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About The west shore. (Portland, Or.) 1875-1891 | View Entire Issue (Nov. 1, 1877)
34 THE WEST SHORE. November, Continued.) HISTORICAL ADVENTURES ON THE I'ACinC COAST. AJ'T, COOK S fAO TO Tm NORTHWEST COAST. c v. vicroK. The period between 1774 and 1788 h an Important one in the history of the Northwest Coast, as it embraces not only the final decline of Spanish power 011 the North Pacific, but also the temporary supremacy of Great Britain, and the advent of American vessels iii these wateri The following is a list of the vessels known to have visited the waters con tiguous to the territory subsequently claimed by the United States, from the time of Hecota'a discovery of the en trance of the Columbia, to the first appearance of American vessels north of California.: The rVW7(JW, Capti James Cook, from 1'lynioulh, England, on a voyage of discovery, 1 778. The OfAitWCapt. Charles Clarke, from the lame port on the lame errand, A French exploring expedition, Li I'erouso, commander, 1786, An English vettel, James Manila, muter, trading from Nootka Sound to Macao in China, under the Portuguese Hag, 1 785-'Srt. Two English veateli, Lowrie and Guise, matters, trading from Nootka Sound to Macao, China, under the East India Company'! Hag, 17S6. Two English vessels, Mcars and Lip ping, misters, in the same trade, under the same ling, 1 Ship Imperial Eagle, from the port of Ostrnd, Rerkely, master, trading from the Northwest Coast to Canton in China, under the flag of the Austrian Kast India Company, 17S7. Slop h'etiee, John Mean, master, ti iding from Nootka Sound to Macao, under the Portuguese flag, 17SS. Ship Ipliig tula, Wm. Douglas, mas ter, trading fiom Nootka Sound to Macao, under the Portuguese flag, 788. Ship Columbia, John Kendrick, mas ter, from the port of Boston, Massa chusetts, trading from the Northwest Coast to Canton in China, under the American Hag, 17SS. 1. Sloo Washington Robert Gray, master, from the same pott, in the same trade, 17S8. It will be necessary to the under standing of w hat follows, and of the reasons that led to the sudden swoop, in;; down of different nationalities upon the fur-offNorthwest Coast of America, that some account should here be given of the voyages and missions of these vessels. The expedition ofCapt Cook having been the chief promoter of all tlie rest, deserves special attention. It has been remarked in another place thai the power of Spain and the fame of her navigators had been de clining almost from the beginning of the 17th century, At the time when llccota, in doubt of Lis discovery of the Columbia river, gave it the name of na) or Rival in his icport to the Span ish government, Spain ranked lowest of any of the great maritime nations of Europe, Never much renowned for literature of science, she was then far behind England, France or Holland in those scientific di-covcries which gave greatly Increased effectiveness, speed Mid seem iti to the vessels of those na tions. K01 tliiitccn years after the peace of 17C-, Great Britain had annu ally sent Well appointed ships to cruise in the South PacMk ; not without alarm ing Spain, as we have seen. Mean while many expeditions were made on Comrlsht III 1ST, by I. -sot,,,: a .,, of rseesjUsalsi imiiViu- thc North Atlantic side of the Ameri can continent, and many journeys in land undertaken with the ohject of as certaining its width. The theory of a Mediterranean Sea, or navigahlc channel across the con tinent, had not yet heen explored. While Spain had heen looking for the Strait of Anlan on the west side, Eng land had been equally diligent on the east. The "Fretum Anian in the South Sea, through the northwest passage of Meta Incognita," continued to be the illusion in which kings and sea-captains delighted, ll was with the avowed in tention of encouraging the search for a northern passage to the Pacific that Charles the Second, made in 1666, his magnificent grant to the Hudson's Bay Company. At that time the Company, so famous in the early settlement of Oregon, was styled "The Company of Adventurers of England, trading into Hudson's Hay." King Charles hoped that the explorations of the Company, which would naturally take place, would lead to the desired discovery of water communication across the north ern portion of the American continent. These expectations made no allow ance for that part of the continent lying north of California, anil the general be. lief was that the Pacific ocean was al most immediately west of Canada, hut as one cxpidition after nnother penetra ted farther anil farther west, the conti nent continued to broaden out murvcl ously; yet as late as 1745 a reward was offered by the English Parliament, of twenty thousand pounds, for the dis covery of a northwest passage "through Hudson's Bay, by ships belonging to His Majesty's subjects." And still later in 1776, parliament offered a similar reward to the owners of any ship he longing to His Majesty's service, or to the commander and crew of any ship belonging to 1 lis Majesty, which should find out any such passage, and sail through it, between the Atlantic anil Pacific oceans, in any direction, or un der any parallel north of the 5id. At the same time that these oilers of re ward testified to the ignorance of the navigators of that day, they stimulated them to great exertions, and led at last to the more perfect and scientific explo rations of Capt James Cook, as his re ports did to all the other expeditions immediately following. Upon the adoption by parliament of the resolutions above mentioned, Capt. Cook, who had just returned' from a voyage of discovery about the south pole, offered his services to conduct such an expedition of discovery as was had in contemplation. His proposal being accepted, he was instructed to proceed, at once, by way of the Cape of Good Hope, New Zealand anil Otohelte, to the coast of Ntm Albion, meaning that portion of the California coast discovered by Drake, and so named; and to make the land in lati tude 45 degrees, whence he was to ex amine the coast northward. Capt. Cook was also Instructed not to touch upon any perl of the coast be longing to Spain, unless forced to do so by stress of weather or accident, in which case he was to avoid gi ing of. fence to the subjects of His Catholic Majesty. The same caution was given in reaped to the Russian settlements, extending then from liehring's Straits to the txith parallel. The limits of Russian discovery were probably un known to parliament, as was also the more recent action of the Mexican gov ernment in sending out exploring expe ditions; and Capt. Cook acted in good faith in follow ing his instructions, w hich were to begin his search for Fretum Anian at latitude 6j degrees, though that was Russian territory, as New 'Al bion was Spanish territory, Further, Cook's instructions were very complete in regard to his treat ment of the natives, whose consent he must obtain before taking possession of inhabited countries in the name of the King of Great Britain. Amongst those willing subjects of his king, he was to distribute such articles as would remain in proof of his having been there; and of uninhabited countries he was ordered to take possession by "setting up proper marks and inscriptions, as first discov erers and possessors." This was de cidedly much more fair and open than the course of Spain, whose monks set tin crosses in "secret places" to take possession of a country already in habited. It would have saved trouble if Capt. Cook had adhered to this part of bis instructions as faithfully as he did to some others. On the 12th of July, 1776, Cook sailed from Plymouth, in the ship Reso lution, accompanied by the Discovery, Captain Charles Clarke, lloth vessels were thoroughly equipped for the ob ject in view, and their officers were as well chosen as their furnishing was perfect. There was no haste about this well appointed expedition. It sailed around the Cape of Good Hope ami through the landless Southern Ocean to Van Dieman's Land, on the borders of the Pacific. A year was spent cruising about among the islands of this portion of the Pacific, from New Zealand to the Society Islands. It was already the Spring of 177S before the prow of the Resolution was tinned towards Drake's Nevj Albion hut once turned in this direction no time was lost. On the run over, the Sand wich Islands were discovered. Had Capt, Cook tarried as long there on this occasion as be subsequently did, there might not be anything to record concerning the English claims on the Northwest Coast; but tarry he did not, and arrived in sight of the Oregon coast March 7th, when the weather was as disagreeable as March weather in this region can be. The vessels were driven one hundred miles south of 44 degrees, Cook employing the time in taking correct longitudes, and, turning bark as soon us the storm abated, he had discovered Cape Flattery between 48 and 49 deg. by the lad of the month. Singularly enough, Cook was deceived as the Spanish navigators had been be fore him. He looked for the Strait of Fuca between the 47th and 48th paral lels, and not finding it, decided that no such passage existed as described by the Greek, and proceeded northward about one degree, where he found a small, commodious harbor which he en tered and where he remained .1 month in total unconsciousness of the fact that he had actually named the Cape at the entrance to the looked for Straits, and equally unconscious that the Friendly Cove in which he was anchored was the Port San Lorenzo of the Spanish navigator Perez; though on discover ing that the native name was Nootia, he changed it from Friendly Cove to Nootka Sound, which it retains to- Captain Cook records that the natives received him kindly, being very eager to trade in the skin's of " wolves, foxes, bear, deer, raccoon, pole-cats martins, and In particular, of the sea-otters which are found in the islands east of Kamch atka." His account of the manufactu res of the natives agrees with that of Friars Pena and Crispi, who accompa nied Perez in 1774. He says: "Be sides the skins in their native shape, they also brought garments made of the bark of a tree, or some plant like hemp, (this is the inside bark of the ce dar tree; weapons, such as bows, ar rows and spears; fish-hooks, and instru ments of various kinds; wooden visors ot many monstrous figures; a sort of wooden stuff or blanketing; bags tilled with red ochre; pieces of carved wood work, heads, and several other little or laments of thin brass and iron, shaped like a horse-shoe, which thev hung at their noses, and several chisel's or pieces of iron fixed in handles." The character which Captain Cook Itai e the natives w as hardly so correct as Ins observations on the manufactures. Alter remarking on their general fair ness in trade, he says: "Thev were thieves 1.1 the strictest sense of the word ; for they pdtcreU nothing from us but what the knew could be converted to the purposes of private utility, and had J 1e.1l value according to their estima tion of things." In other things he was somewhat dis posed to be deceived. He calls (ffi inhospitable selfishness in demandin. pay for wood and water, " a strictn? tion of their exclusive right to everv thing which their land produces" aj adds that "they seem to be courteous docile, and good-natured, but quick in resenting what they look upon us an in jury; and, like most passionate people soon forgetting it." We of this ,,! know that the Indian never forgets John Ledyard, the adventurous Con! nccticut traveler, who was then serving on board the Resolution in the humble capacity of corporal of marines, had sharper perceptions, and called them "hold, ferocious, sly and reserved, not easily moved to anger, but revengful in the extreme;" a judgment which later events fully confirmed. From the fact that he found some silver spoons in possession of the Noot ka Indians, and from the corresponding fact, also, that they did not appear to be cither alarmed or surprised at the appearance of his vessels, Capt. Cook came to the very just conclusion that other ships must have been there before him. The Indians, however, denied having had previous knowledge of white men and their vessels, and took felt compelled to believe them, and to forget the evidence of the spoons and other things in the interest of his King and country; such is the mutability of human opinion under pressure. The native who sported his necklace of stolen spoons, must have hugged him self in his bask shirt with extra satisfac tion when he saw the English captain depart under the belief that his ships were the first foreign bottoms that had taken out their papers from that port! On leaving Nootka Sound, Captain Cook proceeded along up the coast looking for the strait which Sante pre tended to have discovered, though he did not give much credit to the report, if we may believe his professions. On the second of May, he passed near to a beautiful, conical mountain, under the 57th parallel. Three years before Bodega had sailed around the base of this mountain, which he named the San Jacinto, and had discovered two bays in the windings of the shores, which he called Port Jicinedias and Port Guadalupe, respectfully. As at Nootka, Cook rediscovered and re named these places, changing pious San yacinto to secular Mount Ed gecombe, and Port RcmediasKo Bay of Islands; all of which nomenclature was wasted, so far as the King's interests were concerned, as will be seen here after. The voyage of Cant. Cook was pro tracted for some months longer on the more northern portion of the American coast; but as he did not discover a northwest passage, and as we have fol lowed him as far north as the boundary line of any territory ever claimed by the United States under treaty, we must, to save time and space, content ourselves with considering the results of his expedition to the political and commercial world; results that have extended down to our own time. The more perfect instruments in use on board Cook's vessels, determined the latitude and especially the longitude of coast, as it had never before been deter mined, vand, consequently, established the great breadth of the northern por tion of the continent, to the complete refutation of the absurd travelers' tales that had so long circulated, both in "camp and court" all over Europe. Cook was a man of good practical bus iness ideas; and when he beheld the vast extent of country fit for settlement that was lying unoccupied by civiliied races, and considered the profits that might arise from a trade even with the natives, and from the fisheries that might be carried on in the seas contig uous, he could not but report most fav orably upon them. He had the proofs of what he said on board his vessels; for his men collected from the Indians, for very trifling pay, furs that sold in Canton for more ' than ten thousand dollars. Cook, himself, perished at the hands of the natives of the Sandwich Is lands, in the year following his visit to this coast, and his journal, for politic reasons, was w ithheld from publication for a period of six years; but rumors were circulated by private individuals, that were already'directing attention to the fur-trade of 'the Northwest, when the event took place which will be de scribed In the following chapter.