Explorers and Travellers

Carver described the valley of the Minnesota as a most delightful country, abounding with all the necessities of life, which grow spontaneously. Fruit, vegetables, and nuts were represented as being particularly abundant, and the sugar-maple grew in amazing numbers.

In April, 1767, the Santees descended the Minnesota in order, among other things, to bury their dead near a remarkable cave on Lake Pepin, known to the Indians as the “dwelling of the Great Spirit.”

Finding that supplies had not been sent to the Falls of St. Anthony, Carver returned to Prairie-du-Chien in order to get sufficient stores to enable him to reach Lake Superior, whence he hoped to be able to cross the continent from Grand Portage. Obtaining such supplies, he proceeded up the Mississippi to the Chippeway River, and, after ascending to its head, made portages to the St. Croix, and reached Lake Superior, possibly by the river now known as the Bois Brule.

From this point Carver, in his canoe, skirted the coast of Lake Superior to the Grand Portage, where he awaited the arrival of the Hudson Bay or northern traders, from whom he anxiously hoped to obtain supplies that would enable him to journey west; but he was destined to disappointment, as nothing could be obtained from them. Carver coasted around the north and east borders of Lake Superior, and arrived at the Falls of Ste. Marie the beginning of October, having skirted nearly twelve hundred miles of the shores of Lake Superior in a birch canoe.

The Sault Ste. Marie was then the resort of the Algonquin Indians, who frequented the falls on account of the great numbers of whitefish that filled the waters, particularly in the autumn, when that fish leaves the lakes in order to spawn in shallow running waters.

In November, 1767, Carver arrived at Mackinac, having, as he says, “been sixteen months on this extensive tour, travelled nearly four thousand miles, and visited twelve nations of Indians living to the west and north. His picture of Detroit on his return, in 1768, is of retrospective interest.

“The town of Detroit contains upward of one hundred houses. The streets are somewhat regular, and have a range of very convenient and handsome barracks with a spacious parade at the south end. On the west side lies the King’s Garden, belonging to the Governor, which is very well laid out, and kept in good order. The fortifications of the town consist of a strong stockade, made of round piles, fixed firmly in the ground, and lined with palisades. These are defended by some small bastions, on which are mounted a few indifferent cannon of an inconsiderable size, just sufficient for its defence against the Indians or an enemy not provided with artillery. The garrison in time of peace consists of two hundred men, commanded by a field-officer, who acts as chief magistrate under the Governor of Canada.

“In the year 1762, in the month of July, it rained on this town and the parts adjacent a sulphurous water of the color and consistency of ink, some of which being collected in bottles, and wrote with, appeared perfectly intelligible on the paper, and answered every purpose for that useful liquid. Soon after, the Indian wars already spoken of broke out in these parts. I mean not to say that this incident was ominous of them, notwithstanding it is well known that innumerable well-attested instances of extraordinary phenomena, happening before extraordinary events, have been recorded in almost every age by historians of veracity; I only relate the circumstance as a fact, of which I was informed by many persons of undoubted probity, and leave my readers, as I have heretofore done, to draw their own conclusions from it.”

It is beyond question that certain chapters of Carver’s work, supplementary to his account of his personal explorations, and especially devoted to Indians and to the natural history of the Northwest, are practically translations of the accounts of Charlevoix, Hennepin, and particularly of Lahontan. It does not appear from the first part of the work that Carver was a man endowed with those powers of observation and assimilation which are essential traits for the successful traveller and author.

When the brief recital of his personal travels is examined, it seems difficult to determine on what grounds his truthfulness has been questioned by a few hostile critics. His story is simple and straightforward, devoid of boastfulness, free from any exaggeration as to his personal prowess, and the statement that he passed a winter of five months in the valley of the Upper Minnesota is, in my opinion, worthy of entire credence.

Fortunately, however, evidence of the most convincing character exists as to Carver’s residence among the Naudowessies or Santees. The exhaustive bibliography of the Siouan languages, by Mr. James C. Pilling, indicates that Carver is the first author who ever published a vocabulary of the Santee tongue, and its length, eight pages, renders it evident that it was an original compilation which must have required considerable time and patience.

The importance of Carver’s charts and journals at that time was evident to the Lords Commissioners of Trade and Plantations in England to whom Carver was referred when praying for reimbursement of his expenses. Carver appeared before the Board and, after an examination, was granted authority to publish his papers. Later, after Carver had, as he says, disposed of them and they were nearly ready for the press, an order was issued from the Council Board requiring him to immediately turn in all the originals of his charts, journals, and other papers relative to his discoveries.

Meanwhile interest in the extension of English influence into the interior of North America was waning steadily with the growing conviction that the colonies would establish their independence, and the Government had no mind to reimburse an enterprising American, even though he remained loyal. Carver was reduced gradually to the greatest straits, was compelled to sell his book for a pittance, and finally, his end hastened by lack of proper food and suitable attendance, died in the direst poverty in London, January 13, 1780.

His own generation could best judge as to the timeliness and importance of Carver’s exploration, and as to the value of the information set forth in his book of travels. Suffice it to say that no less than twenty-three editions of this book have appeared, in four languages. This, too, at a time when the war of independence naturally destroyed current interest in the extension of English settlements in the interior of North America.

Explorations, however, are wisely esteemed by posterity according to the results which flow therefrom in the shape of definite additions to the knowledge of the world or in the more important direction of disclosing lands suitable for colonization. In this latter manner the exploration of Jonathan Carver and the accounts of his travels had an important influence. They first brought into popular and accessible form information and ideas concerning the interior parts of North America which before had been practically inaccessible to the general public of England and America.

Twenty-five years after this journey toward the “Shining Mountains” and “Oregon, the River of the West,” the ultimate scheme of Carver found its justification in the success of Alexander Mackenzie, a young Scotchman, who was the first white man to cross the continent of America to the north of Mexico; and yet ten years later Lewis and Clark were despatched on their famous expedition which explored the valley of the Columbia, where in 1810, under the energetic management of John Jacob Astor, arose the trading-post of Astoria, thus turning into reality the dreams and aspirations of Jonathan Carver, the soldier and explorer.

IV

CAPTAIN ROBERT GRAY,

The Discoverer of the Columbia River

Within the past century no American explorer has contributed more materially to the welfare of the United States and to its maritime glory than Captain Robert Gray, the discoverer of the Columbia River and the first circumnavigator who carried the flag of the United States around the world.

Robert Gray was born at Tiverton, R. I., in May, 1757, and in early youth, inspired with the spirit of independence which dominated the American Colonies, entered the naval service during the war of the Revolution, wherein he served with credit as an officer.

At the termination of the war it is probable that he continued his natural or acquired vocation as a seaman. At all events, we find him first and foremost among that band of American citizens whose courage, energy, and nautical skill enabled them to attain unsurpassed success as whalers and sealers in the Antarctic Ocean, as traders dealing direct with China, or as explorers and fur dealers on the unsurveyed and dangerous coast of northwest America.

In 1787, J. Barrell, S. Brown, C. Bulfinch, J. Darby, C. Hatch, and J, M. Pintard, merchants of Boston, associated for the purpose of combining the fur traffic of the northwest coast of America with the silk and tea trade of China. For this purpose they sent, under the command of Captain John Kendrick, in 1787, the ship Columbia and the sloop Washington with cargoes of blankets, knives, iron bars, and other articles suitable for the northwest trade. They were provided with sea letters issued according to a resolution of Congress, with passports from the State of Massachusetts, and with commendatory letters from the Spanish minister plenipotentiary to the United States.

Captain Kendrick, who commanded the Columbia, was a man of marked ability and great energy, who withal had most enthusiastic opinions as to the future of the Pacific Coast region, which he believed would in a few years utterly dwarf the growing importance of the Atlantic seaboard. Gray was the master of the Washington, and his professional standing in the eyes of the merchants of Boston was shown by his designation as the most desirable officer to assume command in case of death or injury to Captain Kendrick.

Many aspersions have been cast by English writers on the policy pursued and methods followed by Americans engaged in trading with the Indians of the northwest coast of America. Doubtless such reflections were justified in individual cases of Americans, as of traders of other nationality; but the instructions given by the merchants of Boston to Kendrick and Gray show that fair, honest, and peaceful methods were regarded as the true means of establishing a permanent and profitable trade. Among other injunctions were the following:

“If you make any fort or any improvement of land on the coast, be sure you purchase the soil of the natives… Let the instrument of conveyance bear every authentic mark that circumstances will admit… We cannot forbear to impress on your mind our will and expectation that the most inviolable harmony and friendship may subsist between you and the natives, and that no advantage may be taken of them in trading, but that you endeavor by honest conduct to impress on their minds a friendship for Americans.” While enjoining peace, it was not to be a peace on any terms, for thus runs the instructions: “The sea letters from Congress and this State you will show on every proper occasion, and although we expect you will treat all nations with respect and civility, yet we depend you will suffer insult and injury from none without showing that spirit which becomes a free and independent American.”

The vessels sailed from Boston September 30, 1787, via the Cape Verde and Faulkland Islands, and in January doubled Cape Horn, when they thought the perils of storm were past. In latitude 59° S., however, a violent gale arose, which not only separated them, but also seriously damaged the Columbia. The storm over, Kendrick found himself in a sad plight, his consort gone, perhaps lost, his ship in an unseaworthy condition, and the nearest spot for repairs a thousand miles distant. This port, that of the island of Juan Fernandez, if now famous and delightful to the adventurous mind through its associations with the fascinating tale of Robinson Crusoe, was then most objectionable from the fact that it was under Spanish rule and so was to be avoided by Kendrick, whose instructions ran as follows:

“You are strictly enjoined not to touch at any port of the Spanish dominion on the western continent of America, unless driven there by unavoidable accident, in which case you are to give no offence to any of the subjects of his Catholic Majesty.”

Kendrick, to his surprise, was received with great kindness and aided in repairing his injured vessel by Don Blas Gonzales, the humane commandant of the Spanish garrison of Juan Fernandez.

Spain at this time claimed the right of exclusive jurisdiction over the 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.

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.

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.