![]() In the century between the 1740s and the 1840s, different nations competed with one another, and with native peoples, to take control over the area that is today known as the American Pacific Northwest and the west coast of Canada. In one sense this competition had begun in 1492, when Columbus landed in the New World, claimed it for Spain, and inaugurated a European rivalry for territory. Over the next two years, the Pope responded to the discovery and the threat of competition over it essentially by dividing the western hemisphere into Spanish and Portuguese zones of influence, and assigning the Pacific Northwest to Spain. Yet Europeans would not actually see Alaska and the Pacific Northwest until the 18th century, when their ambitions spurred one another to explore the territory. The contest ended in 1846, when the Americans and British divided most of the region between themselves by drawing a boundary between Canada and the United States at the 49th parallel another key event occurred when Russia sold Alaska to the United States in 1867. It thus took more than three and a half centuries for peoples of European descent, following up on Columbus’s first voyage, to establish some degree of mutually respected authority over the Pacific Northwest (and for decades longer, even that authority remained contested by native peoples). This long span of time illustrates just how isolated the region once was from European centers of power. United States efforts on the Northwest Coast:ġ788: Robert Gray and John Kendrick (1787-1790) arrived on Northwest Coast to trade fursġ792: Robert Gray returned to trade furs, and in so doing discovered the Columbia Riverġ788-94: Fifteen American vessels arrived to trade fursġ795-1804: Fifty American vessels arrived to trade fur (compared to nine British ships)ġ805-1814: Forty American vessels arrived to trade fur (compared to three British ships) Spanish expeditions to Northwest Coast affirm Spain's claim to the territory:ġ774: Juan Jose Perez Hernandez explores coastline and trades with Indiansġ775: Bruno de Heceta and Juan Francisco de la Bodega y Quadra sail northward, landing and claiming territory at points in Washington and British Columbiaīritish expeditions to Northwest Coast search for the Northwest Passage, discover the rich trade in sea otter pelts, and challenge Spanish claims to the region:ġ778: Cook's third expedition to the Pacific Ocean (1776-1780) made landfall at Nootka Sound, acquired sea otter pelts, and explored the coastline northward to Alaskaġ785: James Hanna's voyage marked the return of the British to open the coastal fur tradeġ786: Eight British ships sailed to the Northwest Coast to trade fursġ787: Six British vessels sailed to the Northwest Coast to trade fursġ785-1794: Twenty-five British ships sailed to Northwest Coast to trade fursĬlick on the map icon, right, to see a larger view of British explorationsġ789: Spain sent expedition led by Esteban Jose Martinez to fortify Spanish claim to Nootka Sound and seize British vessels and crewsġ790: Spain and Britain signed the Nootka Sound Convention, resolving the dispute over claims along the Northwest Coast in favor of the Britishġ792: Britain sent George Vancouver and Spain sent Bodega y Quadra to Nootka Sound to implement the 1790 Convention locally both captains explored the coastlineġ794: Spain and Britain amended the 1790 convention, and Spain decided to withdraw from Northwest Coast Russian expeditions to Alaska spur Spanish voyages to the Northwest Coast:ġ728: Vitus Bering discovered the Bering Straitsġ741: Bering and Aleksei Chirikov sighted portions of Alaska and the Aleutian Islands Spain's galleons sailed between Mexico and the Philippines, beginning in 1527, establishing a limited Spanish presence in the North Pacific:ġ707: The Spanish galleon San Francisco Xavier, sailing from Manila to Acapulco, shipwrecked on the Oregon coast near Nehalem Beach Robert Ballard Whitebrook, Coastal Exploration of Washington (Palo Alto: Pacific Books, 1959).Įuropean and American Exploration of the 18th-Century Pacific Northwest ![]() Princessa Real, ship of Manuel Quimper, 1790, right. HMS Discovery, ship of George Vancouver, left. ![]() European Rivalry for the Pacific Northwest ![]()
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