THE SPANISH PLANS FOR OCCUPYING NOOTKA SOUND--THE CONFLICTING CLAIMS
BEFORE 1789.
The Spanish name of most importance in connection with affairs at
Nootka is that of Estevan José Martinez. Besides playing the chief rôle
in the drama enacted there in 1789, which proved to be but the prelude
to a greater drama played in Europe the following year, it was he who
first suggested the planting of a Spanish colony at this point. This
is contrary to the notion prevalent in the minds of the diplomats when
the controversy was at its height, a notion which has been more or less
accepted ever since, viz, that one or more of the Governments concerned
had engaged in the enterprise with malice aforethought, having some
ulterior end in view. These suspicions will be discussed in their
proper place. At present it suffices to show, from documentary sources,
the actual genesis of the original Spanish expedition.
On the return of Martinez, late in 1788, from a voyage to Alaska,
where he had gone under a royal commission to investigate the Russian
settlements on the coast, he reported to Florez, the Viceroy of Mexico,
as follows:
Cusmich also told me that, as a result of his having informed
his Sovereign of the commerce which the English from Canton are
carrying on at Nootka, he was expecting four frigates from Siberia
to sail next year for the purpose of making an establishment at
Nootka, situated in latitude 49° 36´ north and in longitude 20° 15´
west from San Blas. He assured me that his Sovereign has a better
right to that coast than any other power on account of its having
been discovered by the Russian commanders, Behring and Estericol
[Chirikov], under orders from the Russian Court in the year 1741.
For this reason it seems to me advisable that an attempt should be
made next year, 1789, with such forces as you may have at hand, to
occupy the said port and establish a garrison in it. According to
what is learned from the work of Cook and from what I saw on my
first expedition to that place (which I made in 1774), it possesses
qualifications which adapt it to this purpose. By accomplishing
this we shall gain possession of the coast from Nootka to the port
of San Francisco, a distance of 317 leagues, and authority over a
multitude of native tribes. [I say this, at the same time] offering
myself to carry out the project, and to prove the feasibility of it
I will sacrifice my last breath in the service of God and the King,
if you approve it.[54]
This letter was written from the port of San Blas on December 5, 1788.
Only eighteen days later the Viceroy wrote from the City of Mexico to
the home Government that he had determined to occupy Nootka at once,
although the royal orders did not warrant him in so doing.[55] On
the same day Martinez was commissioned to carry out the enterprise,
and his instructions were sent to him.[56] In his letter to Madrid,
the Viceroy says “the essential object of this new expedition is no
other, as I have indicated, than the anticipation of the Russians in
taking possession of the port of San Lorenzo or Nootka.” Ten days
later, in justification of his action, he wrote that it was true he
was forbidden to incur expenses without special royal order, but since
this was an extraordinary case, demanding prompt action, he begged for
the royal approval.[57] This approval was granted, but not until April
14, 1789,[58] when Martinez was already well on his way to Nootka. It
could not have been known in America in time to affect the events at
Nootka. Far, then, from there being any ground for the suspicion that
the Spanish Government had ordered the seizure of English vessels,
which resulted from this undertaking, the Madrid Government did not
so much as know that the expedition was to be sent until long after
it had sailed. Further, even in the mind of the Viceroy, there was
not the slightest thought of any interference with the English, the
expedition being directed solely against the Russians. It is also seen
that whatever glory it promised for Spain, or whatever opprobrium
attached to Spain because of the unfortunate events connected with it,
must be placed largely to the credit of Martinez. But he was not wholly
responsible, since his plan was authorized by the Viceroy and later
approved by the home Government.
It is a fact of some significance, as an indication of the political
sagacity of the Viceroy, that he apprehended much more danger to
Spanish dominion on this coast from the new United States than from
England or even Russia. While the English were only mentioned in
connection with the known plans of Russia, considerable space was
devoted to discussing a probable attempt of the American colonies to
obtain a foothold on the western coast. As proof he mentioned the
fact that an American ship, which had touched at the islands of Juan
Fernandez in the same year, had continued its voyage to the coast. He
expressed a suspicion that it had this end in view.[59] He told also
of an overland trip made in 1766-67 from the English colonies,[60] and
closed his observations on this point with the prophetic statement: “We
ought not to be surprised that the English colonies of America, being
now an independent Republic, should carry out the design of finding a
safe port on the Pacific and of attempting to sustain it by crossing
the immense country of the continent above our possessions of Texas,
New Mexico, and California.” He added: “Much more might be said of
an active nation which founds all of its hopes and its resources on
navigation and commerce,” and mentioned the immense value to them of
a colony on the west coast of America. He continued: “It is indeed an
enterprise for many years, but I firmly believe that from now on we
ought to employ tactics to forestall its results; and the more since
we see that the Russian projects and those which the English may make
from Botany Bay, which they have colonized, already menace us.” It was,
then, he said, to dissipate for the future the dormant possibilities
of the present that he was taking the extraordinary step of formally
occupying the port of Nootka without royal authorization.[61]
After thus setting forth to the Government at Madrid the reasons for
his action, the Viceroy outlined the plans for the expedition. It was
to consist of the two vessels, the _Princesa_ and the _San Carlos_,[62]
which had constituted the expedition of 1788. They were also to retain
the same officers--Martinez as commander, and Haro subject to his
orders. They were to sail from San Blas early in February. A packet
boat would follow in March with supplies and reënforcements, and would
bring back an account of the occupation. Later, according to events,
explorations of the coast to the northward and southward would be made.
A land expedition was to follow, including a chief, a detachment of
troops, missionaries, colonists, and live stock.[63]
Since the whole of the Nootka affair grew out of measures taken by
Martinez while on this trip, it is worth while to examine in detail
the instructions under which he was operating. After alluding to the
happy termination of Martinez’s voyage just ended, the Viceroy referred
to the Russian plans for occupying Nootka to anticipate the English,
and said “these designs of either nation are as pernicious to our
country as their claims are unfounded.” The Russian commanders failed
to explore the ports, Florez continued, and the English captain, Cook,
did not see Nootka until 1778, four years after the expedition of
Perez “on which you yourself went as second pilot. For these and many
other weighty reasons our just and superior right to occupy the coasts
discovered to the northward of California and to forbid colonies of
other nations is clear. These important objects, indeed, are embraced
in the delicate expedition which I now place in your charge.”
The following are his instructions:
1. The two vessels and their commanders were named.
2. They were to have the same officers and sailors as on the last
voyage, with some increase of troops, and an armament corresponding
to the crew, and the crew were to be drilled in the use of that
armament.
3. The expedition should sail not later than February 15.
4. In March the _Aranzazu_ should follow with reënforcements and
supplies for Nootka, as well as other settlements of New California.
5. This vessel should bring back an account of what should
have happened and an estimate of the necessary supplies and
reënforcements which would be returned by it or by the _Concepcion_,
or both.
6. A plan of the port of Nootka, copied from Cook’s work, was to
serve as a guide.
7. Kindness, voluntary trade, and opportune gifts were to capture
the good will of the natives: in this endeavor the discretion of the
four missionaries was to be used. These were to begin at once to
propagate the gospel.
8. A formal establishment was to be set up for a meeting place to
treat with the Indians and for protection from the weather and from
enemies.
9. This would be a manifestation of Spanish sovereignty. Part of the
people were to be kept in this during the day, but returned to the
ship at night for greater security.
10. “If Russian or English vessels should arrive, you will receive
their commanders with the politeness and kind treatment which the
existing peace demands; but you will show the just ground for our
establishment at Nootka, the superior right which we have for
continuing such establishments on the whole coast, and the measures
which our superior Government is taking to carry this out, such as
sending by land expeditions of troops, colonists, and missionaries,
to attract and convert the Indians to the religion and the mild
dominion of our august Sovereign.”
11. “All this you ought to explain with prudent firmness, but
without being led into harsh expressions which may give serious
offense and cause a rupture; but if, in spite of the greatest
efforts, the foreigners should attempt to use force, you will repel
it to the extent that they employ it, endeavoring to prevent as far
as possible their intercourse and commerce with the natives.”
12. “For use with the Russians, you will keep in mind and avail
yourself of the well-founded political reasons for Spain’s being
in intimate friendship with their sovereign Empress, viz, that the
ships of that nation, both naval and merchant, are admitted to the
Spanish ports of the Mediterranean and given such assistance as
they may need, without which they could not subsist in those seas;
that consequently it would be a grave offense for the vessels of
His Catholic Majesty to suffer hostilities in America at the hands
of the Russians, furnishing just cause for a breach between two
friendly powers; and that in this case Spain would count on the
powerful support of her French ally, besides withdrawing from Russia
the privilege of obtaining supplies in the Mediterranean at a time
when she finds herself engaged in war with the Turks, with Sweden,
and possibly with Denmark.”
13. “To the English you will demonstrate clearly and with
established proofs that our discoveries anticipated those of Captain
Cook, since he reached Nootka, according to his own statement, in
March of the year 1778, where he purchased (as he relates in Chapter
I, book 4, page 45, of his work)[64] the two silver spoons which the
Indians stole from yourself in 1774.”
14. “You will have more weighty arguments to offer to vessels of
the Independent American Colonies, should they appear on the coasts
of northern California, which hitherto has not known their ships.
However, by a letter of the most excellent Señor Viceroy of Peru,
it is known that a frigate, which is said to belong to General
Washington,[65] sailed from Boston, in September of 1787, with the
intention of approaching the said coasts, that a storm obliged her
to stop in distress at the islands of Juan Fernandez, and that she
continued her course after being relieved.”
15. “In case you are able to encounter this Bostonian frigate or the
small boat which accompanied her, but was separated in the storm,
this will give you governmental authority to take such measures
as you may be able and such as appear proper, giving them to
understand, as all other foreigners, that our settlements are being
extended to beyond Prince Williams Sound, of which we have already
taken formal possession, as well as of the adjacent islands, viz. in
1779.”
16. A plan of Prince Williams Sound was inclosed, for it was
intended that a careful survey of the entire coast should be made
between it and Nootka.
17. The _San Carlos_ was to make this expedition after the
establishment at Nootka should be completed.
18, 19. Instructions for the exploration.
20. The coast from San Francisco to Nootka was to be explored in
like manner, the latter port being the rendezvous. The Viceroy would
do all he could to contribute to the welfare of the enterprise thus
placed under Martinez’s charge.
21. Great care was enjoined in the treatment of the Indians and
of any establishments or vessels of foreign nations that might be
encountered.
22. The means to be employed to preserve health.
23. Good wishes for Divine favor and for the success of the voyage.
As an argument for use with the English, in addition to what he had
given in section 13, the Viceroy added, in a postscript, reference to
the instructions given by the English Admiralty to Captain Cook, July
6, 1776. Cook, he said, was not to touch at any port in the Spanish
dominions on the west coast of America unless forced by unavoidable
accident, in which case he was not to remain longer than absolutely
necessary, and was to avoid giving the least cause for complaint to
any of the inhabitants of the country or to vessels of His Catholic
Majesty.[66]
The vessels sailed from San Blas February 17, 1789.[67] These
instructions, as well as those given to the English expedition of the
same year, look toward a permanent establishment at Nootka, which
was to be used as a basis for future operations on the coast. Each
expedition was sent without any knowledge that the other was even
thought of. The instructions given to the commander of each were such
as to leave no doubt in his mind as to his perfect right to carry them
out. It was impossible for both to obey; hence a clash was inevitable.
Before studying the occurrences at Nootka a brief examination should
be made of the conflicting claims, with an attempt to discover the
respective rights in the spring of 1789 before either expedition
reached the common destination.
* * * * *
The first Englishman known to have visited Nootka Sound is Capt. James
Cook. In the spring of 1778 he spent the month of April in the sound,
which he explored and mapped carefully; and, being unable to learn that
any European had before visited this particular part of the coast,
he gave it the name of King Georges Sound, but later concluded that
it would be better to call it by the native name Nootka. He obtained
supplies of water, wood, fish, etc. The natives were friendly to him,
and he found among them several articles, including the two silver
spoons mentioned in the above instructions, which, together with the
conduct of the natives, indicated that Europeans had previously been
somewhere in the neighborhood, at least. No mention is made of his
having taken possession of the place for England.[68] It seems that
the Englishmen who were interested in the expedition of 1789 had
no knowledge that any European had visited the place earlier than
this visit of Captain Cook.[69] If they had such knowledge, they
intentionally ignored it. This was looked upon as a real discovery and
it was assumed that thereby England acquired such rights as discovery
can give. Although Sir Francis Drake’s landing on the California coast
in 1579 was mentioned,[70] yet it seems not to have been looked upon
as of very much value in establishing a claim, and, of course, was
not so far north. During the years subsequent to 1785 English trading
ships frequently visited Nootka. Although they were purely private
undertakings, this fact had considerable value in strengthening the
English claim, since they tended to develop the resources of the
country. The details of these voyages are not in place here.[71] These,
then, constitute the ground for the English claim up to the visit of
Meares in 1788 and his erection of a house and building of a ship,
which were treated in the last chapter.
It was clearly brought out in the diplomatic contest of 1790 that a
Spanish expedition had examined with some care the whole coast up to
about 55°, and had spent some time in this very port of Nootka or its
immediate neighborhood four years before Captain Cook’s visit. After
the Spanish explorations of the sixteenth century, which had extended
some distance up the California coast, there was a long period of
inactivity in this part of the world due to the decay of the Government
at home. When the temporary revival of national life came under Charles
III there was also a revival of exploring enterprises on the western
coast of America. Word reached Madrid through the Spanish ambassador
at St. Petersburg that the Russians were making settlements on the
American coast north of California. In consequence of royal orders
issued the previous year, an expedition, under the command of Juan
Perez, was sent from Mexico in 1774 to investigate. He had orders to
examine the coast as high as 60°, but did not get beyond 55°. As he
was returning he anchored early in August in a port which he called
San Lorenzo, and which was later identified with Nootka Sound. Some
question was raised as to its identity, but there seems to be little
doubt. The latitude agrees very closely--too closely, Bancroft says.
The anchorage must have been in the immediate neighborhood.[72]
Revilla-Gigedo says it is believed that the commander took possession
of Nootka, but Bancroft, who examined the diaries, asserts that he did
not land anywhere to take possession for Spain. Martinez, who became
so important in the expedition of 1789, was second pilot on this
expedition of Perez. It was while at San Lorenzo in 1774 that the two
silver spoons were stolen from him by the Indians. They are frequently
mentioned in the Spanish manuscripts, and are accepted as proof
positive that this expedition was at Nootka, and as thereby proving the
superiority of the Spanish claim.[73]
In 1775, the next year after Perez’s voyage, another was made by
Heceta [Ezeta] with Quadra accompanying in a small vessel. The former
approached the coast in the region of Nootka, but did not enter,
thereupon turning his course southward. Quadra, in the little vessel,
pressed onward to about the fifty-eighth degree. This expedition made
landings and took formal possession for Spain of at least three points
between 47° and 58°.[74] In 1779 a third expedition sailed from Mexico
to explore the coast still farther north. It reached the sixty-first
degree, Prince William Sound.[75] By these three expeditions the
Spanish Government considered that this entire coast from California
northward had been sufficiently explored and that formal possession had
been taken at enough places to establish thoroughly the Spanish claim.
So a royal order was given in 1780 that voyages for this purpose should
cease.[76]
The first two of these Spanish voyages were earlier than that of
Captain Cook and included practically all that he explored, though they
did not examine it so thoroughly. Hence, as far as discovery alone is
concerned, these should have given Spain rights superior to any that
England could have acquired by Cook’s enterprise, not only to Nootka
Sound, but to the whole of the Northwest Coast. But, unfortunately
for the Spanish claim, there is a serious flaw in the title at this
point, arising from the fact-that the results of these voyages were
not published, except in brief accounts.[77] It is a serious question
whether a discovery which was not made known to the world could give a
claim superior to one gained by a subsequent voyage whose results were
made known. Reason and justice would seem to say it could not. But,
besides these explorations, Spain still clung in theory at least to her
ancient claim to sovereignty over the entire American continent west
of the line drawn by the treaty of Tordesillas (1494), and sanctioned
by Pope Alexander VI, who had drawn the arbitrary line the previous
year, dividing the world between Spain and Portugal. Only as a matter
of necessity had she gradually conceded the right of other nations to
occupy the eastern coast of North America, and for the same reason had
recently conceded the Russian control of the western coast down to
Prince William Sound. This is illustrated by the facts arising out of
the forced entrance of the American ship, _Columbia_, into a port of
the islands of Juan Fernandez in 1788, referred to in the instructions
of the Viceroy to Martinez above.
The Spanish governor of the islands, Blas Gonzales, after relieving the
vessel’s distress, had allowed it to go on its way to the Northwest
Coast, knowing its destination.[78] For this act he had been summoned
before the captain-general of Chile and cashiered. The captain-general
was supported by the Viceroy of Peru and apparently by the home
Government.[79] This harsh treatment was based on a royal decree of
1692, ordering all viceroys, governors, etc., to prevent foreign ships
from navigating the south sea without permission from Spain,[80] since
no other nation had, or ought to have, any territories which it was
necessary for them to pass around Cape Horn to reach. It is needless
to say that this claim was not respected by other governments. The
Viceroy’s assertion of the right of Spain to occupy the coasts and
exclude colonies of other nations, quoted above from his instructions
to Martinez, is another evidence. It had long been conceded by other
nations that discovery alone, or even discovery with formal acts of
taking possession, can not give a valid title. It is essential that
some effort be made to use the land discovered and to develop its
resources; and, before the claim is fully established, actual and
continued possession must be taken.
With discovery, exploration, and formal acts of possession Spanish
activity ceased, there being no serious effort to make any use of the
territory in the way of trade, and no steps being taken to occupy the
country until they were aroused to do so by reports coming from the
north in 1788 that the Russians were intending to occupy. In other
words, either from lack of enterprise or from policy, the Spanish
did not seem to care to develop the country or make any use of it
themselves, but did wish to prevent any other people from doing so.
Their reason for this policy of obstruction was probably an idle pride
in retaining a shadowy sovereignty over this vast territory; or,
possibly, a wish to retain it as a field for future enterprise; or,
more likely, the hope of being able to control the Pacific outlet of
any water passage to the Atlantic that might later be discovered along
this coast. In the face of modern national enterprise, something more
tangible was necessary in order to retain control.
The English people, not from any fixed national policy, but from
individual initiative, were taking these necessary steps and the
Government was practically compelled to follow them up. As soon as
Captain Cook’s voyage of 1778 had made known to the English people the
possibilities of the fur trade in this region, shipowners immediately
turned their attention thither. Between 1785 and 1790 no fewer than
12 or 15 British vessels visited the coast to trade with the natives,
several of them making return voyages, and most of them making shorter
or longer stops at Nootka.[81] As has been stated, steps were taken
from the very first to establish a post at Nootka as a center for these
trading operations. A temporary one was actually set up by Meares
in 1788, and an expedition was sent out for the purpose of making
this permanent the following year. Thus, up to 1789, the English
were exercising more control over the region than the Spanish. Had
the English plans of this year not miscarried, and had the Spanish
expedition of the same year not been sent, the question as to the
respective rights, at least to Nootka and the immediate neighborhood,
would probably never seriously have been raised.