - Spain

-> explored the Strait of Juan de Fuca

=> strengthened Spanish claims over the area

- 1792 George Vancouver - British

-> 2 month long exploration of Puget Sound

-> renamed most of the area

=> White names that stuck

- 1792 Robert Gray - USA

-> sailed the coasts of Oregon and Washington

-> discovered the Colombia River

- 1792 Salvador Fidalgo - Spain

-> established a colony in the Strait of Juan de Fuca

-> strengthened Spanish claims

- 1799 - Aleksander Baranov - Russian

-> set up Russian settlement along the PNW coast

-> Russian outposts as far as Cape Mendocino in California

=> making a mint on the fur trade

* Explorers by Land

- Alexander Mackenzie 1793

-> a British fur trapper

-> crosses to the Puget Sound

-> sets up the beginnings of what would be a large British

fur trapping enterprise

- Lewis and Clark background

-> 1803, US makes the Louisiana purchase

=> requires exploration

-> hired by US government to explore the area to the

northwest of the then-US

-> still basically seeking the Northwest Passage

-> also an attempt to horn in on British fur trade in PNW

- the Lewis and Clark expedition

-> starts in St. Louis on May 14, 1804

-> 27 soldiers, a hunter, and a slave named York

-> quickly moved up the Missouri River

-> had a rough time in the Bitterroot mountains

-> sailed down the Clearwater, Snake, and Colombia Rivers

=> finally reached the Pacific on Nov. 7, 1805

-> wintered at ft. Clatsop

=> plagued by rain

-> returned to St. Louis on September 23, 1806

=> lost only one man, Charles Floyd

* The Politics of Early Exploration

- Spain started with the strongest position with the Treaty of

Tordesillas

-> faced a great deal of work in Central and South America

=> had few resources to spare for more northerly conquests

=> found plenty of gold and land in Central and South

America

+> Northwest seemed poor by comparison

-> were careful to keep explorations reasonably secret, so

not a lot of records exist

-> had a very strong claim until they were weakened by

troubles back in Europe in the early 1790s

=> allowed the British permanent settlements in 1795

-> in 1819 Spain gives up all claims to land North of the

42nd parallel

- Russians were making money, but were unable to mount a strong

presence in the PNW

-> too far from Russia by land, too small a fleet by sea

-> gradually pulled back to just Alaska

-> agreed to the border in 1825

- English had a very strong claim from exploration

-> Vancouver’s diligent exploration helped

-> Mackenzie’s trip by land extended Canada

-> Britain seemed destined to control as far south as

Columbia River

-> War of 1812 left results of PNW inconclusive

-> 1818 Convention with US left joint-settlement and no clear

resolution

-> PNW “free and open” to US and Britain until 1846

- US had growing claim to the area

-> Gray and Lewis and Clark had lain some groundwork for

US claims

-> growing presence of US settlers and trappers helped

=> Oregon and Utah especially was Americanizing after 1824

=> Smith and the Mormon part of the early US presence

-> by treaty, US citizens had equal right with British to be

in PNW

-> not until 1846 is present Canadian border agreed upon