The west shore., March 01, 1878, Page 98, Image 2

08
THE WEST SHOKE.
March.
HISTORICAL ADVENTURES OX THE
PACIFIC COAST."
'1 III'. KXI'I.ORATIONSOK VASCOUVKR AND QVAOKA
As the explorations made in the sum
mer of 1792 enter largely into the
subsequent United States boundary
question, it will be necessary as well as
interesting to give a brief account of
what transpired during that and the
two subsequent years that Vancouver
remained on the Pacific Coast.
When Capt. Gray left the Columbia
river, he sailed to the east roast of
Queen Charlotte's or Washington's
Island, where, his ship striking on a
rock, was much injured and compelled
to return to Nootka Sound for repairs
Here he met the Spanish commissioner,
Bodega y Quadra, sent by the Mexican
government to consult with Vancou
ver, concerning the settlement of the
Englllh claim to Nootka, which con
sisted chiefly in certain houses anil
lands which Mr, Meares asserted that
he owned at that place.
To Quadra, Gray communicated his
discovery ol the Columbia river, at the
same time giving him copies of his
charts, both of the river and of Bill-
finch Harbor. While Gray was
Nootka, the Hope, Capt. Ingraham,
also arrived there. It will be remcm
tared, that Mr. Ingraham was male of
the Columbia on her first voyage to this
coast, and was conversant with Spanish
affairs at Nootka, as well as Capt. Grav.
To him, also, Gray gave information
concerning his discoveries. His frank
ness on tnc subject, though only a part
ol his manly character, was a fortunate
circumstance, as in the disputes be
tweeu Great Britain and the United
Slates, that took place afterwards, the
Spanish commissioner proved a valua
ble witness.
It chanced, also, that Gray and In
graham were able at that time to pay
in advance the favor rendered by this
evidence to the United States. Quadra
had not come to Nootka for nothing.
He was there to consider evidence con
cerning the affairs of 1789, ami he
began by taking that of the two Ameri
can captains. This was given in a
letter signed by these gentlemen, and
deposited with Quadra; and this ends
their connection with the events we
are reviewing, though Gray continued
to command trailing vessels from
Boston- up to the time ot his death, in
1009,
We now return to Vancouver,
W ben he parted from Gray, on the 19th
of April, he proceeded at once to the
exploration of the Straits of Fuca. It
is unnecessary here to say anything
more of this survey than that it was
very thorough and complete. With
out making any important discoveries,
and Ins othcers caretullv examined
that great inlet, with all its ramitic
tioni known to ut as Pugel Sound,
though only a portion Of it received
thai name from the English exploring
party. Other parts were called Admi.
raltyxlnlet, Hood's Canal, Possession.
Sound, etc., etc.
So great was Vancouver's admiration
of the country, which he spoke of as
" enchandngty beautiful as the most
elegant finished pleasure grounds in
EuropeH also eulogising thi mildness
ot the climate, that on the 4th of
June, when the expedition was in Posses-ion
Sound, it being the King's
birthday, and a celebration going on,
00 shore he took formal possession of
all that part of Airw AlHon, from the
latitude 01 30 dog, 20 min. south and ; evl donee ot such occupation to assist
longitude 11(1 dec 16 min. east, to lha 1 M determining what was called
entrance of
to ne tko sn
de Fuca, as also of all the coasts,
islands, etc., within the said strait, and
both its shores," This very pretty
birthday present to the King, he called
New Georgia.
Had the English explorer been more
conversant with the interior geogra
phy of the country, he would probably
have included the whole of the fertile
valleys of Western Oregon and Nor
thern California. As it was, he appro
priated a pretty fair share of the terri
tories which his government had just
acknowledged belonged to Spain, and
had by treaty promised to abandon to
that powqr.
Shortly after this " land-grab " of
Vancouverj the English expedition en
countered the Spanish vessels the Sutil
nd the Mexicana, under Lieutenants
Galiano and Valdez, who had been sent
by Quadra to survey these same waters.
However vexatious to either party was
the meeting, they treated each other
with diplomatic courtesy, and after com
paring charts, agreed to unite their
forces in the further prosecution of the
enterprise. After three weeks spent
11 exploring the Canal del Rosario of
the Spaniards, and Gulf of Georgia,
of the English, the latter about the
middle of July, bade adieu to their
allies, and proceeded to the examina
tion of the eastern shores of the strait
"behind Nootka," with the view of
discovering, if possible, that mythical
passage to Hudson's Hay which was
one great object of the expedition. As
we now know, it remained undiscover
ed; and the best result of the examina
tion was that it exploded the theory of
a great northern archipelago, and es
tablished the fact of the extent of the
continent westward to this line.
On the nth of August, Vancouver
emerged into the Pacific by the same
route taken by the American sloop
Washington, and repaired immediately
thereafter to Nootka, whertjhe com
pared notes withrthe officers of the
Spanish expedition. It is needless to
say that Vancouver had the best show
ing, since he was so much better
equipped a truth that must have
breed itself disagreeably upon the
minus 01 nis Qpanisn allies, However
that no ill feeling might result from
this superiority, it agreed that the island
on which it was now proven that
Nootka was situated, should receive the
joint appellation of Vaneouver and
Quadra's Island,
There was also present at this con
vention of explorers, the Spanish Cap
tain Caamauo, who had been engaged
for two months in examining the coasts
north and northeast of Queen Char
lotte I Island, in search of the Rio del
Reyes of Admiral Fontc; but though
he found many inlets of considerable
length, he failed to find one leading to
the eastern side of the continent. These
brief expeditions of the Spaniards in
1792, were the last made by that nation
in the North Pacific; and considering
the means at their command, were very
well conducted.
When Vancouver arrived at Nootka,
he found there his store-ship Daedalus,
which was to bring him instructions
concerning the adjustment of the Brit
ish claims. Hut these instructions
proved to consist of a copy of the
Nootka treaty, on bis side, and a letter
from the Spanish Minister of State to
hand with regard to evidence, and
while Vancouver had been exploring
in the neighboring waters, had been
inquiring of chief Maquinna and his
relations as to the lands they had, as
Meares asserted, sold to him. The
chiefs denied selling any land to Mr.
Meares; yet, as an Indian's word was
thought no better then than now, this
testimony was not admitted. In this
predicament Quadra bethought himself
of the American captains, and when
Gray and Ingraham appeared, made
haste to get their version of affairs. In
answer to his inquiries, these witnesses
made a particular statement of all the
transactions that had come under thei
notice from the fall of 178S to the fall
of 17S9, from which it appeared that
Mr. Meares had indeed had a hut built
of a few boards and the branches of
trees; but that when he left in the
Iphigenia he had taken the boards
with him on the vessel, and given the
branches of trees to Capt. Kendrick
for firewood. Here was something
worth a convention by two great na
tions!
Unfortunately for Mr. Meares' pre
tensions, Capt. Viana, who was with
him on board the Iphigenia, clearly
confirmed the statement of the Amer
can captains. Quadra therefore felt
authorized to place this testimony into
the hands of Vancouver, the plain in
ference being that no buildings or lands
were to be restored hy Spain, nor pay
ment made for either. Feeling, per
haps, that such a result of his Investiga
tious would be mortifying to the
English commissioners, Quadra offered
to surrender the small spot of ground
on which Meares' cabin had been built
in 178S, and to give up, for the use of
the British occupants of said small
tract, the houses and cultivated grounds
of the Spaniards adjoining, while he
retired with his own men and material
to a new settlement at Port Nunez
Gaona, on the southern side of the
Strait of Fuca, near the entrance, until
the matter had been again submitted to
the action of their respective govern
ments; this cession in nowise to preju
dice the claim of Spain to any portion
of the territory claimed bv her. of
which Nootka was the most northern
settlement.
A fine alternative this, when one
expected nothing less than the whole
of Nootka, and Clyoquot to-boot! and
so Vancouver informed the Spanish
commissioner. He preferred constru
ing the first article of the treaty as
giving possession of the whole territory
surrounding Nootka and Clyoquot
wdiich could mean nothing less than
the whole of Vancouver and Quadra's
Island; and in order not to prejudice
this claim, refused to accept the hos
pitable offer of Quadra while awaiting
a final settlement. Still further to con
firm his determination, there appeared
one witness wno conhnned Mr. Meares
statement. This was Mr. Duflin, who
declared that chief Maquinna had truly
accepted some sheets of copper and
trilling articles for the land, with which
be appeared nerfectlv satUfi,.,!-
that Mr. Meares' house contained three
bed-rooms, a mess-room for the offi
cers, apartments for the mn
houses, etc. How it had been destroyed.
he could not tell; but had understood
it was not there when Martinez
since the seizure of the Iphigenia; and
now, here was the letter of Gray and
Ingraham, constituting a very clear and
important part of the evidence against
the British claim. And as if that were
not enough, there was Mr. Howell,
super-cargo of the American brig Mar
garet, acting as translator for Quadra
and seeing the whole of the corres
pondence. To be on the wrong side
of a question under such disadvanta
geous circumstances, is irritating. And
then, had not a trading Yankee captain
had the boldness to discover a river
where he had said there was nothing
but a brook?
Seeing that no settlement could be
effected, Vancouver, after sending dis
patches to England by the way of
China, left Nootka, and in company
with Lieut. Broughton, proceeded to
survey the bay and river discovered by
Capt. Gray. On their way down the
coast, Lieut. Whidby for whom Whid.
by's Island was named was detached
for the survey of Bulfinch Harbor,
while Vancouver and Broughton con
tinued their voyage. Whidby thought
well enough of the harbor to bestow
his own name upon it; but with a jus
tice unusual in the history of discov
erers, Gray's name finally superseded
both the others.
When Vancouver arrived at the
mouth of the Columbia, the Discovery
was unable to pass the bar, and her
commander gave it as his opinion that
the river was inaccessible to large ships,
except under the most favorable cir
cumstances of wind and weather.
Leaving Broughton to prosecute the
survey of the river, he sailed away to
ban Francisco Bay, to await the ar
rival of his officers in the Daedalus and
Chatham. Broughton succeeded jr
entering the river on the 20th of Oc
tober, but ran aground almost immedi
ately after, and decided to make his
survey in the ship's cutter. He found,
lying at anchor inside the bar, the brig
fenny, from Bristol, whose captain
having heard at Nootka of the great
river, had felt a desire to take a look
at it. The fenny was commanded by
Captain Baker, after whom Baker's
Bay, at the mouth of the river, is
named.
Quadra, on the other, ordering the rived; and said, that when he returned
commandante to put him in possession to the place in 17S9, he found the spot
of the buildings and lands that bad been where the house had stood, occupied
occupied by British subjects in April, ; by the tents and houses of the ncoolc
1789. As there was no accompanying . belonging to the shin Columhi
It may have been that the insinuation
ontaiued in the 1 alter njri rf )'.
the inlet of the sea, saidl (o' b' first article of the treaty, he j mony was agreeable to the English
upposed Strait of Juan " M ttns at sea respecting the commissioner. The oartialitv ,sL
'ISiprrHIK In 11-7. hv I.
IN r..,.,tiiiIllllX I
null. All rujltt
i whole matter.
Quadra, however, had been before-
The oartialitv shown
the American officers by the Spaniards
had been an occasion of complaint ever
Broughton's observations upon the
river would have no interest here, ex
cept as they show what were the
grounds of the British claim to discov
ery, presented when the boundary
question agitated the country. Having
no better foundation for a discovery
claim, Broughton puts the true entrance
to the river twenty-five miles from
its mouth, or above the farthest point
reached by Gray on his visit. Above
this point he proceeded until he had
reached a distance from the sea of
eighty or a hundred miles, where the
rapidity of the current impeded further
progress. He called the place where
he turned back Vancouver's Point;
and before quitting the river, took
possession of it and the surrounding
country in His Britannic Majesty's
name. Broughton was in the river
twenty-one days, when the Chatham
quitted it in company with the fenny,
and the former sailed for San Francisco
Bay to join the Discover)'.
From there, after surveying that
harbor, the expedition proceeded to
Monterey, and made a survey of that
bay also. Vancouver collected all the
information he could concerning the
country and the dates of the Spanish
settlements; and finally, while at Mon
terey, detached Broughton to go to
Europe with dispatches for the British
government, while Mr. Puget 's
placed in command of the Chatham.
In May of the following year, Van
couver returned to Nootka, renewin(
his surveys of the coast, from the north-