Benton County, Oregon - Chapter 9: Beginning of the Fur Trade on the Pacific Coast, 1885

Chapter 9: Beginning of the Fur Trade on the Pacific Coast

Cook's Return to England Produces great Results - Russian American Trading Company - Undertaking of John Ledyard - Voyage of the French Explorer LaPerouse - The East India, South Sea, and King George's Sound Companies - Meares Spends a Horrible Winter in the Arctic Regions - Berkeley Discovers the Straits of Fuca - Second Voyage of Captain Meares - He Explores the Straits of Fuca and Attempts to Enter the Columbia.

The lords of admiralty could pigeon-hole the log books of the Resolution and Discovery, but they could not so easily seal the lips of their excited crews, whose tales of the lands visited, wonderful objects and strange races of people seen, and, above all, of the ease with which fortunes could be made, by buying furs on the American coast for a song and trading them in China for valuable cargoes of silks, porcelain and tea, aroused a universal interest in the Pacific, which only the existing state of hostilities in Europe and America was potent to hold in check. The Russians, also, had learned much through the contact of their traders with the English explorers, both on the island of Ounalaska and at the port of Petropaulovski ; and, being unhampered by wars, were the first to take advantage of the discoveries of Cook and reap from them substantial results. An association called the Russian American Trading Company was organized in 1781, and in 1783 an expedition of three vessels was sent to the American coast to examine it and plant colonies on the islands and continent as far east as Prince William's sound. The expedition was absent three years and successfully accomplished its mission. These settlements and the power of the Russian American Trading Company were gradually extended until through them Russia obtained complete control of the Alaskan coast as far south as latitude 54 degrees and 40 minutes, and exerted great influence in the Pacific, even establishing in later years a settlement in California, which will be referred to again in these pages.

Several unsuccessful efforts were made to open up a trade between the American coast and China, especially by John Ledyard, an American seaman who had been one of the crew of Cook's vessel. He sought both in America and France to interest capitalists, but was unsuccessful in his efforts to secure backing in his enterprise. He then undertook to cross Russia and Siberia to Kamtchatka, sail thence to Nootka sound, and then traverse the American continent to the Atlantic. In furtherance of fhis scheme he secured a passport from the empress of Russia, and had advanced as far as Irkutsk, when he was arrested, conducted to the Polish frontier of Russia, and released with the injunction not to again enter the empire. This action was probably instigated by the Russian American Trading Company, which did not relish the idea of a foreigner becoming so familiar with a region which it proposed to monopolize for its own benefit.

King Louis XVI., of France, dispatched an expedition under the command of a most competent and scientific navigator named LaPerouse, in 1785, immediately after the publication of Cook's journal had verified the tales of his seamen and infused into the commercial world a spirit of adventure in the Pacific. LaPerouse was instructed to "explore the parts of the northwest coasts of America which had not been examined by Cook, and of which the Russian accounts gave no idea, in order to obtain information respecting the fur trade, and also to learn whether, in those unknown parts, some river or internal sea might not be found communicating with Hudson's bay or Baffin's bay." LaPerouse reached the coast in the vicinity of Mount Fairweather June 23, 1786, where he remained at anchor several weeks, and then sailed southward, examining the coast and discovering that many points formerly considered portions of the mainland were, in reality, but parts of islands. Though the first to ascertain this fact he received no credit for it, since his vessels were wrecked in the New Hebrides and his journal was not published until 1797, several years after other explorers had discovered and made known the same facts.

England's anxiety to further her interests in the Pacific led her to adopt a policy which, so far as the American coast was concerned, had the effect of hampering her efforts to secure a foothold on the coast. Notwithstanding the fact that the Hudson's Bay Company had been instrumental in checking the general progress of the nation on the Atlantic coast, and had headed off or rendered futile all explorations of its territory, Great Britain seems not to have learned a lesson from experience and was ready to repeat the experiment. To the great East India Company she had granted chartered rights which have been so well improved that a vast territory, an enormous commerce, millions of subjects, in fact a new empire, have been added to the British crown, and the queen of England now subscribes herself empress of the Indies. To this company was granted the privilege of trading with the Asiatic coast and adjacent islands of the Pacific to the complete exclusion of all other British subjects whatever. To a new association called the South Sea Company a like exclusive privilege of all the commerce of the American coast of the Pacific was given. Thus all independent English traders were shut out from the Pacific entirely, and Great Britain was compelled to rely upon these two companies for the advancement of her interests in this quarter of the globe ; since no vessels but those of the East India Company could carry the English flag around the Cape of Good Hope and none but those of its rival could enter the Pacific by the way of Cape Horn. But it was soon found that the interests of these two companies were antagonistic and their granted privileges conflicting, when applied to the practical demands of trade. The South Sea Company could load its ships with furs at Nootka and Prince William's sound, but it could not dispose of them in China ; on the other hand its powerful rival which controlled the Chinese market was debarred from sending its vessels to trade for furs on the American coast.

The first successful voyage was that of James Hanna, an Englishman, who sailed from Macao in 1785, and procured a cargo of furs at Nootka sound, which he sold in China for $20,000. He repeated the trip the following year, but encountered so much opposition from other traders who were then on the coast, and found so poor a market in China, which had been glutted with furs, that nothing was realized from the speculation. In 1785 the King George's Sound Company was organized in^ England and procured special permits from the South Sea Company and the East India Company, which enabled it to trade in the Pacific waters. The King George and Queen Charlotte were dispatched to the American coast under the command of Captains Portlock and Dixon, and traded two years without paying expenses because of the competition and overstocked market. Two other vessels were sent by the company, which arrived in 1787 just before Portlock and Dixon took their departure; but the new discoveries made by all these traders were confined to ascertaining that the coast above the 49th parallel was fringed by hundreds of large and small islands, and that it was only these islands which had been visited by the earlier explorers.

This led to the idea that the whole northwestern continent was in fact but an immense archipelago of islands, through which it would be possible to reach the Atlantic. This was the opinion formed by Captain Meares in 1789, who assigned as one of his reasons for holding that belief, that " the channels of this archipelago were found to be wide and capacious, with near two hundred fathoms deep of water, and huge promontories stretching out into the sea, where whales and sea-otters were seen in incredible abundance. In some of these channels there are islands of ice, which we may venture to say could never have formed on the western side of America, which possesses a mild and moderate climate ; so that their existence cannot be reconciled to any other idea, than that they received their formation in the eastern seas, and have been drifted by the tides and currents through the passage for whose existence we are contending." The intelligent mariner seems to have forgotten the ice encountered by Cook in Behring's strait and the terrible winter he himself spent on the Alaskan coast.

Captain Meares was a lieutenant of the British navy, off duty and on half pay. In 1787 the great East India Company fitted out two vessels to trade between Nootka sound and China, assigning the Nootka to the command of Meares and the Sea- Otter to Lieutenant Walter Tipping. This was the second venture of the company in this direction, as two small vessels had been dispatched the year before, which had enjoyed a reasonable measure of success.

The Sea- Otter is known to have reached Prince William's sound, but her voyage from that port is hidden in mystery while her ultimate fate is unknown. It is probable that she and her crew went to the bottom of the sea, for if wrecked upon the coast and her crew murdered by the natives, it would seem almost impossible that no trace of them should ever have been discovered. The Nootka, also, followed the course of the Japan current, crossed the Aleutian group between Ounamak and Ounalaska islands, and finally came to anchor in Prince William's sound, with the purpose of spending the winter there and resuming the voyage in the spring. During October, November and December their stay in the sound was quite endurable, but the horrors of an Arctic winter, with which English seamen were entirely unfamiliar, then began to crowd upon them. Ice hemmed in the vessel, snow covered it in drifts, all fowl and animal life deserted the sound, including the migratory natives who had been living there when they arrived. The sickly sun peeped over the horizon's rim but a few moments at noon, and then the almost perpetually-falling snow obscured it from view, " tremendous mountains forbade almost a sight of the sky, and cast their nocturnal shadows over the ship in the midst of day," scurvy, that horrible scourge of the sea, began its ravages among the crew, and horrors were " heaped on horror's head." From January to May twenty-three of the men died and the remainder were rendered unfit to perform any labor whatever. In May the birds and animals returned, the ice disappeared, the natives once more greeted their stricken visitors, the vessel was released from its icy chains, and in June Meares sailed to the Sandwich islands and from there to China, having achieved but the honor of being the first English navigator to spend the winter on the Alaskan coast. The East India Company were satisfied with these two disastrous voyages, but not so Captain Meares, who began making preparations for another visit to the American coast.

The entrance to the Straits of Fuca were seen for the first time since they were entered by the old Greek pilot by Captain Berkeley, an Englishman, though in command of a ship belonging to the Austrian East India Company. In sailing south from the coast of Vancouver island in his vessel the Imperial Eagle, Captain Berkeley noticed a broad opening between latitudes 48 and 49 degrees and just north of Cape Flattery, south of which Cook, Bodega and Heceta had made such careful search for the reputed passage. Noting the discovery upon his chart but making no effort to explore the opening, Berkeley continued south along the coast and at the Isla de los Dolores lost a boat's crew at the hands of Indians almost at the same spot where Bodega's men had been murdered ; and for this reason he called the unfortunate place Destruction island.

The next voyage of importance was that of the second visit to our coast by Captain Meares. In China the Portuguese were given special privileges and exemptions, and in order to reap the advantage of this two vessels were fitted out at the Portuguese port of Macao, near Canton, having nominal captains of that nation and receiving permission from the governor to carry the Portuguese flag. Their actual commanders were Captain Meares of the ship Felice, and William Douglas of the brig Iphigenia, though those gentlemen appear upon the papers simply in the capacity of supercargoes. Nor was this alone the object of the use of Portugal's flag, since by so doing the act of Parliament excluding all British vessels from the Pacific except those of the East India and South Sea companies could be evaded. Greenhow endeavors to prove that these two vessels were actually the property of Juan Cavallo, the Portuguese whose name appears as owner in the ship's papers, and that the Portuguese captains were the bona fide commanders of the vessels ; and he so far succeeds in his effort as to raise a strong presumption that, if such was not the case, these Portuguese were at least something more than mere figureheads in the enterprise. The plan of the voyage was for the Felice to go to Nootka sound and coast up and down from that harbor exploring the coast and trading with the natives ; the Iphigenia was to proceed at once to Cook's inlet and trade southward to Nootka, where one of the vessels was to load all the furs and return to Macao, the other to remain there or at the Sandwich islands until spring.

In pursuance of this plan of operations the Felice sailed for Nootka sound in the winter of 1787-8, and immediately upon her arrival the construction of a small schooner was begun by her crew, to be used for trading along the coast. While this work was progressing Meares made a short voyage southward ; but before going he secured from Maquinna, the chief, the privilege of erecting a house for the abode and protection of the working party left behind. The consideration for this favor was a brace of pistols and the free gift of the house and its contents when he took his final departure. This shows conclusively that the house was only for temporary occupancy, yet Meares, afterwards, in view of subsequent events, laid claim to having made a permanent settlement in the name of the king of England ; though how he could have done so while acting, even nominally, in the capacity of supercargo of a Portuguese vessel, he fails to explain.

Having built his house, and surrounded it with a rampart of earth surmounted with a small cannon for the protection of its inmates, Meares sailed south along the coast in search of the passage which had been discovered the previous year by Berkeley. On the twenty-ninth of June, 1788, in latitude 48 degrees and 39 minutes, he observed a broad inlet, and in his narrative lays claim to its first discovery, by claiming that " the fact of the coast along which we were now sailing had not been seen by Captain Cook, and we know no other rfevigator, said to have been this way, except Maurelle," though in the introduction to the narrative he mentions the fact of Berkeley's discovery the year before. He says: " From the masthead, it was observed to stretch to the east by the north, and a clear and unbounded horizon was seen in this direction as far as the eye could reach. The strongest curiosity impelled us to enter this strait, which we shall call by the name of its original discoverer, John de Fuca." Duffin, mate of the Felice, was sent up the strait with a boat's crew of thirteen men and provisions for a month. They returned in a week, every one of them suffering from wounds received in a conflict with the natives. The boat had proceeded only ten miles up the strait, [Meares claimed thirty, but Duffin's statement places it at ten], and had been attacked with great ferocity and bravery by the savages who seemed not to care for the destruction caused by the fire arms upr to be frightened by the noise they made. They used their bows and arrows, clubs, stone bludgeons, spears and slings with great skill and effect, so much so that had it not been for the protection afforded by the awning of the boat few of the crew would have escaped with their lives.

Meares then sailed south in search of the Rio de San Roque of Heceta. On the fifth of July he observed a headland which he called Cape Shoalwater and on approaching nearer the coast the next day saw beyond this a promontory which he conceived to be one side of Heceta's inlet. He says: " After we had rounded the promontory a large bay, as we had imagined, opened to our view, that bore a very promising appearance, and into it we steered with every encouraging expectation. The high land that formed the boundaries of the bay was at a great distance, and a flat, level country occupied the intervening space ; the bay itself took rather a westerly direction. As we steered in the water shoaled to nine, eight and seven fathoms, when breakers were seen from the deck right ahead, and, from the masthead, they were observed to extend across the bay ; we therefore hauled out, and directed our course to the opposite shore, to see if there was any channel or if we coidd discover any point. The name of Cape Disappointment was given to the promontory (Cape Hancock), and the bay obtained the title of Deception bay. * * * * We can now with safety assert that there is no such river as that of St. Roc exists, as laid down in the Spanish charts. To those of Maurelle [ Bodega's pilot ] we made continual reference, but without deriving any information or assistance from them. We now reached the opposite side of the bay, where disappointment continued to accompany us , and, being almost certain that there we should obtain no place of shelter for the ship, we bore for a distant headland, keep- ing our course within two miles of the shore." The distant headland he named Cape Lookout, it being the one called Cape Falcon by the Spaniards and now known as Tillamook head.

Having now il traced every part of the coast which unfavorable weather had prevented Captain Cook from approaching," Meares returned to Nootka sound, where he was soon joined by the Iphigenia, which had been very successful in its traffic with the northern natives. The little schooner was then launched, the first vessel constructed on the Northern Pacific coast, and the very appropriate title of Northwest America was bestowed upon her. Leaving orders for the schooner and the Iphigenia to winter at Hawaii, Meares sailed in the Felice for China, taking with him all the accumulated furs.

Before Meares quitted Nootka sound, two American vessels entered it, bearing the happily-chosen names of Columbia and Washington, the former being a ship an dthe latter a sloop. The commerce of the colonies had been entirely destroyed during the long struggle for independence, but immediately after the treaty of Ghent the citizens of the new republic began to make their presence felt in every commercial mart. The seal and whale fishing around Cape Horn was resumed, and as early as 1784 an American vessel entered the harbor of Canton, while in 1787 no less than five were engaged in the trade with China. Being unencumbered with restrictions such as England had imposed upon all British vessels except those of her chartered monopolies, they could embark in the fur trade with every prospect of success, and it was as a venture in this direction that the Columbia and Washington were fitted out in Boston and dispatched to the Pacific, with an ample supply of such goods and trinkets as were the most highly prized by the Indians. John Kendrick was the commander of the Columbia and leader of the expedition, while the Washington was under the command of Robert Gray.

Soon after entering the Pacific around Cape Horn, in January, 1788, the two vessels were separated by a severe gale and were not again united until the following October in Nootka sound. The Washington kept her course northward, and in August reached the Oregon coast near the 46th parallel, where she ran aground while attempting to enter an opening in the land which was probably the mouth of the Columbia. After repelling an attack of the natives, during which the mate was wounded and one of the men killed, the Washington succeeded in again floating into deep water. She then went directly to Nootka sound, where were found the Felice, Iphigenia and Northwest America, her appearance there being an unexpected surprise to Captain Meares and his associates. A few days later the Columbia also entered the sound to join her consort, having been compelled after the storm near Cape Horn to enter the harbor of the Island of Juan Fernandez for repairs, where Captain Kendrick had been most courteously treated by the commandant of the Spanish forces stationed there. Meares soon sailed to China in the Felice, and the Iphigenia and Northwest America proceeded to the Sandwich islands to spend the winter, the two American vessels lying at anchor in Nootka sound until the following spring.

Conflict Of Authority At Nootka Sound

Anxiety of Spain lest her Claims in the Pacific be Overthrown - Voyage of Martinez and Haro - Alarming Encroachments of the Russians - Spain Dispatches Martinez and Haro to Nootka Sound to Take Possession - New Venture of Captain Meares - High-Handed Conduct of Martinez at Nootka - Captains Colnett and Hodson Sent to San Bias as Prisoners - Gray Explores the Straits of Fuca - Release of Colnett - Diplomatic Controversy Between England and Spain.

The uneasiness felt by England in 1776 when reports reached the kingdom that Spain was diligently exploring and colonizing the Pacific coast of America, was now experienced in even a greater degree by Spain herself, who saw vessels of foreign nations, and especially those of her dreaded rival, entering the Pacific from both the east and the west. She had not receded in the least degree from the extreme position taken by her in the sixteenth century, and not only claimed dominion over all the Pacific coast of America, but a complete monopoly of its trade to the exclusion of the vessels of all other nations whatever.

In pursuance of this policy Don Bias Gonzales, the commandant at Juan Fernandez, was recalled and cashiered by the captain general of Chili for his hospitable treatment of Captain Kendrick, and this action was endorsed by the viceroy of Peru. The delinquent officer was informed that he should have enforced the royal ordinance of 1692, which decreed that all foreign vessels of any nation, no matter on how friendly terms they might be with Spain, should be seized whenever found in Pacific waters, unless they could exhibit a license from the Spanish court. The authorities in all ports were then specially instructed to seize all foreign vessels, since no nation had a right to any territory in America which made a passage of Cape Horn necessary in order to reach it; and the Spanish viceroy even went so far as to dispatch a cruiser from Callao in search of the Columbia, with instructions to capture her if possible.

The Spanish authorities now realized that something must be done to establish settlements north of California, their utmost limit at that time being the mission at San Francisco. Beyond that, though claiming exclusive authority and dominion, they actually knew less of the geography of the coast than either the English or Russians. An expedition was accordingly fitted out in Mexico in 1788, to be sent on a voyage of inquiry, for the double purpose of learning the extent of Russian settlements in the north, and selecting suitable locations for a number of proposed Spanish colonies. The fleet consisted of the Princesa, commanded by Estivan Martinez, former pilot of Juan Perez, and the San Carlos under command of Lieutenant Gonzalo Haro.

The two consorts sailed from San Bias March 8, 1788, and reached Prince William's sound on the twenty-fifth of May, where they lay nearly a month without making any attempt at exploration. There was a marked and radical difference between the English and Spanish methods of conducting operations of this character ; for while the latter seemed, either from lack of energy or want of the true spirit of the explorer, to be satisfied with an occasional visit to the coast here and there, making a few almost valueless notes of what they saw, the English, on the contrary, seemed imbued with enthusiasm, exploring the shore carefully, taking continual observations, noting every peculiarity, and keeping a record of much geographical and scientific value. One of these careful English voyages was worth to the world a dozen such skimmings as the Spaniards indulged in.

About the end of June Haro sailed southwest with the San Carlos and fell in with the Island of Kodiak, upon which was a Russian trading post. From the official in charge, a Greek named Delaref, he received minute information as to the character, number and location of all Russian establishments in America. He returned to Prince William's sound to join Martinez, who had been amusing himself meanwhile by making a few cursory explorations, and the two then sailed for Ounalaska, where they remained nearly a month enjoying the hospitality of the Russian traders. With the first signs of coming winter they bade adieu to Alaska and returned to San Bias to report to the viceroy.

According to the statement given by them and forwarded to Madrid, there were eight Russian settlements on the coast, all situated west of Prince William's sound, while one was then being established in that locality ; and these were occupied by 252 subjects of the empress, chiefly natives of Siberia and Kamtchatka. It was also reported that information had been received of two vessels which had been dispatched to Nootka sound to effect a settlement, and of two others then being constructed at Ochotsk for a similar purpose. The court of Spain was much agitated by this information. It revealed a state of affairs highly prejudicial to the interests of Spain on our coast. Already Russia had made settlements such as gave her title to the Alaskan regions and was developing alarming symptoms of a purpose to establish herself still further to the southward. Though the presence of English and American traders on the coast was annoying in the extreme, the conduct of Russia was positively alarming, and Spain realized that nothing but heroic remedies instantly applied would be at all effective to ward off the impending danger.

A communication was at once forwarded to the empress of Russia, remonstrating against the encroachments of her subjects upon the dominions of Spain, to which was replied that Russian subjects in America were acting under instructions not to invade the territory of other nations ; but as neither the remonstrance nor the reply defined the limit claimed for their respective dominions, nothing definite was settled by the correspondence between the two powers. While this piece of diplomacy was being indulged in by the home government, the viceroy in Mexico was applying the heroic remedy. Early in 1789 he dispatched Martinez and Haro in their two vessels to take possession of Nootka sound, instructing them to treat all foreigners with courtesy, but to- maintain the authority of Spain and her right of dominion at all hazards.

Meanwhile other vessels were headed for Nootka sound. The Iphigenia and Northwest America, having spent the winter at Hawaii, and still sailing under the Portuguese flag and license, reaching the port in April in a most deplorable condition, so much so that they had to procure supplies and means for continuing their trade with the natives from the two American vessels still lying there. Meares had upon his return to China formed a trading arrangement with the representatives of the King George's Sound Company, and in the spring dispatched the Argonaut and Princess Royal to Nootka, remaining himself in China to conduct the company's affairs there in person. Since these vessels were provided with licences from both the East India and the South Sea companies, the Portuguese flag was dispensed with, and they sailed under the British colors.

On the sixth of May, 1789, the Princesa anchored at Nootka, finding there the Columbia and Iphigenia, the other two being absent on a trading voyage along the coast. Martinez at once notified Captains Douglas and Kendrick of his intention to take possession in the name of the king of Spain, examined their papers, and then landed and began the erection of a fort in a commanding position on a small island in the bay. No objection was made to these proceedings and the utmost cordial relations existed for sometime between the representatives of the three great nations. Douglas still preserved the Portuguese character of the Iphigenia, displayed that flag at her masthead, and even paid Martinez for supplies furnished by him in bills drawn upon Juan Cavallo, the reputed Portuguese owner of the vessel, ignorant of the fact that the Macao merchant had become bankrupt, and that Meares had transferred the whole expedition into English hands and discarded the Portuguese feature.

A week later, on the fourteenth of May, Captain Haro arrived in the San Carlos, and the next day Captain Viana and Supercargo Douglas were invited by Martinez to visit his ship. When the guests entered the cabin of the Princesa they were told to consider themselves prisoners, while at the same time the brig was taken possession of by the Spaniards. On the twenty-sixth of May the Iphigenia was released upon the signing by her officers of a paper certifying that they had been kindly treated and not interfered with by the Spaniards. The Iphigenia then sailed up the coast, procured a valuable cargo of furs, and returned to China, where Douglas severed his connection with the vessel. From this circumstance and the fact that she continued to sail under the Portuguese flag it would seem evident that she was in reality a genuine Portuguese vessel, and had not been included by Meares in his new arrangement with the King George's Sound Company. This being the case it is evident that upon her actions, or those of her two consorts the previous year, no claim could be founded by England, yet such was done and persistently adhered to, on the ground that the vessels were actually British though nominally Portuguese in their character.

On the eighth of June, subsequent to the release and departure of the Iphigenia, the little Northwest America sailed into port, carrying the Portuguese flag, and was immediately seized by the Spanish commandant. A few days later the Princess Royal arrived from Macao, with the British ensign displayed at her masthead. When Martinez learned from Captain Hodson that Cavallo had failed, he declared that he would hold the little schooner for what was due him on the bills drawn by Douglas, and releasing the crew from custody and permitting them to place the greater quantity of their furs on board the Princess Royal, he dispatched the schooner on a trading voyage under the command of one the mates of the Columbia.

The Princess Royal sailed from Nootka on the second of July, and the same day the Argonaut, commanded by Captain Colnett, entered, though not till the captain was as- sured by Martinez that it was perfectly safe for him to do so, his timidity being caused by information imparted to him of the conduct of Martinez in relation to the Iphigenia and Northwest America. Having entered the bay and anchored between the Princesa and San Carlos, Captain Colnett arrayed himself in full uniform and boarded the Princesa in acceptance of an invitation from Martinez to pay him a visit and exhibit his papers. He descended into the cabin and a most stormy interview ensued between him and the Spanish commandant. Colnett informed Martinez that it was his purpose and intention to occupy Nootka sound in the name of King George of England, and to erect suitable fortifications for its defense ; and was in turn notified that such action on his part would not be tolerated, since Spain had already taken possession. The English captain became angry and asserted his intention to carry out his purpose in the face of all opposition, whereupon Martinez sent for a file of marines and made him a prisoner; at the same time a detachment boarded the Argonaut and took possession of her in the name of the king of Spain, making prisoners of the entire crew. A few days later the Princess Royal appeared at the entrance to the sound, and was instantly boarded by the Spaniards and brought into port as a prize. On the thirteenth of July Colnett, with all his officers and the greater portion of the captured crews, was placed on board the Argonaut and sent as a prisoner to San Bias. The other ship was supplied with a complement of officers and men from the Spanish vessels, and was employed for two years in the service of Spain. The officers and crew of the Northwest America, together with some of the seamen on board the other vessels, were sent to China in the Columbia, the American captain receiving a portion of the furs captured with the Princess Royal in payment of their passage.

During all these troubles the two American vessels were unmolested, their commanders mediating frequently between the contending parties, though generally to little purpose. The Columbia remained continuously at Nootka, while her smaller consort traded and explored up and down the coast and collected a valuable cargo of furs. Captain Gray sailed in the Washington through the straits between Queen Charlotte island and the main land, and called the former Washington island, though the name seems to have lacked adhesive properties. He also sailed up the Straits of Fuca a distance of fifty miles, the Washington being the first vessel to actually enter and explore that great outlet of Puget sound. Early in the fall Captains Kendrick and Gray exchanged vessels, the latter sailing in the Columbia for China with a large cargo of furs and the passengers sent by Martinez, while Kendrick remained on the coast with the Washington to prosecute the business of collecting peltry from the natives. In September Martinez and Haro took their departure in obedience to instructions received from the viceroy, and Nootka was left without a claimant.

The Argonaut with its load of English prisoners reached San Bias on the sixteenth of August. The commandant at that port, who was Bodega y Quadra, the explorer, treated Captain Colnett with great courtesy and soon afterwards sent him to Mexico, where the merits of his case were inquired into officially by the viceroy. It was finally decided that Martinez, though simply carrying out the letter of his instructions, had acted somewhat injudiciously, and that the prisoners should be released and the captured vessels restored. Consequently Captain Colnett sailed in the Argonaut for Nootka sound in the spring of 1790, and failing to find the Princess Royal set out in

The release of Colnett and the restoration of his damaged vessels was by no means the end of the Nootka affair. England and Spain engaged in a diplomatic controversy in regard to it, which seriously threatened to involve Europe in a general war, and that dreadful result was only avoided by the mutual dislike of both nations to precipitate such a bloody conflict. France, Spain and England had not yet recovered from their recent struggle, and none of them were anxious to renew the contest.

The Columbia arrived in China with intelligence of the Nootka seizures late in the fall of 1789, and Meares, arming himself with statements and depositions in regard to the affair, hastened to England, to seek redress for his wrongs and losses. He arrived in April and found negotiations already in progress. Spain had undertaken to assert at home the same ideas of universal supremacy in the Pacific that had been the sole cause of trouble at Nootka, and had sent a communication to the king of England on the tenth of February, notifying him that certain of his subjects had been infringing upon her exclusive rights on the American coast, that in consequence the ship Argonaut had been seized as a prize and her crew imprisoned, and strongly protesting against his majesty permitting any of his subjects to either make settlements or engage in fishing or trade on the American coast of the Pacific, and demanding punishment of all such offenders. England's reply to this haughty demand was characteristic of that nation, which has always kept a protecting arm around its citizens in every quarter of the globe. It was brief and to the point, notifying the court of Madrid that since it was evident from the Spanish protest that English subjects had been imprisoned and their property confiscated, proper satisfaction for the insult and reparation of the injury must be made before the merits of the controversy would be inquired into. The tone of the reply was so ' belligerent that Spain at once began to prepare for war, but to avoid this if possible concluded to modify her demands, and notified England that if his majesty would in future keep his subjects out of the Spanish dominions, she would let the matter drop where it was.

Soon after this Meares arrived in England with his version of the affair, which placed it in entirely a new light. Two large fleets were ordered to be fitted for war, and a statement of the affair together with the correspondence with Spain was submitted to parliament, which voted ample supplies and endorsed the most vigorous measures for upholding the rights and maintaining the honor of England. A demand was made upon Spain for satisfaction. Much controversy followed - messages flying backwards and forwards for three months, during which Europe was kept in a high state of excitement. England made full preparations for a descent upon the Spanish settlements in America, and assembled the greatest armament the nation had ever put forth. She formed an alliance with Sweden and the Netherlands in anticipation of the union of Spain and France against her, since it was a well-known fact that a family compact for mutual aid existed between the members of the Bourbon family occupying the thrones of those two kingdoms. The king of Spain formally called upon Louis XVI. of France, for the promised aid, but the nation was even then tottering on the brink of that horrible abyss of revolution into which it soon plunged, and the doomed monarch was powerless. The national assembly investigated the treaty, sug- gested that a new and more definite one be made, and ordered an increase of the navy, but offered Spain no encouragement that assistance would be given her. Englaud's northern allies were in no condition to render her material aid, her exchequer was exhausted by her great preparations for war, serious trouble was brewing in the East Indies, and the threatening aspect of affairs in France warned her that to form a protective alliance with Spain would be far wiser than to go to war. All these considerations caused Great Britain to recede from her bellicose position and secretly seek the mediation of France. After much negotiation the treaty of Nootka was signed October 28, 1790, and the threatened war was averted.

The treaty stipulated that all buildings and tracts of land on the northwest coast of America of which Spanish officers had dispossessed any British subjects should be restored ; that just reparation should be made by both parties to the agreement for any acts of violence committed by the subjects of either of them upon the subjects of the other ; that any property seized should be restored or compensated for ; that subjects of Great Britain should not approach within ten leagues of any part of the coast already occupied by Spain ; that north of that point both parties should have equal rights, as well as south of the limits of Spanish settlements in South America. These were the general features of the convention between the two nations, and were very distasteful to a large party in parliament, who opposed the treaty on the ground that England gained nothing and lost much ; that formerly British subjects claimed and fully exercised the right of settlement and trade in the Pacific, whereas England had now restricted herself to limits and conditions exceedingly detrimental to her commerce and general interests. The treaty, however, was sustained by the administration majority in Parliament.

England Sends Vancouver to the Pacific - Kendrick Sails Around Vancouver Island in the "Washington" - Spain Again Takes Possession of Nootka and Explores the Coast - Lieutenant Quimper Explores the Entrance to Puget Sound - Malaspina Searches for the Straits of Anian - Second Voyage of the 44 Columbia" - Gray Builds the 4 'Adventure" at Cloyoquot - Spain Investigates the Desirability of Holding Nootka - Arrival of Vancouver - His Opinion that no such Stream as the Columbia Could Exist - Captain Gray Enters the Columbia - Vancouver Explores and Names Puget Sound - Negotiations at Nootka - Broughton Explores the Columbia - Vancouver in 1793 and 1704 - Northwest Company Organized - Mackenzie's Journey to the Pacific.

Commissioners were appointed by England and Spain to proceed to Nootka and execute that portion of the treaty referring to the restoration of property. Captain George Vancouver was selected by Great Britain for that service, and given instructions to explore the coast thoroughly, and especially to " examine the supposed Strait of Juan de Fuca, said to be situated between the 48th and 49th degrees of north latitude, and to lead to an opening through which the sloop Washington is reported to