entire western continent of America by virtue of the papal concession,
1493, and by right of discovery. It had failed to colonize the northwest
coast of America, but it prohibited other nations from entering in
possession. It now illustrated its narrow and jealous policy in its
treatment of a subordinate who had ventured to assist a vessel in
distress and provided with letters from the accredited minister of Spain
to the United States. Ambrose O'Higgins, then captain-general of Chili,
under whom Gonzales was serving, on hearing of this act recalled him and
put him in arrest, pending definite orders from his own superior, Teodor
Lacroix, viceroy of Peru. After due consideration of the case the
unfortunate commandant, Gonzales, was cashiered for his remissness in
allowing a strange ship to leave Juan Fernandez instead of seizing her
and her crew. The viceroy set forth to the captain-general of Chili the
legal opinion that by the royal ordinance of November, 1692, every
foreign vessel found in those seas without a license from the court of
Spain was to be treated as an enemy, even though belonging to a friend
or ally of the king, "seeing that no other nation had, or ought to have,
any territories, to reach which its vessels should pass around Cape Horn
or through Magellan's Straits." The viceroy therefore sent a ship from
Callao to track or intercept the Columbia; the authorities on the coasts
of Peru and Chili were especially enjoined to be vigilant, and in case
any foreign vessel should appear in the country to seize her.
Under Gray's skilful handling the Washington escaped unharmed from the
hurricane, and continuing his course toward King George Sound, the
concerted rendezvous, he made the American coast, about 46° N., in
August, 1788. Here he barely escaped loss of his vessel in trying to
cross the bar of an unknown river, probably the Columbia, when his ship
grounded. He, however, visited shore, and found that the sea was
perchance the less inhospitable of the two, for he was so savagely and
violently attacked by swarms of Indians that he was very glad to escape
therefrom with one seaman dead and the mate wounded.
Quitting this unfortunate place he sailed north and entered Nootka
Sound, Vancouver Island, September 17, 1788, where he found two English
vessels, the Felice and Iphigenia, sailing under the Portuguese flag and
commanded by Captains Meares and Douglass. There were no signs of the
Columbia, but her arrival a few days later relieved Gray from further
anxiety in this respect.
[Illustration: Indian Maul.]
Douglass's vessel, the Iphigenia, was in serious need of supplies and
assistance, which Gray generously furnished. Later he not only made to
the northward a successful trading trip, but in the following year, in
June, 1789, explored the whole east coast of Queen Charlotte Islands, to
which he gave the name of Washington Islands, in honor of General
Washington, then President of the United States. In another trading
excursion from Nootka Sound, Vancouver Island, Gray entered the broad
opening southeast of the island and sailed to the east-southeast fifty
miles, where he found the passage still five leagues wide. This opening
was the Straits of Fuca, and the first authentic exploration of the
strait is the account of Gray. The credit of first passing through the
entire length of the Straits of Fuca is due to Kendrick, who made the
passage in the sloop Washington, after the departure of Gray to China on
the Columbia.
The account of the passage of the Washington through the Straits of Fuca
was especially called to Vancouver's attention by the British Admiralty
on the occasion of his surveying voyage of 1791, when he was
particularly to "examine the supposed Strait of Juan de Fuca, said to be
situated between the forty-eighth and forty-ninth north latitude, and to
lead to an opening through which the sloop Washington was reported to
have passed in 1789, and to have come out again to the northward of
Nootka." Vancouver later denied to Americans the credit of first sailing
entirely through the Straits of Fuca, resting his opinion on Gray's
statement that he sailed only fifty miles within it, which was true; the
credit belonging to Kendrick in his voyage with the Washington after
Gray's departure from the coast in 1789.
The efforts of Kendrick and Gray resulted in the obtaining of a full
cargo of furs, which in accordance with their instructions were to be
sold in China. Kendrick, fascinated with the prospects of fortune and
success, and perhaps reluctant to face his owners owing to his lack of
caution which resulted in the unfortunate killing of some thirty
natives, decided to remain on the northwest coast, his imaginary
Eldorado.
Gray consequently transferred to the Columbia and set sail for Canton,
then the great fur mart of the world. His voyage across the Pacific was
prosperous, his furs were readily sold, and after taking a cargo of tea
on board, Gray sailed for the Cape of Good Hope, and on the 10th of
August, 1790, the Columbia entered the port of Boston, the first vessel
to circumnavigate the world under the flag of the United States.
His success and conduct so impressed the owners of the ship that they
immediately decided upon sending Gray back to the northwest coast, and
seven weeks later, September 28, 1790, he sailed in the Columbia, which
was described as a ship of two hundred and twelve tons, manned by thirty
men, and equipped with an armament of ten guns.
Gray was also provided with a sea letter signed by George Washington,
then President, which ran as follows:
"To all Emperors, Kings, Sovereign princes, State and Regents and to
their respective officers, civil and military and to all others whom
it may concern.
"I, George Washington, President of the United States of America do
make known that Robert Gray, Captain of a ship called the Columbia of
the burden of about 230 tons, is a citizen of the United States and
that the said ship which he commands belongs to the citizens of the
United States; and as I wish that the said Robert Gray may prosper in
his lawful affairs, I do request all the before mentioned, and of each
of them separately, when the said Robert Gray shall arrive with his
vessel and cargo, that they will be pleased to receive him with
kindness and treat him in a becoming manner &c. and thereby I shall
consider myself obliged.
"September 16, 1790--New York City
(Seal U. S.)
"GEO. WASHINGTON,
_President_.
"THOMAS JEFFERSON,
"_Secy of State_."
He further was provided with a similar letter from John Hancock, the
Governor of Massachusetts.
[Illustration: On the Shores of the Pacific.]
His letter of instructions from the owners, signed by Joseph Barrell,
enjoins, in similar and even stronger terms than those given Kendrick
three years before, friendly treatment, strict honesty, honorable
conduct, and the avoidance of unjust advantage in trade with the
natives, the shunning of Spanish ports, tender treatment of his crew,
urgency of despatch in reaching the northwest coast, and the refraining
from all unnecessary connections with foreigners or Americans. It
further speaks of Gray's rising reputation, and expresses the belief
that a regard for his own honor, and a respect for the sea letter with
which the President had honored and indulged him, would cause Gray to
doubly exert himself for the success of the voyage.
Gray used such despatch and was so fortunate that he reached Cape
Flattery, at the mouth of the Straits of Fuca, June 5, 1791, his voyage
of eight months having been devoid of any occurrence worthy of note.
Proceeding northward to Queen Charlotte Island for trade, he there fell
in with Ingraham, formerly mate of the Columbia, but now, July 23, 1791,
in command of the Hope. The autumn was spent in trading and exploring
among the islands and along the coast to the east and north of Queen
Charlotte Island. During one trip Gray penetrated an inlet near 55° N.
latitude, probably the northern extension of Vancouver Strait, to a
distance of one hundred miles to the northeastward without reaching the
end of the passage, which he supposed to be the Rio de Reyes of Admiral
Fonte. Gray's visit was most unfortunate, for a portion of his crew
landing at a port on the mainland in 55° N., on August 22d, a large band
of savages fell on the party and killed Joshua Caswell, his second mate,
and seamen Joseph Barns and Job Folgier. This fatal spot was therefore
named Massacre Cove.
The attitude of the Indians was a matter of constant anxiety, so that
Gray and his crew were obliged to exercise the greatest caution in all
their intercourse with such tribes as they fell in with. In Pintard
Sound, 51° 30´ N., near the entrance, an attack was attempted on the
Columbia, which obliged Gray to fire on the Indians, whereby two of the
chiefs were killed, but it did not excite lasting resentment, as these
savages traded with him later as though nothing had happened.
Returning to Clyoquot, Port Cox, Vancouver Island, with the Columbia,
Gray went into winter quarters. The owners had sent out the frames for a
sloop of about thirty tons, with three carpenters to build the vessel. A
fortified habitation, called Fort Defiance, was constructed for
occupancy by the working party, which finished and launched the sloop
that winter, christening her as the Adventurer.
In the spring of 1792, while the crews of the Columbia and Adventurer
were preparing for sea they were visited by many Indians, who, through
their chiefs, established such relations with a Sandwich Islander, who
was one of the crew of the Columbia, as to excite Gray's suspicions. The
Islander on being closely questioned by Gray confessed that the Indians
had formed a plan to murder the whole party and seize the vessels, the
Hawaiian to aid them by wetting the priming of all the guns, and in
return be made a chief among the Indians. Gray took immediate steps to
keep his crew on their guard during their remaining stay, and thus
completely baffled the design of the savages without bloodshed.
In April, 1792, Gray, sending the Adventurer northward under command of
Haswell, his first mate, turned himself southward, and on the 29th fell
in with Vancouver, who was approaching the northwest coast on a voyage
of exploration in the English ship Discovery, with the Rambler under
Broughton as a consort.
Vancouver eagerly sought information from Gray as to his knowledge of
the coast, which the American gave fully and cheerfully. Gray set forth
his voyages in the Straits of Fuca, around Queen Charlotte Island, and
further, that in 1788 he had "been off the mouth of a river, in the
latitude of 46° 10´, where the outset or reflux was so strong as to
prevent his entering for nine days." This latter information was most
surprising and distasteful to Vancouver, who, fitted out at great
expense with two vessels for exploration alone, found the accuracy of
his own observations of the coast, as recorded in his journal two days
earlier, thrown in doubt by the statements of this American trader.
Vancouver had written before meeting Gray: "The several large rivers and
capacious inlets that have been described as discharging their contents
into the Pacific, between the fortieth and forty-eighth degrees of north
latitude, were reduced to brooks insufficient for our vessels to
navigate, or to bays inaccessible as harbors. Under the most fortunate
and favorable circumstances of wind and weather, so minutely has this
extensive coast been inspected, that the surf has been constantly seen
to break on its shores from the mast-head." After hearing Gray's
relation Vancouver wrote: "If any inlet should be found, it must be a
very intricate one, and inaccessible to vessels of our burden.... I was
thoroughly convinced, as were also most persons of observation on
board, that we could not possibly have passed any safe navigable opening
harbor or place of security for shipping on this coast." Later Broughton
by Vancouver's orders entered and surveyed a part of the Columbia in the
latter part of October, 1792, when very much to his surprise he found
himself preceded by another American trader, Captain Baker, master of
the brig Jenny, of Bristol, R.I. Vancouver's report of the Columbia is
scarcely creditable to that great navigator, for he attempted to prove
that the mouth of the Columbia is an inlet separate from the main river,
and that Gray is consequently not entitled to the credit of discovering
the main river, a misstatement that cannot stand either in light of
Gray's journal or the hydrography of the river.
Doubtless Gray was sufficiently irritated by Vancouver's doubts and
criticisms as to the existence and navigability of the unknown river, to
cause him to again venture the dangers which had so nearly caused the
loss of his vessel on his previous visit. Of it Wilkes wrote: "Mere
description can give little idea of the terrors of the bar of the
Columbia. All who have seen it have spoken of the wildness of the scene,
the incessant war of the waters, representing it as one of the most
fearful sights that can possibly meet the eye of the sailor."
Gray pursued the even tenor of his way to the southward, and within two
weeks justified his previous statements by not only entering and
navigating the Columbia, but also discovered a haven (Bulfinch or Gray
Harbor) affording safe anchorage and shelter for small vessels.
The following extracts from the log-book of the ship Columbia give the
account of Gray's discoveries in his own words:
"1792, May 7. 10 A.M. Being within six miles of the land, saw an
entrance in land which had a very good appearance of an harbour.... At
half-past three bore away and ran in N.E. by E. sounding from 4 to 5
fathoms, sandy bottom, and as we drew nearer in between the bars had
from 10 to 12 fathoms. Having a very strong tide of ebb to stem, many
canoes came alongside, and at 5 P.M. came to in 5 fathoms of water,
sandy bottom, in a safe harbour well sheltered from the sea by long
sand-bars and spits. Our latitude observed this day 46° 58´ N." This
harbor, called Bulfinch by Gray, now properly bears the name of its
discoverer.
"10 (May). Fresh breezes and pleasant weather. Many natives alongside,
at noon all the canoes left. At 1 P.M. began to unmoor, took up the
best bower anchor and hove short on the small anchor; at half-past
four being high water hove up the anchor and came to sail and a
beating down the harbour.
"11. At half-past 7 we were out clear of the bar and directed our
course to the southward along shore. At 8 P.M. the entrance of
Bulfinch harbour bore N., distant 4 miles, the S. one extreme of the
land, bore SSE. ½ E.: the N. ditto, NNNW. Sent up the main top-gallant
yard and set all sail. At 4 (?) P.M. saw the entrance of our desired
port, bearing ESE., distance 6 leagues, in steering sails and hauled
our wind in shore. At 8 A. (P.?) M. being a little to the windward of
the entrance to the harbour, bore away and run in ENE between the
breakers having from 5 to 7 fathoms water. When we were over the bar
_we found this to be a large river of fresh water_, up which we stood.
Many canoes came alongside. At 1 (11?) P.M. came to with the small
bower in 10 fathoms, black and white sand; the entrance between the
bars bore WSW, distance 10 miles. The north side of the river, a half
mile distant from the ship, the south side 2½ miles distance; a
village (Chinook) on the north side of the river, W. by N., distance ¾
of a mile. Vast numbers of natives came alongside. People employed in
pumping the salt water out of our water-casks in order to fill with
fresh water which the ship floated in. So ends.
* * * * *
"(May) 14. Sailed upwards of 13 or 15 miles, when the channel was so
very narrow that it was almost impossible to keep it.... Ship took
ground, but she did not lay long before she came off without any
assistance.
* * * * *
"The jolly-boat was sent to sound the channel out but found it not
navigable any farther up; so, of course, we must have taken the wrong
channel.
* * * * *
"15 (May). ... In the afternoon Capt. Gray and Mr. Hoskins in the
jolly-boat went on shore to take a short view of the country....
"19 (May). ... Capt. Gray gave this river the name of Columbia's
river, and the north side of the entrance Cape Hancock, the south side
of the entrance, Adams Point."
The day following (20th) Gray left the river, crossing the bar after
several attempts, and sailed northward to rejoin the Adventurer.
Completing his cargo of furs, Gray again visited Canton, and by his
former route returned to Boston. He married on the 4th of February,
1794, and died, while in command of a coasting vessel, in the summer of
1806, at Charleston, S. C., leaving a wife and four daughters.
On March 27, 1846, a committee of Congress considered a petition of
Martha Gray, his widow, who applied for a pension for his services to
the United States in war and as an explorer. The committee in question
considered that the most suitable return for Gray's valuable services
would be the grant of a township in Oregon, but as surveys had not yet
been made it deferred such action as then inexpedient. It recommended,
however, that Congress should pass a bill giving Mrs. Gray the sum of
five hundred dollars per annum. In its report the committee said that
Gray was the first discoverer of the country; that such discovery
conferred on the United States a title to the whole basin drained by the
river, known then as Oregon Territory; that the hazard and labor of the
journey were great, especially in the unsurveyed bar of the Columbia.
Americans did not confine their title to the valley of the Columbia to
the mere right of discovery without occupation and use, but they
proceeded to develop its capacities for trade and settlement. From the
year 1797 American vessels regularly entered the Columbia and traded
with its natives.
When in 1826 the rights of the United States in regard to Oregon were
formulated and made the subject of consideration by plenipotentiaries on
the parts of Great Britain and the United States, the claims of the
latter were urged on three grounds, the most important or first being
from their own proper right, which was founded on Gray's discovery of
the Columbia River.
If Vancouver had discovered the Columbia prior to Gray, it is impossible
to say what complications and results would have arisen in connection
with the extension and development of the United States. It is therefore
a source of endless gratification that Captain Robert Gray, by his
courage, enterprise, and seamanship, in discovering and entering the
Columbia, ultimately secured to the United States this fertile
territory, almost twice as extensive in area as Great Britian.
With its six hundred and sixty thousand of inhabitants, its great
cities, its enormous accumulations of wealth, the young empire added to
the United States through Robert Gray is fast shaping into substance the
golden visions of the enthusiastic Kendrick.
V.
CAPTAIN MERIWETHER LEWIS AND LIEUT. WILLIAM CLARK.
FIRST TRANS-CONTINENTAL EXPLORERS OF THE UNITED STATES.
The burning genius and intense patriotism of Thomas Jefferson found
their most brilliant setting in his draft of the most famous paper in
the world, the Declaration of Independence. If Jefferson thus struck the
keynote of freedom for America, he was not content with a free people
restricted in their habitat to the eastern half of the continent, and in
his ripest life gave no more conspicuous evidence of his foresight and
statesmanship than in the inauguration of a policy which comprehended in
its scope the exploration and settlement of the entire trans-Mississippi
region. He not only urged and completed the purchase of Louisiana, but
sought the extent of its natural resources, appreciated the undeveloped
wealth of the great West, and drafted a scheme of land divisions and
settlement which foreshadowed the beneficial homestead legislation of
later years.
Jefferson was for years interested in the exploration of the western
parts of North America, which were absolutely unknown save the
coast-line of the Pacific. In 1784, while in Paris, he met John Ledyard,
who had made an unsuccessful effort to organize a company for the fur
trade on the western coast of America. Ledyard, by Jefferson's advice
and intercession, attempted to cross by land to Kamschatka, and thence
to the west coast of America, and across country to the Missouri River.
Ledyard's arrest in Siberia and expulsion from the country by the
Russian Government ended this plan. In 1802 Jefferson initiated, through
the American Philosophical Society, a subscription for the exploration
of the western parts of North America, by ascending the Missouri River,
crossing the Rocky Mountains, and descending the nearest river to the
Pacific Ocean. Although only two persons were to go, Meriwether Lewis
urgently sought the appointment, and with M. André Michaux the voyage
was commenced; but his companion being recalled by the French minister
at Washington, the journey was abandoned.
On January 18, 1803, Jefferson, then President, recommended in a
confidential message to Congress modifications of the act regarding
trade with Indians, and with the view of extending its provisions to the
Indians on the Missouri, recommended the exploration of the Missouri
River to its source, the crossing of the Rocky Mountains, and descent to
the Pacific Ocean by the best water communication. Congress approved the
plan and voted money for its accomplishment. Captain Meriwether Lewis,
of the United States Army, who had been for nearly two years private
secretary to the President, renewed his solicitations for command, which
was given him.
Jefferson showed his versatility in the instructions to Captain Lewis,
which are a model of fulness and clearness. The route to be followed,
natural products and possibilities--animal, vegetable, and
mineral--climatic conditions, commercial routes, the soil and face of
the country, were all dwelt on. The character, customs, disposition,
territory occupied, tribal relations, means of subsistence, language,
clothing, disease, moral attributes, laws, traditions, religion,
intellectuality, extent and means of trade, war methods, with respect to
the Indian tribes visited, were to be studied and reported. The
topography of the country was to be accurately determined,
astronomically and otherwise, and the maps and notes multiplied to avoid
total loss. The good-will of the chiefs was to be sought, peaceful
methods pursued, and the inflexible opposition of any extensive force
promising bloodshed was to be met by withdrawal and retreat. The country
then being outside the limits of the United States, passports from the
ministers of Great Britain, Spain, and France were furnished.
Meriwether Lewis was born August 17, 1774, near Charlottesville, Va.,
being the son of John Lewis and Miss Meriwether, and grand-nephew of
Fielding Lewis, who married a sister of George Washington. Volunteering,
at the age of twenty, in the militia called out by Washington to put
down the Shay rising, he was made ensign of the Second Sub-Legion May
1, 1795, and appointed in First Infantry November, 1796, where he rose
to be paymaster and captain in 1800. He was a considerate and efficient
officer, an expert hunter, versed in natural history, familiar with
Indian character and customs. Appreciating his deficiencies in certain
branches of science important in this expeditionary duty, he at once
sought instruction from competent professors.
Jefferson describes Lewis as follows: "Of courage undaunted, possessing
a firmness and perseverance of purpose which nothing but impossibilities
could divert from its direction, ... honest, disinterested, liberal, of
sound understanding and a fidelity to truth so scrupulous that whatever
he should report would be as certain as seen ourselves." The management
and success of the expedition, it may here be said, fully justified the
selection by and encomiums of Jefferson.
Lewis, given his choice of associate, selected William Clark, who was
appointed by Jefferson second lieutenant of artillery. Clark was a
brother of George Rogers Clark, by whose valor and sagacity the Illinois
or Northwest Territory was secured to the United States, and this
connection made his selection for further extension of the country seem
most fitting. Moreover young Clark had qualifications and experiences
which strongly commended him to Lewis. Born in Virginia, August 1, 1770,
William Clark had a thorough knowledge of the privations and conditions
of frontier life. Skilful as a hunter, a keen observer, familiar with
military life from four years of service as a lieutenant of infantry,
and developed from his ill health, which caused him to leave the army in
1796, into a magnificent specimen of manhood, he proved so efficient a
coadjutor that his name will ever be inseparably associated with that of
Lewis.
Lewis left Washington July 5, 1803, his mission being enhanced in its
importance by the formal cession of Louisiana to the United States by
the treaty of Paris, April 30, 1803, which news reached him July 1st.
The rendezvous was at St. Louis, which was reached via Pittsburgh and
the Ohio, recruits being selected at various posts, while Lieutenant
Clark joined at Louisville, though he was not commissioned in the army
till the following March.