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HISTORY

Southern Oregon,

'— *y — '^ ^

RCKSON, Josephine. ..Doiiglss Curry anti Cnos

COUNTIES,

Compiled from the Most Authentic Sources.

PUBLISHED BY

1884.

PORTLAND, OREGON :

I'RINTINC; AND LITIIOCIKAP IIING HOUSE OF A. G. WALI.ING, CORNER IMRST AND ASH STREET

'Ugress, in tlie j'C jin of Congress, (

PREFACE. 12C43G9

In giving these pages to the pnblic, the publisher has been actuated by the lauil- able ambition to materially aid in a great work — the jjreservation in historical form or tlie fast-fading annals of Oregon. The history of this great state, the story of its struggles and triumphs, has never been written; nor can it be until the annals of each section have been carefully gathered and recorded. They are the stones, which, set in place by the hand of a skillful builder, make the complete edifice. To gather the scat- tered threads of history ere they fall from the hands of those who have spun them, and to weave them into a complete and reliable narrative, is the arduous task the publisher has assumed; and to do this he has undertaken the work in the only manner l)y which this result can be accomplished.

No portion of the state exceeds in importance or historical interest that section to which the pages of this volume are specially devoted. The counties of Douglas, Jack- sou, Josephine, Coos and Curry, usually referred to under the title of "Southern Ol-egon," are large, populous and prosperous, and their annals constitute one of the most important factors in the history of Oregon.

The work has been performed by a corps of able writers, who have patiently examined ever}' source of information, giving sj^ecial attention to drawing out the tes- timony of the pioneers and actois in the scenes portrayed. Every volume touch- ing upon the subject has been carefully perused, the state and county records have been examined, the files of the earliest newspapers of the state have been searched, pioneers have been interviewed by the hundred, not only those now living in Southern Oregon, but others encountered in every section of the Pacific Coast. Pains have been taken to reconcile as nearly as possible all conflicting statements, and to do this the compilers liave interview men of all shades of opinion. Whenever possible, disputetl j^oints have been decided by reference to official records and documents and the contemporaneous accounts in the newspapers. It is upon this careful investigation of all original sources of information that this volume bases its claim of being the only reliable record of the events of which it speaks. Everything previously written on these subjects has been Init personal recollections, valuable to be sure, but incomplete, or was prepared for the juirpose of attacking or defending some particular person, organization or theory, and is valuable, not as history, but simply as evidence from which history may be compiled. The task has been an arduous one, but it was undertaken with a full realization of its diniculty, and has been conscientiously performed. That no errors whatever should be committed could not even be hoped for; but their very scarcity and unimportant nature are evidences of the general accuracy of the work.

The publisher returns his sincere thanks for the encouragement and substantial aid extended by the state, county and city officials, the press, and the intelligent citizens generally. With these remarks he submits the volume to the thoughtful perusal of the Pioneers, the sturdy men and women who have through many years t)f toil, liiiitlship and danger, bravely woven the tapestry of Oregon's history.

THE PrBLlSlIEIJ.

Portland, Oregon, May lo, 18.SJ.

ILLusTRA.TIo:^;^s.

Applegate, Hon. Lindsay, 8

Beekman, Hon. C. C. 22S

Drain, Mr. and Mrs. Hon. Chas. 432

Klippel, Henry, 452

Lane, G^n. Joseph, frontis-piece.

PORTKAITS.

Lane, Mrs. Gen. Joseph, 184 McCall, Gen. J. M., 32 Owens, Hon. J. F. W., 412 Ply male, W. J.. 68 Reams, Thos. G., 100

Ross, Gen. John. E., 176 Smilh, Capt. Thomas, 372 Tolman, Gen. J. C, 356 T'Vault, W. G., 296 Tichenor, Wm., 472

Agee, Benj. C, 12 Aiken, Andrew G., 16 Alford, Albert, 20 Amy, Haskell, 24 Ashland— Bird's-eye, 352 Ashland Woolen Mfg. Co., 28 Barron, H. F., 36 Battle Rock, 40 BeallT. F. and R. V., 44 Blanco Hotel, 48 Booth, John O., 52 Brockway, B. B., 56 Brown, H. G., 60 Burnett, Jas. D., 64 Cape Arago Light, 496 Cape Blanco Light, 72 Cellers, Joseph, 76 Chapman, John H., 80 Constant, Isaac, 84 Coohdge, Orlando, 88 Court House, Roseburg, 96 Court House, Jacksonville, 92 Coquille Jlill and Tug Co., 492 Crater Lake, 104 DaMotta, Philip, 108 l>odge, J. R., 112 Eagle Mills, 116 Elkton Mills, 120 Emmitt, John, 124 FuUerton, John, 128 Ganiard, O. V., 136 Gardiner Mill Co., 132 Gardner, T. K., 140 Gates, Henry, 144 Gazley, J. F., 148 Gillam, Thos. J., 152 Grubb, John L., 156

VIEWS.

Gurney, Mrs. E., 160 Gurney Bros., 164 Hanley, M., 172 Ish, Mrs. Jacob, 180 Jacksonville — Bird's-eye, 360 Jones, Henry, iSS Jones, Joseph, 192 Lane's (Gen. Jos.) Tomb, 196 Leeds, Capt. J. B., 200 Levens, D. A., 204 Love & Hanley, 16S Magruder, Constantine, 208 ilap — Coos and Curry Counties, 464

— Douglas County, 384

— Jackson County, 30S

— ^Josephine County, 444 Marshlield — Bird's-eye, 484 Marshfield Mills, 212 Marshfield Church and Academy, 488 Mark, Frederick, 220 Masonic Temple, Ashland, 224 Mathes, Wm. E., 232 McClellan, D. C, 236 McClendon, C. C, 240 Mingus, Conrad, 244 Moon & Stanley, 248 Murphy, John, 252 Jlyer, W. C, 256 Nasburg & Hirst, 260 Nichols, I. B., 264 Nickell, Charles, 216 Ocean House, 268 O.&C.R.R.— Rock Cut, 272

—Tunnel No. 8, 276 —S. from Tunnel No. 8, 2S0 — Grave Creek Crossing, 2S4 Palmer, P. P., 288

Patterson, Joshua, 292

Payne, C. T., 300

Pershbaker, A., 304

Pelton Bros., 3S8

Pickens, E. P., 312

Plymale, F. M., 316

Presbyterian Church, Jacksonville, 320

Price, J. W., 324

Rast, John, 328

Riddle, T. S., 332

Roseburg — Bird's-eye, 408

Roseburg Public School, 336

Ross, John E., 340

Sawyers, Andrew, 348

Sheffield, James F., 364

Shrum, Thomas, 368

Simpson Bros., 500

Singleton, T. J., 376

Singleton, W. B., 380

Stanton, H. C, 392

Stearnes, D. W., 396

Sutherlin, Fendel, 400

Taylor, S. C, 404

Thomas, Richard, 42S

Thornton, S. I., 416

" Times" Printing House, 216

Walker, J. P., 420

Walton & Hayes, 424

Ward, Frazier, 436

Weaver, J. W., 440

Welker, Daniel, 448

Williams, L. L., Monument, 456

WiUis, Rev. W. A., 460

Woodruff, A. H., 468

Wright, J. W., 476

Wrisley, J. B., 4S0

INDEX.

Abbott, G. H., 275, 276. Abernethy, George, 146, 14S, 150, 160. Agriculture, 115, 315, 394- Aguilar, Martin cle, 30, river of, 30, 49, 54. 76-

Alarcon, Fernando de, explores Colo- rado river, 17.

Alaska, 35, 59, 63, 65, 69, 95, 102.

Albion, New, 21, 55,

Alden, Capt. B. R., 215.

Allhouse creek, 455-6.

Allhouse, Philip, 44S, 455-

Amazons, Isle of, 14.

Ambrose, Dr. G. II., 202.

American explorations, 6S, 72, 75, 76, 92, iiS, 126, 136, 145, 1S6, 301.

.American board of commissioners for foreign missions, 128.

American Fur Company, 118, 123, 125, 129.

Angell, Martin, killed, 259.

.\nian, .Straits of, 13, 19, 22, 28, 35, 48, 60, 62, 75.

ADplegate creek, siege of cabins, 259, ■458.

.^pplegate trail, 14S, 302-7.

Applegate, Charles, Jesse and Lindsay, 143, 148, 302, 349.

-Armstrong, Ben., 215.

Armstrong, Pleasant, 219.

Arteaga, voyage of Captain Ignacio, 62.

Ashland, 214, 352, 358.

Ashburton treaty, 141.

Ashley, Gener<il W. H., u8.

Astor, John Jacob, 94, 106.

Astoria, 96, 100, 102, 104, 105, 107.

Athabaska, lake, 81.

.\ugur, Captain U. S. A., 276.

Avalanche, 3S9.

B

Baffin's bay discovered, 32.

Baker guards, the, 348. Baker, mount, 79.

Bandon, 4S9.

Battle Kock, siege of, 471, 473.

Bear creek, Indian tight on, 214.

Beaver money, 170.

Beekman, C. C. 363.

Behring Straits discovered, 35, 60.

Benton Senator T. H., 163, 164.

Berkeley, Capt., re-discovers Straits of

Fuca, 66. Big Bar, 374. Big Meadows, 266, Smith's tight at,

279, 281. Bitter-root Mountains, 86, 91. Blackburn's Ferry, fight at, 188. Blanchet, Revs. F. N. and A. M. A.,

132, 136, 156, 170. Blanco, Cape, discovered, 30, 54, 76. Bledsoe, Capt., 282. Bloody Point Massacre, 204. I'.Uie Mountains, 102, 123, 148. liodega y Quadra, J. F. de, 52, 54. Bohemia mines, 392. Boise Fort, 125.

Bonneville, Capt. B. L. E., 123, 125. Boundaries of the United States, 47, 84.

Browntown, 455.

Brouillet, Father J. B. A., 15S, 159. Bruce, Major James, 256, 2S2. Bucareli, Port, 54. Buccaneers, 20, 22, 32, 33. Buchanan, Lieut-Col. U.S.A., 276. Buford or Beaufort, James, killed, 272. Butte creek, war upon, 258.

Cabeza-Vaca, N. A. de, 16. Cabrillo, Juan Rodriguez, 18. California Lower, discovery of, 15; attempts to colonize, 15, 33; Mis- sions, 38; Upper California, first exploration, 18; missions, 44.

Calilornia, Gulf of, 16, 44; population of, 46: mines, 169, 170.

Camas Prairie, 406; valley, 421.

Camp Leland, 254.

Camp Stewart, 215.

Canada, 47.

Canneries, 488, 4S9.

Canyon, emigrant suffering in the, 149.

Canyonville, 425;

Carver, Jonathan, 48, 49.

Cascades of the Columbia, 87.

Cascade mountains, 148, 387.

Cascades massacre, 176.

Casey, Lieutenant-Col. Silas, 200, 474, 475.

Catching creek, 486.

Catholic Missions, 132, 135 to 157, 151. 15s. 157-

Cave fight, the, 233-4.

Cayuse Indians, 89, 130, 152, 153, 106 to 165.

Census of 1849, 169.

Chapman, Lieutenant-Colonel W. W., 264-S, 268,

Chetco Indians, 271; description of, 481

Chinese, 346.

Chinook Indians, 78, 87, 104.

Chipewyan, fort. Si.

Cibola, fabulous city of, 16, 17.

Civil Bend, 421.

Clarke's Fork of the Columbia, 86.

Clatsop, fort, 87.

Clearwater river, 86.

Cleveland, 428.

Climate, 299.

Cluggage, James, 359.

Coal, 394, 493.

Coats, Onsby and Long murdered, 205.

Coast Indians, 271.

Coast Mail newspaper, 494.

Coast Range mountains, 389.

Cockstock killed at Oregon City, 154.

Cole's valley, 426-7.

Colorado river, 16, 17, 118, 119, 123.

Columbia river, 49, 53, 67, 76, 78, 80, S3, S7, 96, 106, 114.

Columbia, ship, second voyage of, 76.

Columbus, Christopher, 10.

Concomly, Indian chief, 105.

Conasset, fabulous city of, 27.

Congregational missions, 1 28, 1 32, 151 to 160.

Congressional debates, 142, 149, 164 to 167.

Cook, Capt. James, voyage of, 55'

491. Cook's inlet, 60, 66. Coos, origin of name, 496. Coos Bay, 490; discovery of, 491; bar,

496-7. Coos Bay company, 492. Coos Bay Neius, newspaper, 494. Coos county, 483, 499; boundaries of,

496. Copper mines, 457. Coppermine river, 50. Coquille massacre, 271-2; river, 484,

490; Herald, newspaper, 487; Co- quille river bar, 490; origin of name,

496; City, 487. Coionado's invasion of Cibolo, 18. Cortereal, Caspar de, 13. Cortes, Hernando de, 14 to 17. Cow creek, murder of miners on, 212;

disturbances, 257, 258; description,

etc., 423, 424, 425. Cowlitz river, 117. Carter lake, 308, 311. Crespi, Father, 45. Crowley, Miss M. L., 462. Crooks, Ramsey, 100, 103. Culver, Indian agent, 271. Curry county, war in, 270; description

and history, 465, 482. D Dalles, The, 102. 131, 137, 153, 156,

159- Dardanelles, the, 215, 379. Dart, Dr. Anson, Indian commissioner,

474- Day, John, 100 to 103. Deady, Judge M. P., 221, 363, 366,

367, 446. Deer creek, 452. De la Matter mine, 453. Demers, Father Modest, 151. Denmark, 476. DeSmet, Father P. J., 132. Destruction island, 53. Dilley, murdered at Phnenix, 196. Disappointment, Cape, 53, 67, 77,

78, 87. Douglas county, 3S3, 442; boundaries

of, 404, 406; statistics, 407, 408. Drain, 431, 432. Drake, Sir Francis, 20, 22.

Eagle Point, 376.

East India Company, 64.

Edgecumb, Mount, 53, 59, I06.

Edwards, Edward, 213.

Edwards, P. L., 127, 131, 132, :S6.

Eells, Rev. Gushing, 131, 139.

Eight Dollar Mt., fight at, 264, 265,

452, 453- Elk creek, 477. Elk Head, 441. Elkton, 402, 405, 434. Ellensburg, 478, 4S0. Ely, Lieutenant Simeon, 217,218. Emigrations, yearly, 1 37, 143, 147, '48. Empire City, 493. English explorations, 20, 32, 47, 55 to

61, 64 to 68, 761081. Enos, Indian, 273, 183.

Esther mine, 333, 463.

Evan's creek, campaign of, 21S, 220.

Fairweather, mount, 59.

Ferrelo, discovers Cape Mendocino, 18.

Fields and Cunningham murdered, 240,

241. Fitzgerald, Major, U. S. A., 206, 209,

246, 255. FiveCrows, Indian chief, 153, 15S, 161. Flat-head Indians, 127. Flattery, Cape, 52, 7S. Flint. A. R., 402, 403. Floras creek, 476. Fonte, Admiral de, 27. Foot's creek, 185, 1S6, 379. Forests, 390. Fort Boise, 125. Fort Briggs, 452, 454. Fort Hall, 125, 137, 138, 14S. Fort Hays, 452. Fort Jones, 209. Fort Lamerick, 278. Fort Lane, 231. Fort Orford, 275. Fort Umpqiia, 301, 397, 399- Fort Vancouver. 114, 115, 124. Fort Walla Walla, 123, 129, 137, 156,

159, 175, 176. Fowler mine, 331-2. Franciscan missionaries in California,

43- Fraser river, 81.

Fremont, Lieutenant J. C, 145, 187. French explorations, 48, 63. Frizzell and Mungo killed, 229. Fuca, Straits of Juan de, 23 to 26, 52,

57. 66, 75, 76, 78. Fur trade, 34 to 37, 61, 63, Si, 82, 91,

93, 100 to 104, 106 to 113, 114 to

Gaines, Governor, treaty with Indians, 199- 336.

Galice creek, supposed murder of miners at, 20S; siege of, 250-1; de- scription, 460-1.

Gania, Vasco de, 11.

Gardiner, 402, 436.

Geisel family, the, 274, 478-9.

Geoige, fort, 104, 107.

Ghent, treaty of, 106.

Gibbs, A. C, 402.

Gilliam, Colonel Cornelius, 160, 161, ■163.

Glendale, 426.

Gold Ik- . !: ;n ;^ ,. . 274.

Gold. .1^ I u.

Gold 11. , ■-, j;S.

Goodall, L_L, :. |. .!.._-, 206, 215, 21S,

234. Grand Ronde valley, 102, 123; battle

of, 176. Grant's Pass, 3S0. Grave creek, 462-3; Indians, 199, 208,

213. Gray, W. H., 129, 131, 139, 145. Gray, Capt. Robert, 68, 72, 76. Gray's Harbor, 78, 80. Great Slave lake. Si. Green valley, 439. Green river, 118, 122. Griffin, B. B., 216.

H Hahn, Capt., 385. Hall, fort, 125, 137. 138, 148. Harding and Rose killed, 217. Harkness killed, 266. Harris family, the, 246.

Hawaiian Islands, 56, 60.

Hearne, e.xplorations of Samuel, 50.

Heceta, Bruno d-, 52, 53.

Hedden, Cyrus, 471, 474-

Hermann, Dr., 485.

Hermansville, 485.

Hines, Rev. Gustavus, 132, 136, 146,

>53- Hitchcock, General, U. S. A., 200. Hooker, Colonel Joseph, U. S. A.,

339- Horn, Cape, discovered, 32. Hudson's Bay, 13, 32, 47. Hudson's Bay Company, 33, 50, 81,

loS to 126, 148, 397, 399. Hull, Charles W. killed, 259. Humboldt river, 119, 122. ■'Humbug war," 238, 240. Hungry Hill, campaign of, 251, 253,

464. Hunt, Wilson P., e.xpedilion of, 100 to

103, 105.

Illinois valley, 451.

Immigration of 1845, 137; of 1843,

143: of 1844, 147. Irvin, Lieutenant U. S. A., kidnapped,

200.

J Jackson county, description of, 306,

315: history of, 315, 382. Jackson creek, 337. Jackson Rangers, 349. Jacksonville, 359. "Jesuit missionaries in lower California,

38, 42- Joe, Chief of the Rogue River Indians,

263. Joint occupancy of Oregon, loS, 113,

126. John, Chief of the Applegate Indians,

190, 216, 217, 279, 281, 284. John Day Rivei, 8S. 103, 148. Jones, Capt., U. S. A., 275. Josephine creek, discovered, 447. Josephine county, 446. judah, Capt. H. M., U. S. A., 233. Jump-off-Joe creek, 461.

Kamiakan, Indian chief, 174, 176. Kautz, Lieut. A. V., U. S. A., 221,

251. Kearney, Gen. Philip, 197. Keene, Granville, killed, 240. Keeney, Captain Jonathan, 261. Kelsev, Colonel John, 265. Kendrick, Captain John, 68. Kerbyville, 453, 454. ICing ( ;curge III. Archipelago, 53. King ( ieorge Sound Company, 64. Kino, Father, 33. 38, 39. Klamath Indians, 1 78.

K!an

13'-

Klickitat Indians, 183.* Kyle, James C, killed, 231.

Labrador, straits of, 13.

Lamerick, General J. K., 202, 254,

262, 266, 282. Lane, Gen. Joseph, 16S, 198, 217, 222. La Perouse voyage of, 63. Lapwai Mission, 130, 132, 155. Latshaw, Major, 281. LeBreton, George W., 136, 146, 153,

154- Ledford massacre, 346, 347. Leivard, John, efforts to cross the

Continent, 63. Lee, H. A. G., 160.

. 132, 136, 146. ition, 85, 92.

LeN\i>. Joe, 157 to 159. Limestone, 321. Long Prairie, 438

Looking-glass, 417, Indians of, at- tacked, 257. Loretto, Mission of Our Lady of, 40. Lost river fight, 207. Lowden's ferry fight, 1S8, 189. Louisiana, Province of, 47, 84. Lovejoy, A. Lawrence, 139, 150. Lower California, colonized, ^;i. Lupton massacre, 243.

M Mackenzie, Alexander, explorations of.

81, 82; Mackenzie river, 81. Magellan, 11, 13.

Maldonado and theSlraitsof Anian, 22. Mandan Indians, 86. Marple, P. B., 491. Marshall, James W., 169. Marshfield, 494, 495. Martinez, Estevan, voyages of, 52, 69:

Nootka controversy, 71. Mary's river, (see Humboldt). Mrssacre on October ninth, (855, 24-I. Maurelle. Antonio voyages of, 52, 6:. McBean, William, 159. McKay, Alexan.ler, Tom and William C, 95, 121, 129, 138, 152, 156,161. McKinlav, Archiiwld. 1 58. McLaughlin, Dr. John, 121. 136, 153. McLaughlin, Joseph. 122. McLeod river, 122. McTavish, J. G., 104. Meachani, A. B., 207. Meadows, first campaign of the, 256;

second campaign, 266, 269. Meares, Captain, voyages of, 58, 65,

6S, 71- Medford, 375. Meek, Joseph L. and Stephen II., 133,

137, 146, 148, 166, 168. Mendocino, Cape, discovered, 18. Mendoza, Antonio, Viceroy of Mexico,

16, 18. Merchants' and Farmers' Navigation

Co., 3S5. Methodist missions, 127, 130, 131, 132.

135 I" 137. 151. 154- Meteorological tables, 300. Miller. Captain John F., 331, 232. Mines and Minerals, 321 to 333, 392

to 394- Mis^i,,ns in California, 38. Missions in Oregon, 127 to 133, 151.

154. Missionaries, 127, 159. Missouri Fur Co., 92, 118. Missouri river, 86, 91. Modocs, 187, 204, 207, 349. Molalla Indians, 154. Montcrrv, Ibv of, 29, 45. M..nm M. Klias, 60.

Murphy's creek, 459; fight at, 280.

Myrtle creek, 422, 423.

Myrtie Point, 4S5.

N

Nesmith, J. W., 148, 221, 223.

New Archangel, 106.

Nez Perce Indians, 86, 90, 123, 128. 130, 132, 153.

Ninth Regiment, 293, 296.

Nisqually, missions at, 151, 174.

Niza, Father Marcas de, pretended ex- plorations of, 17.

Nolan, Rhodes, 214.

Noolka convention, 73, 74.

Nootka Sound, 51, 54, 64, 66, 70, 73, 75, 81.

Xorlh Bend, 495.

North Sea, 11.

North Umpqua river, 389.

Northwest Fur Co., of Montreal, 81, 91, 100, 107 to 109, 113, 114. O

Oak Flat, council of, 279.

Oakland, 406, 428, 430.

Ogden, I'eter Skeen, 122, 159.

Ogden's river (see Humboldt).

Olympus, Mount, 52.

Ord, Capt. E. O. C, U. .S. A., 277.

Oregon, first discoveries, 18, 20, 30; origin of name, 49, 50, S3; joint oc- cupancy, 108, 113; missions 127 to 133; first efforts at self-government, 133; boundary, 141: white popula- tion of, in 1843, 143; subdivided, 170.

Oregon and California railroad, 381, 3S2, 396, 411, 424, 462.

Oregon City laid out, 137; Indian fight at, 154.

Oreifoii Senlinel, newspajjer, 369.

Oregon trail, the, 338, 447, 449, 461.

Orford, Cape, 30, 54, 76. P

Pacific Fur Co., 95, 104.

Pacific Ocean, discovery of, 11; early explorations, 15.

Palmer, Joel, 221,

Palouse river, 87, 103.

Palouse Indians, 103.

Pambrun, P. C, 129.

Parker, Rev. Samuel, 128, 151.

Parkersburg, 488.

Peo-peo-mux-mux, Indian Chief, 88, 153, 175-

Perez, voyages of Juan, 51, 52.

Peters Philip, 400.

Philip II., orders survey of northwest

Philippine Islands subdued by Spain,

19- Phillips, Edward, killed, 236. Philpnt killed, 237, 452. I'hoenis, 374. Pikhei. M,ijor, 122. Pirmecrs, s..ciety of, 35 1. Poland, Captain, 273. Portala, first governor of California, 44. Port Orford, 200. 471, 477. Port San Lorenzo, 51. Post, newspaper, 480. Prim, Judge P. P., 361. Prince William's sound, 60, 65, 69 Printing, first in Oregon, 132. Provisional government of Oregon,

133. 135. '45. 146. I'ligcl S.iund Agricultural Co., 1 70. Puget Sound explored, 79. Putnam Valley, 438, 439.

Q

(Quadra, Bodega y, 52, 62, So. (Quartz mining, 326, 333, 392, l<)l,

456, 466. Queen Charlotte's Island, 51, 79. Quicksilvei, 321, 593, 394. (juivira. Fabulous City of, jr.

R

Rainfall, 300. Ranier, Mount, 79. Randolph, 492; mines of, 4S9. Rawlins, Miss Josephine, 447. Ricortkr, newspaper, 476.

Red River of the North, 50; settle- ments, 109, 134; emigrants, 137. Redwood grove, 482. Reyes, Rio de los, 26 to 28, 48,49, 54,

59, 76- . Reynolds, Major U. S. .\., 272, 274. Rhoades, Jacob, 215. Rice settlement, 257, 420. Rice valley, 440. Riddle, 424.

Rinearson, Capt. Jacob, 247, 249. Rock Point, 379, Rocky mounlains, 48, 85, 118. Rocky Mountain Fur Company, 119,

122, 123. Rogue river, 312, 313. Rogue River Indians, 178, 185, 190,

202, 216, 302, 304, 378. Rollins (see Rawlins.) Roseburg, 403, 405, 416. Roseburg and Coos Bay railway, 396,

494. 499- Ross, General John E., 160, 205, 206,

213, 220, 234, 249, 251, 328, 345,

349. 464- Russian explorations in the Pacific, 34

to 38. Russian American Trading Company,

36, 63, 106, 117. Ryswick, treaty of, 47.

S Sahaptin river (see Snake.) Sailor Diggings (see Waldo.) Saint Elias, Mount, discovered, 35, 59. Salt Lake, Great, 118. Salva-Tierra, Father, 38. Sam and Joe, chiefs of the Rogue

River.s, 210, 211. Sandwich Islands, 56, 60, 6S, 93. San Diego mission, 43. San Jacinto, Mount, 53. San Francisco Bay discovered, 21, 29,

45- San Lorenzo, Port, 5l. San Roque, river of, 53. Sauvies' island, 88. Saskatwchewan river, 81. Scott, Capt. Levi. 148, 302, 400, 401. Scurvy, sufferings of Spanish explorers,

iS, 29, 30. Scottsburg, 385, 401, 402, 435. Second regiment, O. M. V., 260, 265,

286, 292. Selkirk's Red River settlements, 109. Serra,' Father Junipero. 43 to 46. SettlemeiUs in Oregon, 130, 134, 152. Shasta Indians, 178, 189. Sheep, 395.

Simpson, Sir George, 137. Siskiyou mountains, 122, 131. Siuslaw river, 384, 440. Sitka, Alaska, lo6. Sixes river. 476. Skinner, Judge A. A., 150, 199, 202,

Slate creeC, 459-

Smith, Capt. A. J., U. S. A., 223, m, 239. 277. 279-

Smith river, 383, 439, 44°-

Smith, Jedediah S., iiS, 120, 122, 184. 399.-

Snake river, 86, 100, 125.

South Sea, discovery of, 10.

South Sea Company, 64.

Southern Oregon, history and descrip- tion of, 297, 499.

Southern Oregon emigrant road, 148, 302.

Southern Oregon Improvement Com- pany, 494, 499.

Spanish explorations, iS, 29, 30, 31, 51, 52, 53, 62, 69, 75, 79.

Spalding, Kev. H. H., 129, 133, 139, 152, 157-

Spokane, fort, 103, 104; mission, 132.

Steele, Elijah, 201, 202, 203.

.Stevens, Gov. \. I., 173, 176.

.Stewart, Captain, U. .S. A., 197.

Steptoe, Col. E. J., 176.

Stock, 394.

Straits of Anian, 17, 20, 23.

Stoneman, Lieutenant, 475.

Sucker creek, 544, 455.

Sumner, 495.

Sutter, Captain John A., 131, 169.

Sutton, J. M., 464. T

Table Rocks, the, 377, 37S; reserva- tion at, 231.

Table Rock band, 263.

Tal'U Rock Stitlincl, newspaper (see Oregon Smlinel. )

Table Rock treaty, 221, 224.

Tallent, 380.

Tam-su-ky, Cayuse chief, 156 to 162.

Tedford and Rouse attacked by In- dians, 224.

Temperature, 300.

Ten-mile valley, 419.

Territorial government of Oregon, 163, 176.

Thornton, J. Q., 150, 164, 167.

Tichenor, Capt. Win., 471, 473, 478.

Tierra, Father Juan Maria Salva, 39.

Timber, 390.

Tipsu Tyee, 201, 211, 216, 230, 233.

Tonquin, ship, 95, loo.

Touchet river, 90.

Townsend, Port, 79.

Trappers, character of, 125, 126.

Treaties — Nootka, 73; Ghent, 106; Ryswick, 47; Ashburton, 141; of 1S46, 149.

Trinidad, bay of, 52.

Tukannon river, 87.

T'Vault, W. G., 197, 369, 370, 372, 377, 473-

Tyee George, 547. U

Ugarte, Father Juan, 38, 41.

Ulloa, Francisco de, explorations of, 16.

Umatilla river, 88, 124.

Umpqua City, 402, 438.

Umpqua county, 403, 405, 406.

Umpqua, Fort, 184, 301, 397, 399.

Umpqua Indians, 178, 182, 183.

Umpqua river, 21, 30, 117, 119, 184, 384, 399. 401.

V

Vancouver, Capt. George, 74, 81.

Vancouver Island, 51, 80.

Vancouver, Fort, 80, 1 14, 115, 124.

Viscaino, Admiral Sebastian, 29, 31.

Voyageurs, 95.

Wagner, Mrs., killed, 245.

Wagons first taken to Oregon, 129,

137, 142. Waiilatpu, 130, 1 38, 152. Waldo, called Sailor Diggings, 229,

456, 457- Walker, Rev. E., 131, 139. W'alker, Capt. Jesse, 235. Walla Walla, fort, 123, 129, 137, 156,

159. 175. '76- Walla Walla Indians, 88, 102, 103. Waller, Rev., his zeal, 152. Willamette Cattle Company, 130, 1S6.

War— Cayuse, l6o; of 1853, 214, 232;

of 1855-6, 244, 296, Wascopum Indians, 102, 153. Washington tenitoiy organized, 170,

174- Western University, 345. White, Dr. Elijah, 137, i5i, 154. Whitman, Dr. iVIarcus, 12S; overland

journey, 137 to 142. Whitman massacre, 150, 159. Wilkes, Commodore Charles, 136, l86,

301.

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437.

Willamette river, 88. Williams' creek, 458. Williamsburg, 458, 459. Williams, Capt. M. JM., 265. Williams, Col. R. L., 260, 262. Willow Springs, 332, 377; Indian fight

at, 196. Wilderville, 459. Wills, Thomas, 213. Winchester, 402, 404, 405, 408, 432. Winchester, Payne & Co., 401. Winchuck river, 481. Winnipeg settlements, 109.

Wolf meeting, the, 145. Woodman, Calvin, murder of, 20 Woodville, 380.

Wool, General John E., 175, 275, Wright, Gen. 203, 272, 274. Wright, Col. George, 176. Wyeth, Nathaniel f., 123, 125, 12

Y Yakima Indians, 174-5-6. Yellept, Chief, 88. Yellowstone river, 86; 91. Yoncalla, 401, 433. Young, Ewing, 123, 130, 135, 18

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PACIFIC COAST,

CHAPTER I.

DISCOVERY OF THE PACIFIC.

Prehistoric— The New World Divided between Spain and Portugal— Discovery of the South Sea Voyage of Magellan— Naming the Pacific —Cortereal and the Straits of Anian.

Intense glooiu enshrouds the history of the Pacific coast prior to the sixteenth century. The investigations of the geologist have revealed how the great inland arms of the ocean gradually became land-locked seas whose receding waters left behind the deposit of alluvium brought down from the mountains by the thousands of small streams pouring into them, by which process were evolved the great fertile valleys whose names have become the synonyms of abundance ; but of its history they are silent. The patient researches of the archaeologist have here and there cast a faint ray of light into the encircling gloom, but the fleeting outlines thus momentarily revealed serve but to confuse the mind and render more intense the deep shadow hanging over all. What races of human beings have acted here the great drama of life, their wars, customs, manner of living, religious beliefs and the degree of civilization they attained, are all hidden by an impenetrable veil. Here and there a voiceless skeleton disen- toombed from its resting place for centuries far beneath the verdant carpet of the earth it once trod, silentl,y points to ages long before the stony lips of the Sphynx were carved or the mighty Atlantis sunk beneath the seething billows of a convulsed ocean; yet of those ages it reveals naught but the simple fact of their existence.

Rude monuments of rocks and mounds of earth, a few rough carvings in the rocky walls of towering cliffs and crude paintings on the surface of huge stones, ob- jects of superstitious awe and reverence to the simple natives, speak of races now passed away, of whom the aborigines of to-day know nothing except the faint allusion made to them in the legends of their ancestors. These traditions also speak of the presence long years ago of a race of pale faced people who visited these shores i)i ships, yet so intangible are they that scarcely a theory can be founded upon them ; certainly nothing positive can be proved. That the Chinese or the Tartars in the years of their great warlike strength and foreign conquests may have visited the west- ern coast of America is far from improbable; in fact archaeologists have discovered many evidences of such visits in the crumbled ruins of Mexico, Central America and Peru, and in the customs and religious ceremonies of the people whom the conquering

10 PACIFIC COAST.

swords of Cortes and Pizarro so rutlilessly slaughtered ; but Oregon and Washington offer but little testimony either to confirm or confute the theory. It is quite possible, and even probable, that the traditions referred to had their rise in the visits of the early Spanish explorers. Leaving these mysteries to be revealed by the investigations of the future, let us step from out the shadow upon the lighted plain of authentic record.

Inunediately upon the return of Columbus in the spring of 1493, with the start- ling iutelligence that he had reached India in his voyage westward, for such was his belief at that time, the Spanish sovereigns applied to the Pope, who then arrogated to himself not only the spiritual but the temporal sovereignty of the universe, for special grants and privileges in all lands thus discovered. Formerly the head of the church had bestowed upon Portugal, which had for a century past been the foremost nation in making voyages of exploration and discovery, sovereign rights in the south and east, similar to those Spain now desired in the west. With an arrogance such as none but the ruler of a universe can display and a munificence to be expected only from one bestowing that which he does not possess or which costs him nothing, the successor of Peter and God's representative upon earth drew a line from pole to pole across the globe one hundred leagues west of the Azores, and assigned to Portugal all newly-dis- covered lands lying east of it and to Spain all lying to the westward. This partition was unsatisfactory to ambitious Portugal, and after two years of wrangling the obliging- Pope moved his dividing line 270 leagues farther west.

Though the Portuguese were obedient to the Pontiff's decree and left Spain in un- disputed possession of all its western discoveries, not ceasing, however, to make many voyages of exploration, this was far from being the case with the English. The sovereigns of that " tight little isle" were wont to be very independent in their conduct, and had been accustomed for some time to show little respect for the temporal au- thority of the Pope when it conflicted too strongly with their pyersonal, political or territorial interests. It can well be imagined, then, that this partition of the undis- covered world into equal portions between Spain and Portugal did not deter England from making voyages of discovery to the new world and claiming sovereign rights over all lands explored, a claim which neither the Pope nor his two pet subjects dared to dispute. Following in the footsteps of her island neighbor and immemorial enemy, France, and Holland also, ignored the papal bull and in later years grasped eagerly after their share of the prize.

And what was this land towards which the eyes of the great nations of Europe were turned ? It was, as they supposed, the west coast of India, the wonderful island of Zipango and the fabulously wealthy land of Cathay described by Marco Polo. Here was to be found the "gold of Ophir" which had enriched the kingdom of the mighty Solomon, diamonds and precious stones in abundance, and the fountain of per- petual youth. Imagination and legend had peojiled it with wonderful nations and cities and had stored it with a wealth of precious stones and metals such as the known portions of the globe never possessed. Love of dominion and cupidity, that great ruling power in human nature, led them forward in the contest.

From 1492 to 1513, when Vasco Nunez gazed from the mountains upon the vast "South Sea," many voyages of discovery were made, and the Atlantic coast of America.

PACIFIC COAST. 11

was exi)lored by the Spanish, Portuguese and English navigators from sunn}' Brazil as far north as the icy shores of Labrador. These voyages had satisfied geographers that not the India of the east, but a new continent, probably a great eastern extension of Asia, had been found by Cohinibus, and that this must be crossed or circumnavigated before reaching the hoarded treasures of Cathay. Indeed as early as 1498 Vasco de Gama, a Portuguese, reached India by sailing eastward around the Cape of Good Hope, and it was plainly evident that between that point (Calcutta) and the farthest point yet reached to the westward lay many wide leagues of land and water, unexplored and unknown. The idea prevailed that a great sea existed to the southwest beyond this new land of America, an idea which was strengthened and supported by statementsof the natives carried as slaves to Europe in every returning vessel, and, indeed, several eftbrts had been made to pass into this unknown sea by going southward along the coast of America. The title of "America" had been applied to the southern half of our continent which was at first supposed to be separate and distinct from the northern half, or Asia, as it was believed to be.

It was a quiet day in September, 1513, that Vasco Nunez de Balboa gazed from the mountain tops of Central America upon the sleeping waters of the Pacific, upon which the eye of a Caucasian then rested for the first time. Having crossed the nar- row isthmus joining the two Americas from his starting point at the Spanish settle- ment of Antigua on the gulf of Uraba, he was guided by a native to a point from which he saw the unknown ocean glistening in the sun far beneath him. As at that point the isthmus runs east and west, the Atlantic beating against its shores on the north and the Pacific lapping its sandy beach on tlje south, he christened the latter the '• South Sea," while the Atlantic was by way of contrast named the " North Sea ;" though this latter title was soon transferred to a supposed ocean lying north of Amer- ica, separated from the South sea by a narrow isthmus similar to that of Panama, and connected with it by a short strait, as will aj^pear further on.

The announcement that this great " South Sea" actually existed led to increased exertions to discover a route by which vessels could pass around America and traverse the unknown ocean in search of the Indies. It soon became evident that America united with the supposed land of Asia lying north of it to form a either new continent hitherto entirely unknown, or a great southeastern extension of Asia equally a stranger to geography. Exertions to discover the supposed southern passage to the great South sea were then redoubled, and in five years were crowned with complete success. A Portuguese navigator, a native of Oporto, but sailing under the Spanish flag, commanded the first vessel that plowed Pacific waters, and to this expedition is due the furtlier honor of making the first complete navigation of the globe, proving conclusively what all geographers of the time had learned to believe, that the world was round and could be encompassed by the traveler by going either east or west. The name of this cele- brated navigator, whose voyage was second only to the one made by Columbus in 1402 in the knowledge it revealed of the earth's geography, was Ferdinando de Magalhaens, spelled Magallanes by the Spaniards and by English authors given as Magellan. He had made several voyages for Portugal via the Cape of Good Hope, but becoming dis- satisfied had left his native land and entered the service of Spain, to again attempt for that nation the effort of reaching the east by sailing westward. His special destination

12 PACIFIC COAST.

was the Moluccas, then claimed by Spain, and to aid him on his voyage he possessed a chart upon which was designated a passage into the South sea ; but instead of the open sea which it actually is, this chart exhibited a narrow strait piercing the body of the southern half of America. The origin of this chart and the authority for marking upon it such an utterly incorrect geographical feature, are unknown ; but the proba- bilities are that the chart embraced tlie idea of some geographer as to what the nature of the desired passage into the South sea must be, and was founded solely upon theory. That this was probably the case is supported by the fact that a somewhat similar pass- age was supposed to lead through North America from the Atlantic to the Pacific. In fact it took nearly three centuries to prove the Straits of Auian to be utterly fabulous and mythical.

On the twentieth of September, 1519, Magellan sailed from San Lucar with five vessels and 265 men, reached Rio de Janeiro on the Brazilian coast December 13, and coasted thence to the southward, carefully exploring every promising bay and inlet. When he reached the broad estuary of the Rio de la Plata, he thought surely the long- sought strait had been discovered, but all efforts to pass through the continent by that route were completely unsuccessful. There was no passage through the huge rocky wall of the Andes. Abandoning the attempt he sailed again southward, reaching Port St. Julian, about 49° south latitude, on the thirty-first of March, where he remained five months. August 24, 1520, he again resumed his search, and on the twenty-first of October reached Cabo de las Virgenes, at the entrance of the long-sought straits, having lost one vessel by shipwreck and one by desertion. With the remaining three he passed through, naming the land to the southward " Terre del Fuego," because of the many fires seen burning there. Upon the strait itself he bestowed the title " Vi- torio," the name of one of his ships, though it has always properly been known as the Straits of Magellan. His passage through them of thirty-six days was a tem- pestuous and dangerous one, and when his vessel's prow cleaved the waters of the great unplowed sea on the twenty-seventh of November, the contrast between its quiet and smiling waters and the foam-lashed breakers of the tortuous strait was so great and so suggestive that he bestowed the name Pacific upon it. This circumstance and title are recorded in an account of the voyage written in Italian, by Antonio Pigafretta, after- ward Caviliere di Rhodi, who accompanied the great explorer.

Immediately upon entering the Pacific ocean Magellan steered to the northwest to reach a warmer climate, crossed the line February 13, 1521, arrived at the Ladrones March 6, and at the Philippines on the sixteenth of the same month. Here he was killed in a battle with the natives April 27, and the survivors of the expedition, num- bering 115 men, continued the voyage under the leadershij} of Caraballo. They touched at Borneo and other islands, and reached the goal of their voyage, the Moluc- cas, on the eighth of November. One of the vessels, the Viforio, in command of Se- bastian del Cano, sailed again westward from the Moluccas, rounded the Cape of Good Hope, and reached San Lucar September 6, 1522, with only eighteen survivors of the 265 who started upon the expedition, having been gone three years and accomplished the first complete circumnavigation of the globe. The new ocean was variously known for a number of years as South sea, Magellan's sea and Pacific ocean, the last title gradually superseding the others until it became universal.

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This wonderful voyage naturally altered the popular idea of the new land which Columbus had discovered. Tlie vast extent of the Pacific ocean and its apparently unlimited stretch to the northward convinced the map makers that their former idea was erroneous, and that the new land, or " Novus Mundus" as the name appears on many ancient maps, could not possibly be an eastern extension of Asia. They then came to believe that America and Novus Mundus were united by the Isthmus of Pan- ama to form an entirely new continent, and that the true Asia lay still further to the west across the new ocean. The direct and natural result of this idea was a belief that a passage into the Pacific could be discovered by sailing around the north end of No- vus Mundus as easily as Magellan had found one by going to the southward of America. In fact such a jjassage as this was supposed to have been discovered in the year 1500 by the Portuguese navigator, Gaspar Cortereal, the first explorer of the coast of Labra- dor. He passed through a strait into a sea which he believed and reported to be con- nected with the Indian ocean. This mistaken idea was not so proven until modern explorers demonstrated the fact that no such passage exists south of the ice-bound waters of the Arctic ocean. He had in fact passed through the straits and entered the bay afterwards entered and named by Hudson in his own honor. Upon the maps for many years straits of this character, leading indefinitely westward, were marked and called Straits of Labrador until their extent and the character of the sea into which they led were revealed by the later explorations of Hudson and others. The name Cortereal bestowed upon them, however, was Straits of Anian, though what was the significance of the title has never been satisfactorily explained. The Straits of Anian seemed in later years to become entirely disassociated in the minds of explorers from the Straits of Labrador or Hudson, and the universal idea of them seems to have been that of a narrow passage from sea to sea, between the continents of America and Asia. What caused this peculiar notion it is impossible to state, and the supposed passage is now universally referred to by historians as the "Fabulous Straits of Anian." To find it the English, French and Spanish searched diligently along the Atlantic coast, while the Spaniards, alone, sailing northward from the Pacific coast of Mexico, explored along our western shore for more than two centuries before the belief in its existence was finally abandoned.

Leaving the former and the results of their voyages to be referred to briefiy further on, let us turn our attention to those voyages in the Pacific which made known to the world the geography of the northern Pacific coast.

CHAPTER II.

EARLY EXPLORATIONS IN THE NORTHWEST.

Cortes Conquers Mexico and Turns his Eyes towards California— He Hopes to Reach the Indies by following the Coast— California Discovered by Ximenes— Cortez Undertakes its Conquest— Tale of the Florida Refu- gees—Voyage of UUoa— Wonderful Story of Friar Marcas - Coronado seeks Cibola and Quivira— Voyage of Cabrillo and Ferrelo.

Immediately followiug the first discoveries by Columbus, Spain began to plant colonies in the West India islands. Her enlightened sovereigns, Ferdinand and Isa- bella, proposed to open at once the great storehouse of wealth this new land was popu- larly supposed to be. Gold and jewels were procured from the natives by every possi- ble means, including cheating in trade and conquest by the sword, and sent back to enrich the mother country. The same year that saw Magellan set sail upon his voyage around the globe, witnessed the inauguration of another enterprise fraught with great results to the future of America. Hernando de Cortes entered Mexico with the sword in one hand and bible in the other, bent upon winning riches and power for himself and His Most Catholic Majesty, the King of Spain, and impressing upon the heathen Aztecs the beauties of the ChrLstian religion with musketry and cannon. The details of his bloody conquest it is needless to relate.

Having subjugated Mexico and overturned in blood the throne of the Montezumas, Cortes looked westward for more countries to subdue and plunder of their accumu- lated wealth. On the fifteenth of October, 1524, he wrote to Spain's most powerful monarch, Charles V, that he was upon the eve of entering upon the conquest of Co- lima, a country bordering on the South sea (Pacific ocean), and that the great men there had given him information of "an island of Amazons, or women only, abound- ing in pearls and gold, lying ten days' journey from Colima." Though Colima is the name of one of the j^resent states of Mexico, there is but little doubt that Cortes re- ferred to Lower California. This was the opinion of Miguel Venengas, who wrote in 1749: "The account of the pearls inclines me to think that these were the first inti- mations we had of California and its gulf"

The idea held by Cortes was that possessed by geographers generally, that Amer- ica, if not an actual portion of Asia, into which the Pacific projected a long distance northward, was at least separated from that ancient continent simply by a narrow strait ; and this idea, though founded simply upon theory, was wonderfully correct. It was his plan to sail northward, along the coast until the Straits of Anian were encountered, or failing in that, to continue westward and southward until he reached the rich lauds of India. The fatal defect in this theory was in not ascribing to the Pacific ocean and the American continent the magnificent proportions they were in after years found to possess.

PACIFIC COAST. 15

At the time Cortes wrote his letter the Pacific coast had been several times explored from the Isthmus of Panama as far northward as 350 leagues from that point. In 1522 he began the construction of several vessels at Zacatula to carry out his ideas, and in 1526 they were joined by a vessel which had come through the Straits of Magellan. In 1527 three of these vessels were completed and made a short voyage along the coast ; but orders came from Spain to send them to India by a direct route across the ocean instead of the long way along the coast proposed by Cortes. Other ships were begun at Tehuantepec, but rotted on the stocks while the great conqueror was in Spain. In 1530 he began the construction of others. Finally, in 1532, he dispatched two vessels from Acapulco, reaching as far north as Sinaloa, both being wrecked at different points, and their commanders and all but a few of the men slain by the natives. The next year two more vessels were dispatched from Tehuantepec, one of which accomplished nothing. The crew of the other one mutinied and killed their commander, Becerra, and continued the voyage under the pilot, Fortuno Xim- enes, landing upon the extreme southern point of the peninsula of California, in 1534, where Ximenes and twenty of his men were slain in an encounter with the natives. The survivors succeeded in navigating the vessel back to the main land, where it was seized by Nufio de Guzman, the governor of Northern Mexico. He was a bitter enemy of Cortes, and his rival in covering the advancing pathway of civilization with a carpet of blood.

To resent this insult, Cortes sent three vessels northward by sea, and started him- self, by land, at the head of a considerable body of troops. He changed his intention, however, and embarking a large portion of his force upon the vessels which had met him at Chiametla, he set sail for the new country discovered to the west by Ximenes, which was said to abound in the finest of pearls. On the third of May, 1535, his little squadron came to anchor in the bay where the mutineers had met their fate the year before, and in honor of the day, which was that of the Holy Cross in the Koman Catholic calendar, he bestowed upon it the name of Santa Cruz. This was probably the one now known as Port La Paz. To this body of land the name of California was soon after given, though by whom, for what reason and what is the significance of the title remain perplexing questions to the present day, and this name gradually expanded in its application until in after years it signified the entire Spanish pos- sessions on the Pacific coast, that portion above the mouth of the Colorado being known as Alta California.

Cortes landed upon this barren and inhospitable coast with 130 men and forty horses, with visions of conquest floating before his mind. He hoped to find in this new country another Mexico to yield its vast stores of gold, pearls and ornaments into his bloody hands. Two of his vessels were at once sent to Chiametla for the remain- der of his troops, and returned with but a portion of them. They were again dis- patched upon the same errand, one only returning, the other having gone to the bot- tom of the sea. Cortes then went to the Mexican coast in person, returning to Santa Cruz just in time to rescue those he had left there from death by starvation. More than a year's time had now been fruitlessly squandered, and explorations inland had revealed the fact that the land was utterly barren and worthless. With the exception of a few i)earls on the coast, the Spaniards had found nothing to tempt their cupidity.

IG PACIFIC COAST.

the great controlling power which bound them together and made them subservient to discipline. Many had died and the remainder were mutinous. In the meantime the wife of Cortes, hearing of his ill success, sent a vessel to Santa Cruz with letters, im- ploring him to abandon his enterprise and return. News came at the same time that a Spanish nobleman of high rank, Don Antonio de Mendoza, had been appointed to supersede him as viceroy of New Spain, and had already installed himself in office in the city of Mexico. He hastened to the mainland, leaving a portion of his forces still at Santa Cruz, under the command of Francisco de Ulloa ; but finding his author- ity in New Spain entirely gone and being much embarrassed financially by the ex- penses of his unprofitable venture, he sent word to Ulloa to return, and in 1537 the sandy deserts of Lower California were abandoned by the ragged remnant of that little army of adventurers who had entered it with such high hopes two years before.

About this time there arrived in Mexico four wandering refugees whose story had much to do with the nature of explorations for the next few years. They were Alvaro Nuiiez de Cabeza-Vaca, two other Spaniards and a Negro or Moor. They had landed in Florida in 1527 with a plundering expedition that invaded that portion of the coast under Panfilo Narvaez. The company was almost exterminated by shipwreck, famine and battle, and these four survivors wandered for nine years through the inter- ior of the region bordering upon the gulf until they finally arrived in Mexico. Thej^ had encountered no civilized or wealthy nations in their long journey, but had been informed, at various places, of populous countries inhabited by rich and civilized races further to the northwest.

Mendoza was moved by these stories to invade the northwest. It was the civilized nations the Spaniards were eager to subdue ; not because their conquest afforded them more honor in a military sense, for their warfare was but a series of bloody butcheries of unwarlike races whose undisciplined and unprotected masses, armed simply with spears, were mowed down like grain by the cannon, musketry and steel of the mailed warriors of Spain ; but because these civilized nations jaossessed the great stores of gold and precious jewels which were the loadstone that drew these representatives of European -chivalry to the New World. The viceroy organized a body of fifty horse- men for the purpose of invading this new country, and then abandoned the idea, send- ing, instead, two friars and the Moor to explore and report the true facts of the case before he ventured upon more extensive efforts.

They departed in March, 1539, and on the eighth of the following July, Cortes, who still claimed the right of exploration into the unknown ocean and government over all lands discovered, having again equipped three vessels, sent them from Acapulco under the command of Ulloa. One of these was soon wrecked in a severe storm, and the other two proceeded to Santa Cruz bay and then coasted along Lower California and Mexico, completely around the gulf that lies between them, failing, however, to notice the mouth of the great Colorado river. This voyage settled many geographi- cal questions, and the gulf was named by Ulloa the Sea of Cortes, though it was gen- erally marked on Spanish majis as the Vermilion sea, and on those of other nations as the Gulf of California. On the twenty-ninth of October, of the same year, Ulloa again sailed from Santa Cruz, whither he had returned at the conclusion of his last voyage, and sought to examine the coast westward as he had to the east. Passing around the

PACIFIC COAST. 17

Ciiyie, now called San Luca^^, he sailed slowly northward until about the first of Feb- ruary, 1540, he reached an island near the coast in latitude 28°, which he named Isle of Cedars. Headwinds and sickness held him here until April, and then the same causes, coupled with a lack of provisions, compelled him to abandon his purpose of proceeding further northward.

This voyage attracted but little attention, so absorbed were the mercenary adven- turers in Mexico in the report of Friar Marcas de Niza of the wonderful things dis- covered by him and his comjianions in the new region whither they had been sent by Mendoza.

From these accounts, as contained in the letter addressed to the viceroy by Father Marcas, and from other evidence, it is probable that the reverend explorer did really penetrate to a considerable distance into the interior of the continent, and did find there countries partially cultivated, and inhabited by people possessing some acquaint- ance with the arts of civilized life ; though as to the precise situation of those regions, or the routes pursued in reaching them, no definite idea can be derived from the narrative. The friar pretended to have discovered, northwest of Mexico, beyond the thirty-fifth degree of latitude, extensive territories, richly cultivated, and abounding in gold, silver, and precious stones, the population of which was much greater, and further advanced in civilization, than those of Mexico or Peru. In these countries were many towns, and seven cities, of which the friar only saw one, called Gevola or Cibola, con- taining twenty thousand large stone houses, some of four stories, and adorned with jewels ; yet he was assured, by the people, that this was the smallest of the cities, and far inferior, in extent and magnificence, to one called Totonteac, situated more towards the northwest. The inhabitants of Cibola had, at first, been hostile to the Spaniards, and had killed the Negro ; but they had, in the end, manifested a disposition to em- brace Christianity, and to submit to the authority of the King of Spain, in whose name Friar Marcas had taken possession of the whole country, by secretly erecting crosses in many places.

Such was the account of the worthy friar, but the reverend gentleman drew en- tirely too long a bow. That such a civilization could have existed there in the six- teenth century and have completely disappeared from view by the eighteenth, is too improbable to be credited. The ancient ruins of Arizona and New Mexico and the customs and traditions of the Zuni and Moquis Indians, confirm the opinion that a semi-civilized race inhabited that region centuries ago ; but nothing has been discov- ered pointing to such dense population, cities of " twenty thousand large stone houses," or such wealth and civilization as the friar claimed to have observed. The probability is that, encountering a semi-civilized race, and desiring to spread among them the beauties of the Christian religion, he told these exaggerated stories to the viceroy in order to induce him to invade and subdue this new country, for in those days the jjathway for the bible was hewn by the sword. Related by a respectable priest who claimed to have himself witnessed the wonders he portrayed, the story was fully cred- ited, and Mendoza sent a combined land and sea expedition to reconnoitre and ojien the way for a complete con(|uest of this great nation.

The marine portion, under the command of Fernando do Alarcoii, sailed fiom Santiago INIay '.», 15-10, and discovered and entered the Colorado river in August, which

18 PACIFIC COAST.

was then named Rio de Xi(estm Sonora de Buena Guia, inhonov of the viceroy, whose shield bore the above inscription. Alarcon ascended the stream in boats a distance of eighty leagues, inquiring diligently for the seven great cities. From the Indians he received many confusing accounts of wonderful riches and remarkable objects to be found in the interior, accounts no doubt similar to those which had been the founda- tion of Friar Marcas' wonderful tale. Completely baffled he returned to Mexico.

The land forces, consisting of cavalry, infantry and priests, a perfect complement for the conversion of stubborn heathen, were under the command of a resolute soldier named Francisco Vasquez de Coronado, a man intensely practical and unaccustomed to drawing n^on his imagination when relating facts. After traversing many miles of desert and mountain they reached a country for which Cibola appeared to be the gen- eral name, though it was found to be entirely devoid of the refinement and riches reported by Friar Marcas. The seven cities proved to be seven small villages, thinly inhabited by a race but little removed from a savage state. The climate was agreeable and the soil very fertile. Large stone houses, rudely built and unornameuted, were found, which were later called cases gnuides de los Azteques (gi'eat houses of the Az- tecs) by the Sjianish settlers, upon the theory that they had been erected by the Aztecs while living in that region prior to their invasion of Mexico. Coronado left Cibola in disgust and proceeded further towards the northwest, wandering for two years hither and thither in search of the many fabulously rich countries the Indians were con- stantly informing him were to be found somewhere else. Quivira in particular was the object of great solicitude because of the reported wealth of its monarch ; but when he reached it in latitude 40°, it proved to be a buffalo country and its inhabitants sim- ply a race of hunters. If the latitude is correct, he must have penetrated as far north as the Platte or headwaters of the Arkansas. He returned to Mexico in 1543 with his faith in Indian stories shaken to its foundation stones. -

The next effort to explore the western coast was made in 1542, when Mendoza dis- patched Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo with two vessels in search of the Straits of Anian. Cabrillo examined the coast as far north as the 38th degree of latitude, when he was driven back by a storm and forced to take refuge in a harbor called by him Port Pos- session, in the island of San Bernardino, in latitude 34°. Here he died January 3, 1543, and the jjilot, Bartolome Ferrelo, took command and resumed the voyage north- ward. He discovered near latitude 41° a cape which he named Cabo de Fortunas (Cape of Perils), being no doubt the one subsequently named Mendocino in honor of the viceroy, Mendoza. The furthest point northward reached by Ferrelo on the first of March, 1540, is given by some authorities as 44° and others 43°, either of which would be off the coast of Oregon ; and to this little vessel-load of adventurous men, half clothed, living upon short allowance of food, and afflicted with scur^s-y, must be given the credit of making the first discovery of the coast of Oregon, the prize for Avhich great nations dis2:)uted for centuries.

CHAPTER HI.

SEARCH FOR THE MYTHICAL STRAITS OF ANIAN.

Spain Abandons the Effort- Growth of the East India Trade -Voyag-e of Sir Francis Drake— The Bay of San Francisco— Rev. Fletcher's Romances -Other Freebooters Invade the Pacific— Maldonado's Description of the Straits of Anian— Voyage of Juan de Fuca— Its Authenticity Discussed— Admiral Fonte's Voyage— Rio de los Reyes.

The return of Ferrelo from his voyage along the coast, of Corouado from his ex- plorations inland, and of the few survivors of DeSoto's expedition through Florida to the Mississippi, conclusively proved that " neither wealthy nations nor navigable pas- sages of communication between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, were to be found north of Mexico, unless beyond the 40th parallel of latitude." Having established this fact, the Spaniards desisted from their attempts to explore to the northwest of Mexico, or to search for the Straits of Anian. The fact was that the discovery of such a pas- sage between the two oceans was now looked upon as undesirable by them, in view of the valuable trade they had established with the east.

From being the most energetic in searching for the Straits of Anian, the Span- iards suddenly became extremely apathetic to outward appearance, but were by no means so actually. Their interest in that supposititious passage was as lively as ever, and they were now even more anxious that it should not be discovered at all than they had formerly been to find it. The reason for this change of ideas is very simple.

Spain was now the complete master of Central America, Mexico and the West India islands, which formed an important and almost vitally necessary intermediate station between Europe and the Indies, a j^oint of advantage which no other nation possessed. While she was securing this important foothold in the New World, Portugal had bent her energies upon opening a trade with the Indies by way of the Cape of Good Hope, and had succeeded in establishing a most valuable commerce with that rich and populous region, which Spain viewed with envious eyes. She turned her attention from the coast of America, and dispatched several armed fleets across the Pa- cific to obtain lodgment in the Indies. After several unsuccessful attempts the Phil- ippine islands were subjugated in 1564, and the practicability of crossing the Pacific in both directions, which had at first been doubted because all efforts to return had been made in the region of the trade winds, established beyond cavil. In a few years Spain's commerce on the Pacific became extremely important. Annually large vessels sailed from Central America with gold and merchandise, which were bartered for spices, silks and porcelain in the Philippine islands and China. These were landed at the Isthmus of Panama and transported across to vessels in waiting to convey them to Spain. A larae trade was also carried on alone the coast to Peru and Chili.

20 PACIFIC COAST.

ExemjDtion from interference by rival nations was the secret of the immense growth of this India trade. The annual galleon from India was loaded with a cargo of immense value, and yet the ship bore no armament for defense. No flag but that of Spain fluttered over Pacific waters, and there was no need of cannons. It was in expectation of this condition of affairs that Spain ceased her efforts to find the Straits of Anian. The discovery of such a passage would be most calamitous. Through it could come hostile ships of war and • the freebooters who were wont in those days to roam the high seas in search of plunder, and prey upon the defenseless commerce of the Pacific. The length and precarious nature of the voyage into the Pacific through the Straits of Magellan, served to keep that ocean for many years free from hostile ships.

This exemption from outside interference could not last forever. Spain arro- gantly claimed dominion over and the exclusive right of trade with all regions that had been even technically discovered by Spanish navigators, even if no settlement of any kind had been attempted. Foreigners of all nations were prohibited under pain of death, from having any intercourse whatever with the territories claimed by the Castilian monai'ch, or from navigating the waters adjacent to them. To such pre- sumptuous conduct as this neither England nor France would submit. They willingly respected all rights of dominion acquired by actual settlement, but this sweeping claim to exclusive control of almost the entire New World they would not countenance for an instant. The result was that English, French and Dutch " free traders" made sad havoc with the Spanish shipping on the Atlantic coast of America ; and though the nations were at peace, these plundering expeditions were winked at by the sovereigns, who often directly and always indirectly received their share of the booty.

These roving marauders made great exertions to discover a northern passage into the Pacific, urged on by the reports constantly received of the wonderful richness of the East Indian commerce of Spain. These reports at last overcame the fears of English seamen, and they invaded the Pacific by the passage of Magellan's tempestu- ous straits.

There was one bolder and more reckless, more ambitious and successful than the others, who won the reputation of being the " King of the Sea." In 1578, he thus passed into the Pacific with three vessels, and scattered terror and devastation among the Spanish shipping along the coast. He captured the East Indian galleon, on her Avay home loaded with wealth, levied contributions in the ports of Mexico, and, finally, with his one remaining vessel freighted with captured treasures, sailed north to search for the Straits of Anian. Through it he proposed passing home to England, and thus avoid a combat with the fleets of Spain, that lay in wait for him off the Straits of Magellan. His name was Captain Francis Drake ; but afterwards the English mon- arch knighted him for becoming the most successful robber on the high seas, and now the historian records the name as Sir Francis Drake. When near the mouth of Ump- qua river, in Oregon, he ran his vessel into a "poor harbor," put his Spanish pilot, Morera, ashore, and left him to find his way back, thirty-five hundred miles, through an unknown country thickly populated with savages, to his home in Mexico. This feat must have been accomplished, as the only account existing of the fact comes through Spanish records, showing that he survived the expedition to have told the

PACIFIC COAST. 21

result. Drake then continued his voyage until he had reached about latitude 43°, when the cold weather, although it was after the fifth of June, forced him to abandon the hope of discovering the mythical straits. The chaplain who accompanied the expedition, being the historian of the voyage, says of the cold, that their hands were numbed, and meat would feeze when taken from the fire, and when they were lying-to in the harbor at Drake's bay, a few miles up the coast from San Fran- cisco, the snow covered the low hills. He then evaded the Spanish fleet by crossing the Pacific and returning to England by the Cape of Good Hope. P'or a long time it was believed that Sir Francis Drake discovered the bay of San Francisco ; that it was in its waters he cast anchor for thirty-six days, after having been forced back along the coast by adverse winds ; but now it is generally conceded that he is not entitled to that distinction. Who discovered that harbor, or when the discovery was made, will probably never be known. What clothes it in mystery is, that the oldest chart or map of the Pacific coast known, on which a bay resembling in any way that of San Francisco at or near the proper point, was a sailing-chart found in the East Indian galleon captured in 1742, by Anson, an English commodore, with all her treasure, amounting to one and a half million dollars. Upon this chart there appeared seven little dots, marked " Los Farallones," and opposite these was a land-locked bay that resembled San Francisco harbor, but on the chart it bore no name. This is the oldest existing evidence of the discovery of the finest harbor in the world, and it proves two things : first, that its existence was known previous to that date , second, that the knowledge was possessed by the Spanish Manilla merchants to whom the chart and galleon belonged. Their vessels had been not unfrequently wrecked upon our coasts as far north as Cape Mendocino; and as Venegas, writing sixteen years later, says nothing of such a harbor, we are led to believe that its existence was possibly only known to those East India merchants, and was kept a secret by them for fear that its favorable location and adaptation would render it a resort for pirates and war-ships of rival nations to prey upon their commerce.

With Sir Francis Drake, unquestionably, lies the honor of having been the first European to actually land upon the coast of California. The account of that event, given by Rev. Fletcher, the chaplain of the expedition, states that the nativeS; having mistaken them for gods, offered sacrifices to them, and that, to dispel the illusion, they ])roceeded to offer up their own devotions to a Supreme Being. The narrative goes on to relate that —

Our necessarie business being ended, our General, with his companie, travailed up into the countrey to their villiages, where we found heardes of deere by 1,000 in a companie, being most large and fat of bodie. We found the whole countrey to be a warren of strange kinde of connies; their bodies in bigness as be the Barbarie connies, their heads as the heads of ours, the feet of a Want [mole] and the taile of a rat, being of great length ; under her chinne on either side a bagge, into which she gathered her uieate, when she hath filled her bellie, abroad. The peojjle do eat their bodies, and make accompt for their skinnes, for their King's coat was made out of them. [The farmer will readily recognize the little burrowing squirrel that ruins his fields of alfalfa, where the ground cannot be overflowed to drown them.] Our General called this countrey Nova Albion, and that for two causes : the one in respect to the white baukes and cliftes which lie toward the sea; and the other because it might have some aifiuitie with our countrey in name, which some- times was so called.

22 PACIFIC COAST.

There is no part of earth here to be taken ujj, wherein there is not a reasonable quantitie of gold or silver. Before sailing away, our General set up a monument of our being there, as also of her majestie's right and title to the same, viz: a plate nailed upon a faire great poste, whereupon was engraved her majestie's name, the day and yeare of our arrival there, with the free giving up of the province and people into her majestie's hands, together with her highness' picture and arms, in a piece of five jjence of current English money under the plate, whereunder was also written the name of our General.

It is claimed by some English historians that Drake jjroceeded as far north as latitude 48° ; but as the claim is founded simply upon the word of this lying chaplain and is utterly inconsistent with other statements in the same narrative and is entirely at variance with an account of the voyage Avritten by Francis Pretty, one of the crew, and published within a few years after his return, it is worthy of but little considera- tion. Fletcher's account was published by a second party in 1652, seventy years later and long after the death of every man who could personally dispute its assertions, and bears no marks of authenticity. Many passages are taken bodily from Pretty's narrative, which seems to have been the foundation upon which a tissue of falsehood and absurdities was erected. The assertion that snow covered the hills about San Francisco in the mouth of June and that meat froze upon being taken from the fire, is enough to condemn it all in the mind of anyone familiar with the fact that snow seldom falls there even in winter, and that meat never freezes at any season of the year. These facts are important ; for if Drake went to the 48th degree, he must have coasted along Oregon and Washington nearly to the Straits of Fuca ; but if not, then his furthest point northward was ofi" the mouth of the Umj)qua, no -further than Ferrelo had gone in 1543. To the latter opinion the best authorities hold.

Other English freebooters, encouraged b}' the dazzling success of Drake, followed his example, and for years Spain's commerce in the Pacific suffered many ravages at their hands. Meanwhile the English and Dutch navigators continued their efforts to discover the northwest passage, while the Spanish government was constantly excited and alarmed for fear these indefatigable searchers would be rewarded with success. Eumors that the Straits of Anian had been discovered were spread from time to time, creating great consternation in Spain, Spanish America and the Philippine islands. Several navigators pretended to have passed through these mythical straits, either to give themselves importance in the nautical world, or to secure some employment in their profession or emolument for the valuable services they thus claimed to have rendered. The narrative of this character which attracted the most universal atten- tion, was one of a voyage which was no doubt entirely fictitious, claimed to have been made by Captain Lorenzo Ferrer de Maldonado, a Portuguese, and related by him in a memorial to the Spanish Council of the Indies, wherein he petitiojied for a remuner- ation for his valuable services and a commission to occupy and defend the passage against the ships of other nations.

In his narrative, which was precise and careful in its details, were given all the geographical ideas of the time in regard to the regions that would naturally be A'isited during the voyage described, nearly all of which have since been proved to be erron- eous. This fact is conclusive evidence that the narrative was a manufactured one and the voyage a myth. In it the Straits of Anian are described as follows :

PACIFIC COAST. -23

The Strait of Aniau is iiften degrees in length, and can easily be passed with a tide lasting six hours; for those tides are very rapid. There are, in this length, six turns and two entrances, which lie north and south; that is, bear from each other north and south. The entrance on the north side (through which we passed) is less than half a quarter of a league in width, and on each side are ridges of high rocks; but the rock on the side of Asia is higher and steejDer than the other, and hangs over, so that nothing falling from the top can reach its base. [The reader must bear in mind that this narrator claims the previous course of the vessel to have been through the long and tor- tuous channel of the Straits of Labrador in latitude 75^, from which it sailed southwest 790 leagues to the entrance of these straits in the 60th parallel of latitude; also that the straits were supposed to be a passage between Asia on the west, and America on the east, leading from this great North sea into the great South sea.] The entrance into the South sea, near the harbor, is more than a quarter of a league in width, and thence the passage runs in an oblique direction, increasing the distance between the two coasts. In the middle of the strait, at the termination of the third turn, is a great rock, and an islet, formed by a rugged rock, three estarf/a.s- (11,000 feet) in height, more or less; its form is round and its diameter may be two hundred paces; its distance from the land of Asia is very little; but the sea on that side is full of shoals and reefs, and can only be navigated by boats. The distance between this islet and the continent of America is less than a quarter of a league in width; and, although its channel is so deep that two and even three ships might sail almost through it, two bastions might be built on the banks with little trouble, which would con- tract the channel to within the reach of a musket shot.

Such is the only detailed description of the Straits of Anian, and it is thus given in full because of the effect it had upon maritime explorations for two centuries there- after. The author was evidently well posted on the maps and geographical theories of the day, and prepared his narrative with careful consideration of them ; but he failed in his cunning scheme, as the Council of the Indies not only denied his petition for a reward, but also declined to entrust him with the fortification and defense of the valu- able passage he claimed to have discovered. That to this story there was a foundation of fact is within the limits of i^ossibility. There may have been made prior to the time the memorial was presented, some voyage to the extreme northern Atlantic coast of America, of which no record has been preserved. To have made the voyage claimed as high as the 7oth parallel and passed through long straits into an open sea, traversing this southwest 790 leagues (about 3,000 miles) is plainly impossible. That, like Cortereal nearly a century before, he may have passed around the coast of Labra- dor and through the straits, which are near the 60th parallel, into Hudson's bay, is possible ; and, -like his great predecessor, he may have assumed that this sea could be followed until the supposed strait leading into the South sea was found. Believing thoroughly in this theory, Maldonado may have written this fictitious narrative with the hope that it would gain for him the command of an expedition to go in search of the straits and take possession of them. One thing is noticeable, and that is that in Behring's straits we find the old theory that but a short and narrow passage separated Asia arid America was a correct one.

The next supposed discovery of the Straits of Anian which attracted nuicli atten- tion, was that claimed to have been made by Juan de Fuca while in the Spanish ser- vice in the Pacific in lo*J2. The only account or record of this voyage was published in 1025 in the celebrated historical and geographical volume called "The Pilgrims," edited by Samuel Purchas, being "A note made by Michael Lock, the elder, touching the Strait of Sea commonly called Fretum Anian, in the South Sea, through the Northwest Passage of Meta Incognita," Since this I'eputed voyage entered largely

24 PACIFIC COAST.

into the discussion and settlement of " The Oregon question," the main j)ortiou of Mr. Lock's document is given, without attempting to jireserve the Old English orthography. It says :

When I was in Venice, in April, 1536, haply arrived there an old man, about sixty j'ears of age, called, commonly, Juan de Fuca, but named properly Apostolas Valerianus, of nation a Greek, born in Cei^halonia, of profession a mariner, and an ancient pilot of ships. This man, being come lately out of Spain, arrived first at Leghorn, and went thence to Florence, where he found one •John Douglas, an Englishman, a famous mariner, ready coming for Venice, to be pilot of a Venetian ship for England, in whose company they came both together to Venice. And John Douglas being- acquainted with me before, he gave me knowledge of this Greek pilot, and brought him to my speech ; and, in long talks and conference between us, in presence of John Douglas, this Greek pilot declared, in the Italian and Spanish languages, this much in effect as followeth :

First, he said he had been in the West Indies of Spain forty years, and had sailed to and from many places thereof, in the service of the Spaniards.

Also, he said that he was in the Sj^anish ship which, in returning from the Islands Philiji- pines, towards Nova Spania, was robbed and taken at the Cape California by Captain Caudish, Englishman, whereby he lost sixty thousand ducats of his goods.

Also, he said that he was pilot of three small ships which the Viceroy of Mexico sent from Mexico, armed with one hundred men, under a captain, Spaniards, to discover the Straits of Anian, along the coast of the South Sea, and to fortify in that strait, to resist the passage and proceedings of the English nation, which were forced to pass through those straits into the South Sea ; and that, by reason of a mutiny which hapjiened among the soldiers for the misconduct of their cap- tain, that voyage was overthrown, and the ship returned from California to Nova Spania, without anything done in that voyage ; and that, after their return, the caiDtain was at Mexico punished by justice.

Also, he said that, shortly after the said voyage was so ill ended, the said Viceroy of Mexico .sent him out again, in 1592, with a small caravel and a iJinnaee, armed with mariners only, to fol- low the said voyage for the discovery of the Straits of Anian, and the passage thereof into the sea, which they call the North Sea, which is our northwest sea ; and that he followed his course, in that voyage, west and northwest in the South Sea, all along the coast of Nova Spania, and California, and the Indies, now called North America, (all which voyage he signified to me in a great maj^, and a sea-card of my own, which I laid before him), until he came to the latitude of 47 degrees , and that, there finding that the land trended north and northwest, with a broad inlet of sea, between 47 and 48 degrees of latitude, he entered thereinto, sailing therein more than twenty days, and found that land trending still sometime northwest, and northeast, and north, and also east and southeastward, and very much broader sea than was at the said entrance, and that he passed by divers islands in that sailing ; and that, at the entrance of this said strait, there is, on the northwest coast thereof, a great headland or island, v/ith an exceeding high pinnacle, or spired rock, like a pillar, thereupon.

Also, he said that he went on land in divers places, and that he saw some people on land clad in beasts' skins ; and that the land is very fruitful, and rich of gold, silver, pearls, and other things, like Nova Spania.

Also, he said that he being entered thus far into the said strait, and being come into the North Sea already, and finding the sea wide enough everywhere, and to be about thirty or forty leagues wide in the mouth of the straits where he entered, he thought he had now well discharged his office ; and that, not being armed to resist the force of the savage people that might happen, he therefore set sail, and returned homewards again towards Nova Spania, where he arrived at Aca- pulco, Anno 1592, hoiking to be rewarded by the Viceroy for this service done in the said voyage.

* * * [Here follows an account of his vain endeavors for three years to secure a proper recognition of his services by the Viceroy or the Spanish monarch, and his resolution to return to his native land to die among his countrymen.] * * *

Also, he said he thought the cause of his ill-reward had of the Spaniards, to be for that they did understand very well that the English nation had now given over all their voyages for discovery

ill ^^ ^ ^■'

PACIFIC COAST. 25

of the northwest passage ; wherefore they need not fear them anj- more to come that way into the South Sea, and therefore they needed not his service therein any more.

Also, he said that, understanding the noble mind of the Queen of England, and of her wars against the Spaniards, and hoising that her majesty would do him justice for his goods lost by Cap- tain Candish, he would be content to go into England, and serve her majesty in that voyage for the discovery perfectly of the northwest passage into the South Sea, if she would furnish him with only one ship of forty tons' burden, and a pinnace, and that he would i^erform it in thirty days' time, from one end to the other of the strait, and he willed me so to write to England.

And, from conference had twice with the said Greek jjilot, I did write thereof, accordingly, to England, unto the right honorable the old Lord Treasurer Cecil, and to Sir Walter Raleigh, and to Master Richard Hakluyt, that famous cosmographer, certifying them hereof. And I prayed them to disburse one hundred pounds, to bring the said Greek pilot into England, with myself, for that my own purse would not stretch so wide at that time. And I had answer that this action was well liked and greatly desired in England ; but the money was not ready, and therefore this action died at that time, though the said Greek pilot, perchance, liveth still in his own country, in Cejjhalonia, towards which place he went within a fortnight after this conference had at Venice.

The remainder of the long document gives the details of correspondence held by Lock with Juan de Fuca during the next few years, showing that up to 1598 the jiilot was still willing to go with him to England, but that in 1602, when Lock had finally finished his business in Venice and prepared to return to England, a letter to the Greek failed to elicit a response, and the writer heard a little later that the old navigator was dead.

Much controversy has been and is still being carried on among historians as to whether such a person as Juan de Fuca ever lived, or such a voyage as Lock described was ever made. Mexican and Spanish records of the period have been carefully searched by those eager to prove the truth of this narrative, without revealing any confirmatory evidence whatever. The negative the records, of course, could not estab- lish. The voyage must stand or fall by the manner in which the narrator's geograph- ical descriptions bear the light of modern investigation. One thing is clearly notice- able ; its geographical descriptions of regions claimed to have been visited are far more accurate than those of any navigator of the preceding or subsequent century in any quarter of the globe ; and the narrative is entirely free from those extravagant asser- tions in regard to the wonderful wealth of the people or magnificence of their cities, contained in the accounts of voyages whose authenticity can not be questioned, which assertions were always found to have been grossly exaggerated and often wholly the creatures of imagination. Prima facie, then, it is more authentic than accounts of nearly contemporaneous voyages of which undisputable records exist. Now to examine its statements by the clear light of facts. Juan de Fuca locates his passage between 47° and 48° of latitude, while the fact is that between the 48tli and 49th, just such a passage as he describes exists. This is the entrance to Puget sound and is still known as the Straits of Fuca. His account of the passage, its leading off in all directions and its many islands, is substantially correct, and his error in locating the entrance a few miles to the south is a far less grievous one than those made in every account handed down to us of those times. The advanced age, length of time elapsed and annoyances of his long efforts to secui-e his just reward, could easily account for so slight an error when detailing the circumstances from memory alone ; and it must be remembered that the account was written by Lock, a second party, and is liable to

26 PACIFIC COAST.

slight errors in statement, though probably none very material, as Lock was an intel- ligent and respectable merchant and appears to have been an extremely careful and methodical man. Fuca was in the passage twenty days, though he does not state that he sailed straight along through it all this time, but must of necessity have spent fully half his time in circumnavigating islands and running into bays while endeavor- ing to follow the main channel. At the end of this time, saying nothing about the number of miles traveled, he came out again into the open sea, su2:)230sing himself to ha-ve passed through into another ocean. Here arises the difficulty most historians have in reconciling the narrative with the facts ; and the difficulty exists, not in the narrative itself, but in the fact that these historians have not sufficiently acquainted themselves with the geographical theories which obtained at the time of Fuca's voyage. They seem to think that he must necessarily have supposed that he had gone clear through the continent into the Atlantic, an utter impossibility. Such was most certainly not the case. The Straits of Anian were at that time believed to be a passage running north and south, separating the continents of Asia iJnd America, and extending from the South sea to the North sea. Across this North sea it was many hundred leagues around the north end of America before reaching the Atlantic. In sailing in a generally northward direction, therefore, between Vancouver island and the main land of British Columbia and finally entering again into the Pacific ocean, it was most natural for him to suppose that he had passed from the South sea through the Straits of Anian into the North sea. He did not claim to have sailed eastward, as so many historians seem to assume, for had the passage led so far in that direction he would have doubted its identity with the Straits of Anian ; nor did he claim to have entered the Atlantic, but simj^ly the North sea. It seems then that the only evidence against its authenticity is the negative one of there being no record of such a voyage in Spanish archives ; and this is at least partially explained by the state- ment that neither the viceroy nor the king would recognize the services of the navigator. For this reason, they may have permitted no record of the voyage to be made. If Juan de Fuca made the voyage as narrated, then Spain's claim to the coun- try for some distance above Puget sound, so far as the right of discovery is concerned, was a good one, and the title conveyed from her through France to the United States good to an equal degree. Another argument against it is the fact that even at the time Fuca was pouring his tale into the willing ear of the English merchant, another Spanish expedition was engaged in looking for this passage, and in the letter ordering the exploration the reasons for doing so are set forth at length, though no allusion is made to the Greek, who, according to Lock's narrative must have been importuning the king for his reward at the very time the letter was written. It may be argued, however, that Fuca's statements to the king may have been what induced him to order this expedition, instead of the causes set forth in the royal mandate.

In 1708 there was j^rinted in a London magazine entitled Monthly Miscellany, or Memoirs of the Curious, a most absurd and self-contradictory account of a voyage said to have been made in 1640 from the Pacific to the Atlantic through a great chain of lakes. Though it was probably invented by James Petiver, an eminent naturalist and contributor to the magazine, yet it created a great sensation in England, France and Holland, and was received with considerable faith for more than half a centurv.

PACIFIC COAST. 27

The narrator states that Admiral Pedro Bartholoine de Fonte, sailed from Calhio ill April, 1640, with orders from the viceroy of Peru to exjjlore the Pacific for a north- west passage and to intercept some Boston vessels which had been reported as b(jund upon the same mission on the Atlantic coast. Since Boston was in 1640 but a small struggling settlement and the Puritans were not looking for any northwest passage, it would seem as though this statement alone was enough to have condemned the entire narrative ; but as it was not published for sixty-eight years after that date probably neither the writer nor the people stopped to consider the absurdity. The story informs us that at Cape San Lucas Fonte detached one of his four vessels to explore the Gulf of California and with the others continued up the coast. Having sailed for a long time among islands which he named Archipelago of St. Lazarus, he finally reached, in latitude 63 degrees, the mouth of a large stream christened by him Eio de los Reyes, or River of Kings. He sent one vessel further up the coast under the command of Bernardo, and then entered the river and followed it northwesterly until it opened out into an immense lake filled with beautiful islands, which he named Lake Belle. It was surrounded by a fine country, and the inhabitants were very hospitable in their treat- ment of the strangers. Leaving his vessels at their large town, called Conasset, on the south shore of the lake, Fonte and some of his jsarty continued their journey down a large stream called Parmentier, though whether in boats or on foot along the bank the narrative is silent, until they entered another lake further east. This he named in his own honor, and then j^roceeded through a passage, called Strait of Ronquillo in honor of one of his captains, into the Atlantic ocean, having thus passed entirely through the American continent by water. It then goes on to state that he encountered a Boston ship commanded by Nicholas Shapley, with whom, also, was the owner, Seymour Gib- bons, " a fine gentleman, and major general of the largest colony in New England, called JMaltechusetts." After exchanging courtesies with these strangers, whom he decided to treat simply as traders and not as hostile explorers for the northwest passage, he returned by the water route to Lake La Belle and thence in his vessels to the Pacific, where he was again joined by Bernardo. The journey claimed to have been made in the meantime by this lieutenant is equally wonderful. Having coasted as far as the 61st degree of latitude Bernardo discovered a great river, up which he ascended till he, also, emerged into a large lake. He named these Rio de Haro and Lake Yelasco. From the lake he went in canoes to the 79th parallel, but as the land was seen "still trending north, and the ice rested on the land," he concluded to return. He was satis- fied " that there was no communication out of the Atlantic sea by Davis's strait ; for the natives had conducted one of his seamen to the head of Davis's strait, which terminated in a fresh lake, of about thirty miles in circumference, in the 80th degree of north lat- itude ; and there were prodigious mountains north of it." Satisfied from the report of Bernardo and his own observations that the Straits of Anian did not exist, Fonte re- turned with his fleet to Peru.

This story, so absurd in the light of motlern research, ami which was not juiblished till long after the exjjlorers, if, indeed, there were any, had become imperishable dust, was received with great credence ; though it was in every particular contradictory to those of Maldonado and Juan de Fuca. For fifty years it was copied into all works upon North America and many maps of the continent had indicated upon them a juis-

28 PACIFIC COAST.

sage such as Fonte's was supposed to have beeu ; and during the eighteenth century all explorers of the northwest coast searched for the Rio de los Reyes, while inland expedi- tions from the Atlantic coast kept the fact that such a river existed constantly befoi-e them.

These various narratives, so entirely uureeoncilable with each other, all had their firm supporters, and efforts have been made by historians at different times to prove each one of them to be an ajjproximately correct account of a veritable voyage, but without success. The only one that can exist for a moment in the light of the geographical knowledge of to-day is that of the Greek pilot, Juan de Fuca, and to prove that, except by inference and comparison, is impossible. They all served their purpose, however, to stimulate the spirit of exploration, which has resulted in the spread of knowledge an<l the advancement of civilization.

CHAPTER IV.

VOYAGES IX THE PACIFIC AND ATLANTIC.

Voyages of Viscaino— His Vain Efforts to have San Dieg;o and Monterey Occupied— The Lethargy of Spain- Explorations of Henry Hudson and William Baffin— Dutch Navigators find the Atlantic and Pacific to be Con- nected by an Open Sea and name Cape Horn— Freebooters Swarm into the Pacific by the New Route— Feeble Efforts of Spain to Protect her Commerce— Attempt to Colonize Lov/er California— Organization of the Hud son's Bay Company.

If Juan de Fuca's' statement was true, then the Spanish monarch was simjily feigning indifference about finding and taking possession of the northwest passage ; for in 1595, while the old pilot was in Spain, Philiji II. ordered a survey of the Pacific coast. Of this move Torquemada says :

His majesty knew that the viceroys of Mexico had endeavored to discover a northern pas- sage ; aud he had found, among his father's papers, a declaration of certain strangers, to the effect that they had been driven, by violent winds, from the codfish coast on the Atlantic, to the South Sea, through the Strait of Anian, which is beyond Cape Mendocino, and had, on their way, seen a rich and populous city, well fortified, and inhabited by a numerous and civilized nation, who had treated them well ; as also many other things worthy to be seen and known. His majesty had also been informed that ships, sailing from China to Mexico, ran great risks, particularly near Cape Mendocino, where the storms are most violent, and that it would be advantageous to have that coast surveyed thence to Acapulco, so that the ships, mostly belonging to his majesty, should find places for relief and refreshment when needed. Whereupon his majesty ordered the Count de Monterey, Viceroy of Mesico, to have those coasts surveyed, at his own e.rpensi', with all care and diligence.

The phrase in italics in the above extract accounts for much of the delay in fully exploring the northern Pacific coast of America, for the viceroys of Mexico wei'e strik- ingly similar to the office-holders of to-day in their manner of carrying out enterprises that were to be executed at their own expense. Writing half a century later Venegas gives the following for the anxiety of Spain to learn more of the coast. It was the fear

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PACIFIC COAST. 2J

That in the meantime the English shouki fiml out the so-much-desired passage to the South Sea, by the north of America and above California, which passage is not universally denied, and one day may be found ; that they may fortify themselves on both sides of this passage, and thus extend the English dominion from the nortb to the south of America, so as to border on our pos- sessions. Should English colonies and garrisons be established along the coast of America on the South Sea beyond Cape Mendocino, or lower down on California itself, England would then, with- out control, reign mistress of the sea and its commerce, and be able to threaten by land and sea the territories of Spain ; invade them on occasion from the E., W., N. and S., hem them in and press them on all sides.

In compliance with his sovereign's mandate, the viceroy dispatched three vessels from Acapnlco in the spring of lo9G, nnder the command of Bebastian Viseaino. Beyond an attempt to plant two colonies, both of which were unsuccessful because of the sterility of the country and the savage hostility of the natives, nothing wAs accom- plished by this feeble pretense of obeying instructions. The viceroy was not permitted to thus shirk the exjjense of making a proper survey of the coast ; for though he was respited for a time by the death of the king in 1598, one of the first acts of Philip III. after being securely seated upon the throne, was to command the viceroy to attend to this matter without further delay. Viseaino was, in consequence, again sent out, this time upon a genuine voyage of exploration. His two vessels and small fragata were furnished with all the necessaries of an extended cruise, and he was accompanied by pilots, draftsmen and j^riests, so that advantage could be taken of all discoveries and proper records and charts made of them.

The fleet sailed from Acapulco May 5, 1002, and began exploring the coast at the southern extremity of the peninsula of California. They were much baffled by a wind blowing almost constantly from the northwest, which Torquemada says was produced " by the foe of the human race, in order to prevent the advance of the ships, and to delay the discovery of those countries, and the conversion of their inhabitants to the Catholic faith." Added to this difficulty was the terrible malady, the scurvy, which made sad inroads upon the healtli of the crews. They continued up the coast in spite of these discouraging circumstances, entering the ports of San Quentin, San Diego and JMonterey. Here it was found that sixteen of the seamen had died and that many others were incapacitated by disease from performing duty ; and it Avas decided to send back the ship commanded by Toribio Gomez de Corvan with the invalids. Corvan reached Acapulco after a long and terrible journey with but few of the crew of his vessel alive.

A few days later, on the third of January, 1608, the two remaining vessels renewed the voyage, and were s()(jn sejjarated in a gale, from the t'luy of which the larger (nic took refuge in a bay spoken of in the record of the voyage as San Francisco, where scart-li was made for a Sj^anish galleon w'hich had been wrecked there in 1595. Tonjuciiiada says: "He anchored behind a point of rocks called La Punta de los Raves, ill tlie port of San Francisco." It seems impossible that this could have lieen Sail Francisco liay ; for one of the chief objects of the voyage was to find a harl)or of refuge and sujiply for vessels in the Manila trade, and yet upon his return Viseaino recoiiiiiieiided San Diego and Monterey as being the only (mes at all suital)le for that purpose; yet it will be remembered that in later years, before any aiisoliite record of the discovery of this liay was made, a chart ii])oii which such a liay was indicated was tliund l>y an Fnglishinaii on a captured ]\faiiila galh'dii. The pr(i1)nliilities are, however,

30 PACIFIC COAST.

that the bay Viscaino entered was Drake's bay, just uoi'th of the Golden Gate, the place where Sir Francis Drake a fe-w years before had enacted his farce of taking pos- sesion of the country in the name of the queen of England. A^iscaino resumed his journey and on the twentieth of January reached a point on the coast opjjosite a large white bluff, in latitude 42°, which he named Cape San Sebastian. The weather being cold and stormy, his crew being nearly all disabled by the scurvy, and being unable to discover any sign of the other vessel, Viscaino turned back at this point, and reached Mexico in March. The fragata proceeded north when se^^arated from the ship off San Francisco bay, and encountering another severe storm took refuge near Cape Mendocino. Of the remainder of its explorations Torquemada says : " When the wind had became less violfent they continued their journey close along the shore ; and, on the nineteenth of January, the pilot, Antonio Flores, found that they were in the latitude of 43 degrees, where the land formed a cape or jDoint, which was named Cape Blanco. From that point the coast begins to turn to the northwest ; and near it was discovered a rapid and abundant river, with ash trees, willows, brambles, and other trees of Castile on its banks, which they endeavored to enter, but could not from the force of the current. Ensign Martin de Aguilar, the commander, and Antonio Flores, the pilot, seeing that they had already reached a higher latitude than was ordered by the viceroy in his instructions, that the Captaina [Viscaino's vessel] did not appear, and that the number of sick was great, agreed to return to Acapulco."

The fragata reached Acapulco soon after the larger vessel, the ravages of the scurvy having dejirived it of its commander, pilot and the greater portion of the crew on the return voyage. This disease and its cause do not appear to have been well understood at that time. The sufieriug it caused was most terrible, and it is remarkable what fortitude the Spaniards displayed in continuing their voyages during the preva- lence of such a horrible malady. In describing their sufferings, Torquemada says : '' Nor is the least ease to be expected from change of place, as the slightest motion is attended with such severe pains that they must be very fond of life who would not willingly lay it down on the first appearance of so terrible a distemper. This virulent humour makes such ravages in the body that it is entirely covered with ulcers, and the poor patients are unable to bear the least pressure ; even the very clothes laid on them deprive them of life. Thus they lie groaning and incapable of any relief For the greatest assistance possible to be given them, if I may be allowed the expression, is not to touch them, nor even the bed clothes. These effects, however melancholy, are not the only ones produced by this pestilential humour. In many, the gums, both of the upper and lower jaws, are jwessed both within and without to such a degree, that the teeth cannot touch one another, and withal so loose and bare that they shake with the least motion of the head, and some of the patients spit their teeth out with their saliva. Thus they were unable to receive any food but liquid, as gruel, broth, milk of almonds and the like. This gradually brought on so great a weakness that they died while talking to their friends. =^' * =•' Some, by way of ease, made loud complaints, others lamented their sins with the deepest contrition, some died talking, some sleeping, some eating, some whilst sitting up in their beds."

The great river said to have been discovered by this expedition attracted much attention at the time. The historian quoted above said of it : " It is supposed that

PACIFIC COAST. 31

tliis river is the one leading to a great city, which was discovered by the Dutch when they were driven thither by storms, and. that it is the Strait of Anian, through which tlie ship passed in sailing from the North sea to the South sea ; and that the city called (^uivira is in those parts ; and that this is the region referred to in the account which his majesty read, and which induced him to order this expedition." No great river exists in latitude 43 degrees ; but it is well known that the navigators of that period were seldom accurate in their observations, often varying as much as half a degree, and it is quite possible the stream referred to may have been the Umpqua. A few years later it was sujiposed that this stream was one end of a passage extending from the (rulf of California to Cape Blanco, making of California a huge island, and this idea was supported by the knowledge of the Colorado river, which had been explored many miles to the northward. Venegas, writing in the seventeenth century, speaks of Califor- nia as an island, and it was so designated on all maps until the end of the century. After this was discovered to be a mistake, the river was laid down on some maps as a large stream flowing from the interior of the continent — such a stream as the Col- um1)ia — (»r as the western end of a passage leading from the Atlantic to the Pacific. W'ry little was known of the width of the continent; and geographers sujiposed it was but a short distance between the South sea and North sea. They had no idea that a passage between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans would have been 4,000 miles in length. Upon his return to Mexico Viscaino strongly urged the viceroy to establish supp ly stations at San Diego and Monterey and to thus take possession of a country which he was satisfied, from what he learned by careful inquiry among the natives he encountered along the coast, was extremely fertile and rich in the precious metals; but the viceroy had too nuich consideration for his personal interests, since the expense of such an under- taking would have fallen solely upon himself, and neglected to utilize the informa tion thus obtained. Viscaino, disgusted with the viceroy's inactivity, departed for Spain to present his views at court; and after long delay and persistent imj^ortuning secured a royal mandate to the viceroy, commanding him to establish a supply station for the India trade at JNIonterey. This order was issued in 1606, and with it Viscaino hastened to Mexico; but before the final preparations were completed he was taken sick and died,^ and the colonizing enterprise was abandoned. With no enthusiastic explorer to arouse him to action and with no hostile fleets in the Pacific to annoy him, the Spanish man- nrch apparently thought no more of the Pacific coast or the northwest passage, and a few years later there was enough to occupy his attention at home. He ordered no more voyages of exploration, and the viceroys were careful to undertake none upon their own responsibility, nor any other enterprise unless the immediate prospective ])rofits were great. For a hundred and >iixty years Spain made no ftirther effort to extend her ex- ploi-ations of the coast, nor did she even attempt the establishment of colonies at San Diego or Monterey, either for the purpose of taking possession of the country or forming icfugc and supply stations for vessels returning from India. With the exception of the annual galleon which reached the coast on its return voyage in the latitude of Cajw Mrndoeind, no Spanisli vessel visited dui' shares for a century and a half Xot even the mythical sti'aits, the fabulous city of (^)uiviia, the untold riches and many wonderful objects supposed to exist in this vast unknown territory, were potent to nrouse Spain from her lethainv. She made a few leeble elforts to i)roteet her i-onunei'i'e at times

32 PACIFIC COAST.

during this period when attacked l)y roving privateers, but her attempts at colonization in Lower California, which will be spoken of later on, met with little success. There seemed to be no new Cortes, Pizarro, De Leon, Balboa or De Soto. The spirit of adven- ture was dead. Spain had passed her zenith and was rapidly on the decline. Wars with the Netherlands, France and Portugal were most disastrous. Power, wealth and territory rapidly decreased, and in a century she declined from the foremost position in the world to that of a second rate power, and has never been able to regain her lost ground. With such disasters crowding upon her in the Old World, her apathy in the New was but a natural result.

Though Spain had ceased her voyages of exploration, such was not the case with her i^owerful European neighbors, who were indefotigable in their efforts to explore and colonize the Atlantic coast of America. The English, French and Dutch planted col- onies on the coast, while their hardy navigators unremittingly explored its bays, rivers, straits and sounds. Uppermost in the minds of all was the northwest passage. The stories of its discovery which have already been related, and many others unworthy of repetition, kept the Straits of Anian constantly in the public mind. In 1608 Henry Hudson passed into and to a certain extent explored the bay upon which lie bestowed his name ; yet he was but following the route pursued by Cortereal more than a century before, whose theory that it connected with the Indian ocean had given rise to this uni- versal belief in the mythical straits. In 1616 William Baffin penetrated into the bay that bears his name, lying between America and Greenland, and entered a passage ex- tending westward near the 74th parallel, but was unable to proceed because of the vast quantities of ice. This voyage and others made into the extreme north, proved con- clusively that no open passage could be possible in the 75th degree of latitude, where Maldonado had located his tortuous channel leading from the Atlantic to the North sea, and geographers became convinced that if such a passage and sea existed they were the straits and bay explored and named by Hudson. The belief was natural, then, that if found at all, the Straits of Anian should be looked for in some of the many unexplored arms of Hudson's bay. For a time, however, after BaflBn's voyage, England was so engrossed in her own troubles that neither Koyalists nor Commoners had time or inclina- tion to prosecute foreign explorations.

The expeditions of the Dutch were chiefly to the southward, and in 1616 Lemaire and Van Schouten made a most important discovery. It was that in passing from the Atlantic to the Pacific, it was unnecessary to tempt the dangers of JNIagellan's straits, l)ut that to the south of these there existed an open sea. Though the passage of Cape Horn, named by them in honor of the city in Holland from which they came, was still a tem- jjestuous one, it served to remove the fear all seaman entertained of undertaking to cross from one ocean to the other through the narrow and rocky channel above Terra del Fuego. This discovery was nearly as disastrous to Spanish commerce in the Pacific as that of the much feared one from the North sea could possibly have been; for there now existed no obstacle to prevent hostile vessels from entering or leaving the Pacific at will, since the open sea was too large to be guarded even had Spain the necessary vessels of war for such a purpose.

Spain was now involved in European wars, and to the disasters that were showered xipon her head at home were added others in America. English, French and Dutch

PACIFIC COAST. 33

1 iiiceaneers, and especially the latter during the war fur independence by the Xether- Idiuh, ravaged the Spanish settlements on the Pacific coast. Dutch privateers fi-e- quented the Gulf of California, from which they preyed upon the Spani.<h commerce and enriched themselves with Ciiptured booty. By their \-ictims they were known as Pichilingues, because the bay of Pichilingue, on the western side of the gulf, was made their chief point of rendezvous.

Spain made a few feeble and spasmodic effi:)rt.s to dislodge these piratical pests and protect her plundered commerce, by sending out expeditions against them and bv attempting to plant a colony on Lower California as a base of defensive operations. In 1631, 1644, 1664, 1667 and 1668 such efforts were made; but they were wholly fnutless, and in no instance were the enterprises conducted with the %-igor and courage displayed l>y the Spanish adventurei-s of a century before. A final effort wjis made in 1683 bv Don Isdro de Otondo, who headed an expedition of soldiers, settlers and Jesuit priests whom he established at various points, making La Paz the headquarters and chief settlement and building there a chapel for worship and to aid in the conversion of the natives. Father Kino was in charge of the religious part of the enterprise, and set about learning the Indian language, and soon translated into their tongue the creeds of the Catholic Church. The effort lasted about three years, during which time they were visited with an eighteen mouths' drought, and before they had recovered from the blow, received orders to put to sea, and bring into Acapulco safely the Spanish galleon, then in danger of capture by Dutch privateers Iving in wait for her. This was successfully accomplished, the treasure-ship was conveyed safely in, but the act resulted in the al)andoninent of the colony; and a council of chief authorities in Mexico soon after decided that the reduction of California by such means was imjiracti cable.

After Charles II. came to the throne of England, from which his father had Ijeeu driven by the austere Cromwell, attention was again turned by that nation to explorations for the northwest passage. The belief that in Hudson's bay would be found the en- trance to the mythical .straits, led to the organization of the Hudson's Bay Company, to which the king granted, in 166U, the whole region whose waters flow into that great inland sea. The objects of " The company of adventurers of England trading into Hudson's Bay," as expressed in the chartei-. were those of trade and the iliscovery of a pa.ssage leading into the Pacific ocean. It was not long, however, before the company learned that its franchise for trading jiurposes was an exceedingly valuable one, and that the discovery of a pa.ssage through its dominions, which would of necessity invoke competition from other organizations, was highly undesirable. From that time it not only made no effort to discover the pa.ssage, Init discouraged all such expeilitions, even keeping as secret as possible all geographical knowledge act]uiretl by its agents, which policy obtains even to the present day, and which has kept as a ftir-bearing wilderness the whole northern half of the North American continent.

CHAPTER V.

RUSSIA ENTERS THE PACIFIC.

Russia a New Factor in the Contest of Nations Plans of Peter the Great- -Behring's First Voyage Proves that Asia and America are Distinct Continents— Voyage of the St. Paul -Behring Reaches the American Coast and Expires on the Return Voyage— Terrible Suffering of the Crew -Beginning of the Pacific Fur Trade— Result of Russian Explorations.

Though France confined her attention to inland explorations from her Canadian colonies, England to fo.^^tering her colonies in America and exploring the north Atlantic coast, and Holland to the founding of New Amsterdam and the plundering of the Span- ish commerce and settlements in the south Pacific ; yet the North Pacific coast was not wholly neglected during the first half of the eighteenth century. A new and almost unex])0('ted factdi' made itself felt in the Pacific, and this was the powerful and autocratic monaicli oi' itii->ia. I'ctii' the Great had redeemed Kussia from a state of almost utter barbarity ami set it on the highway to civilization and national power. In the arts of war and jDeace he had ])atiently instructed his j)eople, had cemented their national union, had awakened a national pride and love of power within their bosoms, had extended his domain and increased tiie number of his .subjects, and had made of a people formerly scarcely thought of when the affairs of Europe were discus.sed, one of the most influ- ential nations of the world. It was his constant aim and the legacy he left to his successors, to extend the ^^ower of Russia on all sides, to build u]) the nation and make it the foremost on the globe, and the czars have never relaxed their efforts to accomiilish this mighty purpose. Gradually the dominion of the czar was pushed eastward until his authority extended across the whole of Siberia to the Pacific at the peninsula of Kamtchatka. The rich furs of that region became a source of revenue to the govern- ment which Peter Avas desirous of increasing. He wanted to extend his power still further east to the American settlements of the English, Spanish and French, though bow far that was neither he nor anyone else had the least conception. To this de.sire is due the discovery and exploration of the northern Pacific coasts of both Asia and America. Peter commanded vessels to be built at Kamtchatka, and at Archangel on the Wliite sea, that they might endeavor, the one in the Aictic and the other in the Pacific, to find the long-sought northwest passage, or as they viewed it a northaid ])a.ssage. It was Peter's idea that vessels could sail from the Atlantic through the Arctic ocean and enter the Pacific by the way of this passage, provided America did not prove to be simply an eastern extension of Asia ; but Peter died before his project was executed, and the scheme lay dormant for a few years.

In 1728 the great Catherine determined to carry out her husband's i)lans for Pacific exploration, and agreeably to his former instructions she ordered an ex])editioii to 1)0 prepared on the northeast coast of Kamtchatka, which she placed under the com-

PACIFIC COAST. 1X^4 369

35

niiiud of a Danisli navigator of skill and rourage, Vitas Beliring, who liad been desig- nated Ijy Peter for that position l)ef()re his death. He sailed, on the the fourteenth of July in a small vessel, and followed along the coast of Asia east and north until in latitude 67° 18' he found it steadily trending westward, and was satisfied he was then in the Arctic and following the northern coast to the west. Convinced that he had fulfilled his instructions and demonstrated the feet that Asia and America were separate continents, and being unprepared for a winter voyage, he I'etni'ned to Kamtehatka. How far America lay to the eastward of Asia he knew not, for no land had been observed in that direction, and he was totally ignorant of the fact that he had, l)0th in going and returning, passed through the narrow channel separating the tw(j con- tinents and been within a few miles of the American shove. This was made evident a few years later, and Behring's name was bestowed upon the straits. The elusive northwest passage had been found, though it took many years to discover that as a means of communication between the Atlantic and Pacific it was absolutely impracticable. That Behring's passage meets the requirements of the Straits of Anian as depicted by Maldonado, both in latitude and general features, can- not be denied, but to navigate the North sea as described by him and to j^ass through the tortuous straits he locates in the 75th parallel into the Atlantic is utterly impos- sible ; and, therefore, Behring's straits cannot be looked upon as lending any support to the romance with which the unscrupulous Maldonado regaled the Council of the Indies.

The next year Behring undertook to reach America by sailing directly eastward, but adverse winds forced him into the Gulf of Okotsk, and he abandoned the under- taking and proceeded to St. Petersburg. During the next few years many other expeditions by laud and sea, one of which was driven upon the coast of Alaska in 1732, more clearly defined the Asiatic coast, and the nature of the passage between it and America. The Empress Anne prepared for another expedition, but dying before it was ready to sail, was succeeded by Elizabeth, who dispatched two vessels, the <Sy. rctn- and St. Paul, from the Bay of Avatscha on the fourth of June. The former was commanded by Behring and the latter by Alexei Tchirikof, who had been liis lieutenant on the former voyage. The vessels were soon separated in a gale and were not again luiited. Tchirikof returned on the eighth of October, having reached a group of islands on the coast in latitude AG degrees, where sixteen of his men were slaughtered Ijy the natives, and having loot twenty-one of his crew by scurvy, includ- ing the distinguished French naturalist Delile de Crayere.

Of the discoveries made by Behring and the sufferings endured liy the crew of the St. Peter, the only record is that of a journal kept by Steller, the German surgeon and naturalist, which was first published in full in 170o, though its tenor and leading fea- tures were known at a much earlier date. Its nautical and geographical details are not as definite as could be desired. It seems that Behring sailed south-easterly as tar us the 46th parallel without encountering land and then steered to the northeast as far as the 6()th degree, when he discovered an immense snow-covered mountain which he named 8t. Elias because it was first seen on the eighteenth of July, the day assigned to that saint in the Russian calender. Entering a narrow passage between an island and the mainland a strong current of discolored water was observed, indicating the pres-

3G PACIFIC COAST.

ence of a large river whose size proved the land through which it flowed to be of con- tinental proportions. The conclusion was at once reached that America had been found; but Behring, who was ill, refused to explore the coast to the southeast in the direction of the Spanish possessions, and set out upon the return voyage. Delayed and baffled by violent winds and the many islands of the Aleutian group, but slow pro- gress was made. For two months they wandered or were driven about by furious winds in the open sea to the south of the archipelago, famine and disease claiming their victims almost daily. "The general distress and mortality," says the journal of the surgeon, "increased so fast that not only the sick died, but those who j^retended to be healthy when released from their posts fainted and fell down dead; of which the scantiness of water, the want of biscuits and brandy, cold, wet, nakedness, vermin, and terror, Avere not the least causes." On the fifth of November they landed upon an island with the purpose of spending the winter there, and constructed huts from the wreck of their vessel which was dashed by the waves upon the beach soon after the landing was effected. Behring died on the eighth of December, and during the winter thirty of the crew followed him. The survivors, having lived upon sea and land animals killed on the island, constructed a small vessel from pieces of the wreck, and succeeded in reaching the Bay of Avatscha the following August. The little island where they had spent the winter and where were buried their commander and so many of their comrades, they named Behring's Isle ; it lies about eighty miles from the Kamt- chatkan coast, and consists of granite peaks thrust up from mid ocean, against which the waves dash with ceaseless fury.

No disposition was manifested hj the rulers of Russia to prosecute further dis- coveries for more than twenty years. Individual enterprise, however accomplished something. The returning survivors of Behring's ill-fated expedition took with them the skins of animals which had served them as food during that terrible winter, and sold them at high prices. This led to short voyages eastward in quest of furs, the beginning of that enormous fur trade in the Pacific which was for years a bone of con- tention between nations and which led to the first settlement and occupation of Oregon. It is thus described by Greenhow:

" The trade thus commenced was, for a time, carried on by individual adventurers, each of whom was alternately a seaman, a hunter, and a merchant ; at length, how- ever, some capitalists in Siberia employed their funds in the jsursuit, and expeditions to the islands were, in consequence, made on a more extensive scale, and with greater regularity and efficiency. Trading stations were established at particular points, where the furs were collected by persons left for that object; and vessels were sent, at stated periods, from the ports of Asiatic Russia, to carry the articles required for the use of the agents and hunters, or for barter with the natives, and to bring away the skins collected.

" The vessels employed in this commerce were, in all respects, wretched and inse- cure, the jjlanks being merely attached together, without iron, by leathern thongs ; and^ as no instruments were used by the traders for determining latitudes and longitudes at sea, their ideas of the relative positions of the places which they visited were vague and incorrect. Their navigation was, indeed, performed in the most simple and un- .scientific manner possible. A vessel sailing from the Bay of Avatscha, or from Cajie

i^

PACIFIC COAST. 37

Lopatka, the southern extremity of Kaniteliatka, couhl not have gone tar eastward, without falling in with one of the Aleutian islands, which would serve as a mark for her course to another ; and thus she might go on from point to point throughout the whole chain. In like manner she would return to Asia, and if her course and rate of sailing were observed with tolerable care, there could seldom be any uncertainty as to whether she were north or south of the line of the islands. Many vessels were, never- theless, annually lost, in consequence of this want of knowledge of the coasts, and want of means to ascertain positions at sea ; and a large number of those engaged in the trade, moreover, fell victims to cold, starvation and scurvy, and to the enmity of the bold natives of the islands. Even as late as 1806, it was calculated that one-third of these vessels were lost in each year. The history of the Russian trade and estab- lishments on the north Pacific, is a series of details of dreadful disasters and suffer- ings ; and, whatever opinion may be entertained as to the humanity of the adventurers, or the morality of their proceedings, the courage and j)erseverance displayed by them, in struggling against such appalling difficulties, must command universal admiration.

" The furs collected by these means, at Avatscha and Ochotsk, the principal fur- trading points, were carried to Irkutsk, the capital of Eastern Siberia, whence some of them were taken to Europe ; the greater portion were, however, sent to Kiakta, a small town just within the Russian frontier, close to the Chinese town of Maimatchin, through which |)laces all the commerce between these two empires passed, agreeably to a treaty concluded at Kiakta in 1728. In return for the furs, which brought higher prices in China than anywhere else, teas, tobacco, rice, porcelain, and silk and cotton goods, were brought to Irkutsk, where all the most valuable of these articles were sent to Europe. These transportations were effected by land, except in some i:)laces where the rivers were used as the channel of conveyance, no commercial exportation having been made from Eastern Russia by sea before 1779 ; and when the immense distances between some of the points above mentioned are considered (Irkutsk to Pekin, 1,300 miles ; to Bay of Avatscha, 3,450 miles; to St. Petersburg, 3,760 miles), it becomes evident that none but objects of great value, in comparison with their bulk, at the place of their consumption, could have been thus transported with profit to those engaged in the trade, and that a large portion of the price paid by the consumer must have been ab- sorbed by the expense of transportation. A skin was, in fact, worth at Kiakta three times as much as it cost at Ochotsk."

Such was the crude beginning of that enormous trade in furs which in a few years s})rang up in the Pacific, and for which English, American and Russian traders com- ])eted. China was then, and is to-day, the greatest consumer of furs, which were for years taken to Pekin overland, as described above; but in 1771 a cargo of peltries was taken direct to Canton under peculiar circumstances. In the month of May a few Polish exiles, sent to that bleak and inhospitalile wilderness for political reasons? succeeded in escaping to sea in a small vessel from a harl^or on the southwest coast of Kamtchatka, being led by Count Maurice de Benyowsky, a Hungarian. They entered the Pacific and after being driven hither and thither among the islands, stopping fre- ijuently to procure furs, they finally arrived at Canton, the first vessel from the North Pacific to reach any ports frequented liv ships of other nations, demonstrating the fact tliat the icy waters idxiut Iviimtchatka and Alaska liclong to the snme great ocean as

38 PACIFIC COAST.

those of the South sea that hished the rocky hhiffs of Cape Horn, or hipped the sands of the Philippines.

Other Russian voyages of exploration were made to the ea.stward of Kanitehatka in 1766 and 1769 ; and in 1774 an official account of these voyages was published in St. Petersburg, entitled " Description of the Newly Discovered Islands in the Sea between Asia and America." This was accompanied by a map which embodied the ideas of Pacific coast geograjihy which then prevailed. By it the American coast north of California was made to run northwesterly to the 70th parallel. Between this point and the coast of Asia was represented a broad open sea dotted with islands, many of which bore the same names and were identical with the larger ones of the Atlantic group, though by no means properly located. Alaska, or Aliaska, was represented as a great island with Asia on one side and America on the other, separated from Asia by the narrow channel of Behring's straits, and it was many years before it was known that Alaska was a portion of the main land of America.

CHAPTER VI.

SPANISH MISSIONS AND SETTLEMENTS IN CALIFORNIA.

Spain Appeals to the Jesuits for Aid -The Society of Jesus Plan of Father Kino- The Mission of Our Lady of Loretto Founded by Father Tierra— Attack upon the Mission— Method of Conducting- Missionary Work- Expulsion of the Jesuits— The Pearl of Our Lady of Loretto— The Franciscans Invade Alta California— San Diego Founded by Father Junipero Serra— Discovery of San Francisco Bay-The Mission at San Diego Saved from Abandonment by the timely Arrival of Supplies— Founding of Missions at Monterey and San Antonia de Padua— The Growth and Downfall of the Mission System.

For a century aud a half after Cortes planted the first colony on the peninsula of California, the viceroys of Mexico, in an indissolute manner, had undertaken to carry out the will of their sovereigns that colonies be established aud maintained on the coast of California, but w^ithout success. When the Mexican authorities decided that such an undertaking was impossible of accomplishment, the government appealed to the powerful Society of Jesus to undertake the task, hoping thus to win by the cross what could not be conquered with the sword ; but an offer of |40,000 annually from the royal treasury to aid them in establishing missions was refused by the Jesuits, and the crown abandoned the hope of accomplishing anything whatever.

At that time the Society of Jesus was the most wealthy and by reason of its secrecy and perfect discipline and the intelligence, devotion and influence of its mem- bers, the most powerful organization which has ever existed. It had its ramifications in every land where was the symbol of the cross, and its faithful subjects hesitated not to plunge into the unknown wildernesses of the New World to carry the light of Chris- tianity to the "nations sitting in darkness" far beyond the confiues of civilization.

PACIFIC COAST. 3a

Their lives weighed as nothing against the glory of their Heavenly Master and the extension of Christ's kingdom npon earth. It mattered not to what nation they be- longed, for the French priests in Canada and Louisiana dipslayed the same zeal as did the Spaniards in Mexico and California. They were imbued with the same spirit and sought the same end — the extension of the kingdom of Jesus and the power of the order which bore his name. Though the government subsidy was declined from motives of policy, the conversion of these heathen nations was determined upon, to be accomplished by the society with its own resources.

With the unsuccessful expedition of Admiral Otondo was a monk who had volun- tarily abandoned a lucrative and honorable position to become an emissary of the cross. While lying at the point of death he had made a vow to his patron Saint, Francis Xavier, that if he should recover, he would devote the remaining years of his life to following the noble example of his patron. He recovered, resigned his professorship, and crossed the sea to Mexico, and eventually became a missionary and one of the most zealous members of the Society of Jesus. He was a German by birth, and his name in his native land was Kuhn, but the Spaniards have recorded it as Father Eusebio Francisco Kino. He had become strongly impressed in his visit to the coun- try with the feasibility of a plan by which the land might be taken possession of and held. His object was not alone the conquest of a kingdom, but the conversion of its inhabitants, and the saving of souls. His plan was to go into the country and teach the Indians the principles of the Catholic faith, educate thera to support themselves by tilling the soil, anil improvement through the experience of the advantages to be ob- tained by industry; the end of all being to raise up a Catholic province for the Span- ish crown, and people Paradise with the souls of converted heathen. The means to be employed in accomplishing this, were the priests of the Society of Jesuits, protected by a small garrison of soldiers and sustained by contributions from those friendly to the enterprise. The mode of applying the means was, to first occupy some favorable place in the country, where a storehouse and a church could be erected that would render till' fathers" maintenance and life comparatively secure. This would give them an opportunity to win the confidence of the Indians, by a patient, long-continued, uniform system of affectionate intercourse and just dealing, and then use their appetites as the means by which to convert their souls. These establishments were to be gradually extended northward until Spain had control of the whole coast.

With no hope of reward, except beyond the grave, but with a prospect of defeat and a probability of martyrdom, Father Kino started, on the twentieth of October, 1G8G, to travel over Mexico, and, by preaching, urge his views and hopes of the enter- prise. He soon met on the way a congenial spirit. Father Juan Maria Salva Tierra ; and then another, Father Juan Ugarte, added his great executive ability to the cause. Their united efforts resulted in obtaining sufficient funds by subscrij)tion. Then they procured a warrant from the king for the order of Jesuits to enter upon the conquest of California at their own expense, for the benefit of the crown. The order was given February -J, 1(')'J7, and it had rei^uired eleven years of constant urging to pro- cure it. ( )ctober tenth, of the same year, Salva Tierra sailed from the coast of Mexico to put in o[)eration Kino's long-cherished scheme of conquest. The expedition con- .sisted of one small vessel and a long-l)oat, in which were provisions, tlie necessary

40 PACIFIC COAST.

ornaments and furniture for fitting up a rude church, and Father Tierra, accompanied by six soldiers and three Indians. Father Tierra, afterwards visitadore general of the missions of California, was born in Milan, of Spanish ancestry and noble parentage. Having completed his education he joined the Society of Jesus and went to Mexico as a missionary in 1675, where he had labored twenty-two years among the various native tribes. He was robust in health, exceedingly handsome in person, talented, firm and resolute, and filled to overflowing with that religious zeal which shrinks from no form of martyrdom. His associate, Father Juan Ugarte, was equally zealous and possessed of much skill in handling the stubborn and unreasoning natives.

On the nineteenth of October, 1697, they reached the point selected on the east coast of the peninsula, and says Yenegas : " The provisions and animals were landed, together with the baggage ; the Father, though the head of the expedition, being the first to load his shoulders. The barracks for the little garrison were now built, and a line of circumvallation thrown up. In the center a tent was pitched for a temporary chapel ; before it was erected a crucifix, with a garland of flowers. * '•' *

The image of our Lady of Loretto, as patroness of the conquest, was brought in pro- cession from the boat, and placed with proper solemnity. Immediately Father Tierra initiated the plan of conversion. He called together the Indians, explained to them the catechism, prayed over the rosary, and then distributed among them a half bushel of boiled corn. The corn was a success, but the prayers and catechism were " bad medicine." They wanted more corn and less prayers, and helped themselves from the sacks. This was stopped by excluding them from the fort, and they were kindly informed that corn would be forthcoming only as a reward for attendance and atten- tion at devotions. This created immediate hostility, and the natives formed a con- spiracv to murder the garrison and possess themselves of the corn without restrictions. Happily the design was discovered and frustrated. A general league was then entered into among several tribes, and a descent was made upon the fort by about five hundred Indians. The priest rushed upon the fortifications and warned them to desist, begging them to go away, telling them that they would be killed if they did not ; but his solicitude for their safety was responded to by a number of arrows from the natives, when he came down and the battle began in earnest. The assailants went down like grass before the scythe, as the little garrison opened with their fire-arms in volleys upon the unprotected mass, and they immediately beat a hasty retreat, and sent in one of their number to beg for peace, who, says Yenegas : " With tears assured our men that it was those of the neighboring rancheria under him who had first formed the plot, and on account of the paucity of their numbers, had spirited up the other nations ; adding, that those being irritated by the death of their companions were for revenging them, but that both the one and the other sincerely repented of their attempt. A little while after came the women with their children, mediating a peace, as is the cus- tom of the country. They sat down Aveeping at the gate of the camp, with a thousand promises of amendment, and offering to give up their children as hostages for the performance. Father Salva Tierra heard them with his usual mildness, showing them the wickedness of the procedure, and if their husbands would behave better, promised them peace, an amnesty, and forgetfulness of all that was past ; he also distributed among them several little presents, and to remove any mistrust they might have he

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PACIFIC COAST. 41

took one of the children in hostage, and thus they returned in high spirits to the raneherias." The sokliers' guns had taught them respect, and the sacks of corn en- ticed them back for the priests to teach them the Catholic faith.

The manner in which these indefatigable missionaries overcame the indolence, viciousness and ignorance of the natives was practically the same as that pursued in all the missions afterwards established, and is thus described by Venegas :

In the morning, after saying mass, at which he (Father Ugarte) obliged them to attend with order and respect, he gave a breakfast of pozoli to those who were to work, set them about build- ing the church and houses for themselves and his Indians, clearing ground for cultivation, making trenches for convej^ance of water, holes for jjlautmg trees, or digging and preparing the ground for sowing. In the building part. Father Ugarte was master, overseer, carpenter, bricklayer and laborer. For the Indians, though animated by his example, could neither by gifts uor kind speeches be j^revailed upon to shake oif their innate sloth, and were sure to slacken if they did not see the father work harder than any of them; so he was the first in fetching stones, treading the clay, mixing the sand, cutting, carrying and barking the timber; removing the earth and fixing materials. He was equally laborious in the other tasks, sometimes felling the trees with his axe, sometimes with his spade in his hand digging up the earth, sometimes with an iron crow splitting rocks, sometimes disposing the water-trenches, sometimes leading the beasts and cattle, which he had procured for his mission, to pasture and water; thus by his own example, teaching the several kinds of labor. The Indians, whose narrow ideas and dullness could not at first enter into the utility of these fatigues, which at the same time dej^rived them of their customary freedom of roving among the forests, on a thousand occasions sufficiently tried his patience — coming late, not caring to stir, running away, jeering him and sometimes even forming combinations, and threat- ening death and destruction; all this was to be borne with unwearied patience, having no other recourse than affability and kindness, sometimes intermixed with gravity to strike respect; also taking care not to tire them, and suit himself to their weakness. In the evening the father led them a second time in their devotions; in which the rosary was prayed over, and the catechism explained; and the services was followed by the distribution of some provisions. At first they were verj- troublesome all the time of the sermon, jesting and sneering at what was said. This the father bore with for a while, and then proceeded to reprove them; but finding they were not to be kept in order, he make a very dangerous experiment of what could be done by fear. Near him stood an Indian in high rejjutation for strength, and who, presuming on his advantage, the only quality esteemed by them, took upon himself to be more rude than the others. Father Ugarte, who was a large man, and of uncommon strength, observing the Indian to be in the height of his laughter, and making signs of mockery to the others, seized him by the hair and lifting him up swung him to and fro; at this the rest ran away in the utmost terror. They soon returned, one after another, and the father so far succeeded to intimidate them that they behaved more regularlj' in the future.

Of the same priest and his labors in starting another mission he says :

He endeavored, by little presents and caresses, to gain the aftections of his Indians; not so nmeh that they should assist him in the building as that they might take a liking to the catechism, which he explained to them as well as he could, by the help of some Indians of Loretto, while he was perfecting himself in their linguage. But his kindness was lost on the adults, who, from their invincible sloth, could not be brought to help him in any one thing, though they partook of, and used to be very urgent with him for pozoli and other eatables. He was now obliged to have recourse to the assistance of the boys, who, being allured by the father with sweetmeats and pres- ents, accompanied him wherever he would have them; and to habituate these to any work it was necessary to make use of artifice. Sometimes he laid a wager with them who should soonest pluck up the mesquites and small trees; sometimes he offered reward to those who took away most earth; and it suffices to say that in forming the bricks he made himself a boy with boys, challenged them to play with the earth, and dance upon the clay. The father used to take oft' his sandals and tread it, in which he was followed by the boys skipping and dancing on the clay and the father with them. The boys sang, and were highly delighted; the father also sang, and thus they coutiuued daucing

42 PACIFIC COAST.

and treading the clay in different parts till meal-time. This enabled him to erect his poor dwelling and church, and at the dedication of which the other fathers assisted. He made use of several such contrivances in order to learn their language; first teaching the boys several Spanish words, that they might afterwards teach him their language. "When, by the heljj of these masters, tlie interpreters of Loretto, and his own observation and discourse with the adults, he had attained a sufficient knowledge of it, he began to catechise these poor gentiles, using a thousand endearing ways, that they should come to the catechism. He likewise made use of his boys for carrying on their instruction. Thus, with invincible patience and firmness under excessive labors, he went on humanizing the savages who lived on the spot, those of the neighboring rancherias, and others, whom he sought among woods, breaches and caverns; going about everywhere, that he at length administered baptism to many adults, and brought this new settlement into some form.

This plan of subduing the natives and obtaining spiritual and temporal control over them was adhered to for seventy years. The expense of this great undertaking can be gathered from the record of the first eight years, during which |o8,000 were expended in establishing six missions and $1, 225,000 in supporting the indolent savages dependent upon them.

On the second of April, 1767, all members of the Society of Jesus in the Spanish dominions were arrested and thrown into prison upon the order of Charles III., against whose life they were charged with consjjiring. Nearly six thousand were subjected to that decree, including the Jesuit missionaries in California and other dependencies of Spain. The execution of the decree in California fell to the lot of Don Caspar Portala, governor of the province, who assembled the j^ious Fathers at Loretto on Christmas eve and imparted to them the sad news of which they had till then been entirely ignorant. When the time came for them to take their final departure from the scene of seventy years of labor and self-abnegation a most pathetic scene was enacted. With loud cries and lamentations the peoj^le broke through the line of soldiers stationed to hold them back, and rushed upon the Fathers to kiss their hands and bid them fare- well. "Adieu, dear Indians; adieu, California; adieu, land of our adoj)tion ; fiat ■voluntas Dei" was the brief and eloquent farewell of those fifteen holy men, as they turned their backs upon the scene of their long labors and became wanderers and out- casts, under the ban of the sovereign whose power they had established where he had sought in vain to plant it for a century and a half They left behind them the record of having become the pioneers in the culture of the grape and in the making of wine on this coast, having sent to Mexico their vintage as early as 1706. They were the pioneer manufacturers, having taught the Indians the use of the loom in the manufac- ture of cloth as early as 1707. They built, in 1719, the first vessel ever launched from the soil of C^alifornia, calling it the Triuniph of the Cross. Two of their number suf- fered martyrdom at the hands of the Indians, and the living were rewarded for those years of toil, privation and self-sacrifice, by banishment from the land they had sub- dued ; leaving, for their successors, sixteen flourishing missions, and thirty-six villages, US testimonials of the justice and wisdom of their rule.

The historic village of Loretto, where was established the initial mission of Cali- fornia, is situated on the margin of the gulf, in the center of St. Dyonissius cove. Some of the buildings are now a mass of ruins, while others are fast going to decay, many being destroyed by the great storm of 1827. The church built by the Jesuits in 1742 is still standing, and among the relics of its former greatness are eighty-six oil paint- ings, some of them by Murillo, and though more than a century old still in a good

PACIFIC COAST. 43

State of preservation. It wa.s a former custoiii of the pearl divers to devote tiie product of certain days to "Our Lady of Loretto," and on one occasion there fell to her lot a magnificent pearl as large as a pigeon's egg and wonderfully pure and brilliant. This the Fathers thought proper to present to the Queen of Spain, who in return sent to our Lady of Loretto an elegant new gown ; but as this could not be worn by the virgin in the spirit land and was not of the style of garment most in fashion at Loretto, it was (if no practical utility, and there is reason to believe that her majesty had the better of the transaction.

Upon the Brotherhood of St Francis the king bestowed the missions and accumu- lated wealth of the Jesuits in California ; but soon after possession was taken by them the Dominicans laid claim to a portion. The controversy ended in the surrender by the Franciscans of all rights granted them in Lower California upon the condition that they be granted full authority in Alta California to found missions and take possession of the country in the name of the Catholic sovereign of Spain. They hoped thus to become possessed of a land where legend and imagination had located the rich mines of gold and silver from which had come the vast treasures of which Cortes had despoiled the Aztecs ; and in thus gaining wealth for their order they w^ould also spread the story of the cross and bring within the pale of the Holy Catholic Church thousands of souls then groping in the darkness of heathenism.

Father Francis Junipero Serra, at the head of the Franciscan order in ^Mexico, was a man cast in no common mould. He was educated from his youth to the church, was possessed of great eloquence, enthusiasm and magnetic power, and had gained reputation and experience in the missions of Mexico. Peculiarly fitted for the work before him, he entered upon it with a zeal that admitted not of failure or defeat. It was his jilan to establish missions at San Diego, Monterey and some intermediate point , immediately, and extend them gradually as circumstances should dictate. In pursu- ance of this programxne an expedition was dispatched in 1769 to settle and take possession of California, with the purpose, as Joseph DeGalvez states it, " to establish the Catholic religion among a numerous heathen people, submerged in the obscure darkness of paganism ; to extend the dominion of the King, our Lord ; and to protect the peninsula from the ambitious rulers of foreign nations." This was to be done by the Franciscans, according to the royal decree, at their oivn expense, though the bene- fits were to inure chiefly to the crown of Spain, whose dominion was to be largely increased and a greater measure of protection afforded the American possessions and commerce.

It was deemed advisable to divide the expedition, and send a portion of it by sea in their three vessels, leaving the remainder to go from Mexico overland by way of the most northerly of the old missions. Accordingly, on the ninth of January, 1709, tlie ship San Carlos sailed from La Paz, followed on the fifteenth of February by the San- Antonio. The last to sail was the San Joseph, on the sixteenth of June, and she was never heard from afterwards. The vessels were all loaded with provisions, numer- ous seeds, grain to sow, farming utensils, church ornaments, furniture and passengers, their destination being the port of San Diego. The first to reach that })lace was the San Antonio, which arrived on the eleventh of A2iril, after losing eight of her crew l)v the scurvv. Twciitv davs hiter the San Carlos made her laboriou.< wav into port,

44 PxVCIFIC COAST.

with only the captain, the cook and one seaman left of her crew, the others having fallen victims to that terrible scourge of the early navigators.

The overland party was also divided into two companies ; one, under command of Fernanda Revera Moncada, was to assemble at the northern limit of the peninsula, where was located the most northerly mission, and take two hundred head of black cattle over the country to San Diego, the point where all were to meet in the new land to be subdued. Revera set out on the twenty-fourth of March, and was the first European to cross the southern deserts, guarding approaches from that direction to the upper coast. He reached the point of general rendezvous on the fourteenth of May, after having spent fifty-one days in the journey. The governor of Cali- fornia, Gaspar de Portala, took command of the remaining part of the land expedition, and started May fifteenth, from the same place on the frontier that had been Revera's point of departure, He was accompanied by the projector of the en- terprise, Father Junipero Serra himself, and arrived at San Diego on the first of July, where this, the last company to reach the rendezvous, was received with great demon- strations of joy by those who had arrived by sea and land many long weeks before.

The members of the several divisions, with the exception of those who died at sea, were now all on the ground at San Diego, and Father Junipero was not a man to waste time. In looking over his resources for accomplishing the work before him, he found that he had, including converted Indians who had accompanied him, about two hundred and fifty souls, and everything necessary for the founding of the three missions, the cultivation of the soil, grazing the land and exploring the coast, except sailors and provisions. So many of the former having died on the voyage, it was deemed advisable for those who remained to sail on the San Antonio for San Bias, to procure more seamen and supplies. They accordingly put to sea for that purpose on the ninth of July, and nine of the crew died before the port was reached. The next thing in order was to found a mission at San Diego, and it will be interesting to know what was the ceremony which constituted the founding of a mission. Father Francis Palou, the historian of the Franciscans, thus describes it : " They immediately set about taking possession of the soil in the name of our Catholic monarch, and thus laid the foundation of the mission. The sailors, muleteers and servants set about clearing away a place, which was to serve as temporary church, hanging the bells (on the limb of a tree, possibly)' and forming a grand cross. '' '■' '■^ The venerable father president blessed the holy water, and with this the rite of the church and then the holy cross ; which, being adorned as usual, was planted in front of the church. Then its patron saint was named, and having chanted the first mass, the venerable president pronounced a most fervent discourse on the coming of the Holy Spirit and the establishment of the mission. The sacrifice of the mass being concluded, the Veni Cre«/r;r was then sung; the want of an organ and other musical instruments being supplied by the continued discharge of firearms during the ceremony, and the want of incense, of which they had none, by the smoke of the muskets."

This ceremony was performed on the sixteenth day of July, 1769. Two days prior to that Governor Portala had started northward with the greater portion of the force to re-discover the port of Monterey. For three and one-half months he pursued his slow, tortuous way up the coast, passing Monterey without recognizing it. On the

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PACIFIC COAST. 45

thirtieth of October they eanie upon a bay which Father Crespi; who accompanied the expedition, says " they at once recognized" What caused them to recognize it? Had they ever heard of it before ? This is the first unquestioned record of the discovery of the San Francisco harbor. In all the annals of history there is no evidence of its ever having been seen before, except that sailing chart previously mentioned. Yet the exception is evidence strong as holy writ, that in 1740 the bay had been found but had received no recorded name. Portala and his followers believed a miracle had been performed, that the discovery was due to the haiid of Providence, and that St. Francis had led them to the place. When they saw this land-locked bay in all its slumbering grandeur, they remembered that, before leaving Mexico, Father Junipero had been grieved because the vistado re general had not placed their jDatron saint upon the list of names for the missions to be founded in the ne^v country, and when reminded of the omission by the sorrowing j^riest, he had replied solemnly, as from matured reflec- tion : " If St. Francis wants a mission, let him show you a good port, and we will put one there." "A good port" had been found — one where the fleets of the world could ride in safety, and they said " St. Francis has led us to his harbor," and they called it " San Francisco Bay."

Portala returned to San Diego, arriving January '24, 1770, where he found a very discouraging condition of affairs. The small band left at San Diego had passed through perils and difficulties of which it is unnecessary to speak in detail ; but the stubborn bravery and uniform kindness of the missionaries had -brought them safely through. There now threatened a danger that unless averted would disastrously terminate the expedition. Portala took an inventory of supplies and found there remained only enough to last the expedition until March ; and he dicided that if none arrived by sea before the twentieth of that month, to abandon the enterprise and return to Mexico. The day came, and with it, in the offing, in plain view of all, a vessel. Preparations had been completed for the abandonment, but it was postponed because of the appearance of the outlying ship. The next day it was gone, and the colony believed then that a miracle had been jDerformed, and their patron saint had permitted the sight of the vessel that they might know that help was coming. In a few days the San Antonio sailed into the harbor with abundant stores, and they learned that the vision they had looked uj^on was the vessel herself; she having been forced by adverse winds to put to sea again, after coming in sight of land.

Upon the arrival of the San Antonio, two other expeditious set out, in search of Monterey harbor, one by sea and another by land, the latter in charge of Governor Portala. The party by sea was accomjianied by the father president himsdf, who writes of that voyage, and its results, as follows: "On the thirty-first day of May, by the favor of (lod, after a rather painful voyage of a month and a half, this packet, San Anf'niin, arrived and anchored in this horrible port of 3Iontcreij, which is unal- tered in any degree from what it was when visited by the expedition of Don Sebastian A'iscaino, in the year l(K>o." He goes on to state that he found the governor awaiting him, having reached the place eight days earlier. He then describes the manner of taking possession of the land for the ci'own on the third day of August. This cere- mony was attended by salutes from the battery on board ship, and discliarges of nuisketrv l)v the soldiers, until the Indians in the vicinitv were so thorouiihlv frioht-

46 PACIFIC COAST.

eiied at the noise as to cause a stampede among them for the interior, from whence they were afterwards enticed with diffieuhy. This was soon followed by the founding of the mission of San Antonio de Padua.

Governor Portala then returned to Mexico, bearing the welcome intelligence that Monterey had been re-discovered, that a much finer bay had also been found farther north which they had named after St. Francis, and that three missions had been established in the new land. Upon receipt of the news, the excitement in Mexico was intense. Guns were fired, bells were rung, congratulatory speeches were made, and all New Spain was happy, because of the final success of the long struggle to gain a footing north of the peninsula.

It is needless to follow in detail the record of the Franciscans in California, their labors, privations and successs. A brief summary of their rise, growth and downfall will be sufficient to enable the reader to understand all allusions to them in the subse- quent pages.

By the same methods the Jesuits had practiced in Lower California, did the Franciscans seek to establish their missions on a firmer footing, suffering frequently from the hostility of the natives, but gradually overcoming all obstacles and creating populous and prosperous missions and towns. The mission of San Diego was founded July 16, 1769; San Carlos, at Monterey, August 3, 1770; San Antonio de Padua, July 14, 1771 ; San Gabriel, near Los Angeles, September 8, 1771 ; San Luis Obispo, in September, 1772. Father Serra then went to Mexico for reinforcements and sup- plies, and returned the next spring by sea, having sent Captain Juan Bautista Anza with some soldiers to open an overland route by which more rapid and certain commu- nication could be maintained with the home country. In 1774 Captain Anza returned to Mexico for more soldiers, priests and supplies, and after the arrival of these it was determined to enlarge the field of operations to the northward. The 8an Carlos was dispatched to see if the Bay of San Francisco could be entered from the ocean, and in June, 1775, the little vessel sailed safely through the Golden Gate and cast anchor where so many thousand vessels have since been securely sheltered. On the seven- teenth of September, 1776, the presidio (fort) was established at San Francisco, and on the tenth of October the misson of Dolores was founded, followed in quick succession by those of San Juan Capistrano and Santa Clara.

From this time the missions grew rapidly in power and wealth, and pueblos (towns) sprang up, occupied chiefly by the families of soldiers who had served their terms in the array and preferred to remain in California. Gradually po23ulation in- creased, until in 1802 Humboldt estimated it at 1,300, to which he added 15,562 con- verted Indians, taking no account of the wild or unsubdued tribes, which we know from other sources largely outnumbered those brought within the influence of the mis- sions. By 1822, the year Mexico declared her independence of Spain, twenty-one missions had been founded and were in a prosperous condition. Two years later Mexico adopted a republican form of government, and from that time dates the down- fall of the missionary system. The Franciscans had complete control of the land, claiming it as trustees for the benefit of converted natives, and discouraged all at- tempts at colonization as calculated to weaken their power and frustrate their designs. When, therefore, in 1824, the Mexican congress passed a colonization act, giving the

PACIFIC COAST. 47

governor of California power to make grants of land to actnal settlers, it was considered a direct and fatal blow at the mission monopoly. From this time the missions were a leading element in Mexican politics, and they gradnally declined before the encroach- ments of the civil power until, in 1845, the property which had survived the pillage and decay of the previous ten years was sold at auction, and the missions were at an end. A year later the inauguration of the Bear Flag war by Fremont was followed by the conquest of the country from Mexico, and California, redeemed from anarchy misrule and revolution, became a jjortion of the United States.

CHAPTER VII.

DISCOVERIES WESTWARD FROM THE ATLANTIC.

Foreign claims in America— Florida, Mexico, California, Alaska, Louisiana, Canada, and the English Colonic s— Treaty of Ryswick— Treaty of Utrecht— Sale of Louisiana to Spain— Carver's Explorations on the Mississippi —Oregon, the River of the West— Origin of the Name— Journey of Samuel Hearne to the Arctic Ocean- England offers a Reward for the Discovery of a Northwest Passage.

To understand in their full significance the motives and acts of the various nations contending for dominion in the Pacific, the status of their claims throughout America must be kejit carefully in view. England had colonies along the Atlantic coast from Maine to Carolina and had full possession of the vast region about Hudson's bay. France held possession of Louisiana, extending from the mouth of the Mississippi in- definitely northward and westward, and of the St. Lawrence and the great region lying to the westward embraced under the general title of Canada , and by exploring to the west along and beyond the great lakes and north along the Mississippi, had thus united Canada and Louisiana and rendered the Alleghanies the extreme western limit of England's Atlantic colonies. Spain had undis})uted pos.session of Central America. Mexico, California and Florida ; while Russia claimed Alaska and the adjacent islands, The boundary line between these various possessions was extremely uncertain and con- tinued to be for years a fruitful source of trouble and a theme for diplomatic contro- versy.

In 1(3U7 the treaty of Ryswick was concluded, which was intended to define, as I'learly as the knowledge of American geograjjhy would permit, the boundaries of these various possessions. Spanish Florida was then limited on the north by the Carolina colonies, while its western limit was left exceedingly indefinite, confiieting severely with the P^rench claim to Louisiana. North of Florida and west of the Alleghanies France claimed the entire country, either as a portion of Loui.siana or Canada, includ- ing Hudson's bay, the latter claim being based upon the explorations of Labrador by Cortereal. At the treatv ot Utrecht in 1713, following a disastrous struggle with

48 PACIFIC COAST.

Great Britain, France relinquished her claim to Hudson's ba}', Newfoundland and Nova Scotia. During the next quarter of a century the energetic Frenchmen estab- lished a chain of forts and settlements from Quebec to New Orleans, taking absolute and actual possession of the country and cutting off the westward extension of Florida on the one hand and the northeastern limits of Mexico and California on the other.

Thus matters stood until the disastrous war between England and France involved the American colonies in bloody strife and turned over the exposed settlements to the tender mercies of the Indian tomahawk and scalping knife. Worsted in the strife-, France, after her colonial star was stricken from the sky by the gallant Wolfe on the Plains of Abraham, but before the final seal to her defeat was affixed by the treaty of Paris, secretly conveyed to Spain her province of Louisiana, and thus robbed her victorious enemy of one of the greatest fruits of her conquest. The terms of the conveyance, made in 1762, defined the western and southern limit of Louisiana and the eastern and northern boundary of Mexico and California, to follow the course of the Sabine river from its mouth to latitude 32 degrees, thence north to the Red river, and following that stream to longitude 23 degrees, thence north to the Arkansas and up that river to latitude 42 degrees, which line it followed to the Pacific. It was thus that even after the acquisition of Canada, England found her possessions bounded on the west by the great " Father of Waters." This was the situation in America when the Russians opened the Alaskan fiir trade and Spain perfected her claim to Cali- fornia by planting there the missions of St. Francis.

It was now a century since the Hudson's Bay Company was chartered, and it had not yet discovered the northwest passage, though that was the leading object stated in the charter ; nor, indeed, had the company made any earnest effort so to do. The belief still obtained that the Straits of Anian existed, or, at least, that some great river, such a stream, possibly, as the Rio de los Reyes, could be found flowing into the Pacific, which was navigable eastward to within a few miles of some harbor accessible to vessels from the Atlantic. If either of these existed, they were naturally to be looked for in the region dominated by the great fur monopoly. The discovery of such a means of communication was .earnestly desired by the English crown, yet the com- pany was sufficiently powerful to prevent or at least render fruitless all efforts to explore its dominions. All explorations that gave any new geographical light were conducted beyond the company's domain and contrary to its desires.

It has been shown how the headwaters of the Mississippi had been visited by French missionaries and exjilorers, both from Canada and Louisiana, who had estab- lished a fur trade with the natives of considerable value. Immediately after Canada fell into the hands of the English, an expedition was made into that region by Captain Jonathan Carver, a native of Connecticut, who had served with distinction in the war against France so recently brought to a successful termination. . He left Boston in 1766, and traveling by the way of Detroit and Fort Michilimacinac, reached the headwaters of the Mississippi. The object of his journey, as stated in his account, was, " after gaining a knowledge of the manners, customs, languages, soil and natural productions of the different nations that inhabit the back of the MississipjM, to ascer- tain the breadth of the vast continent which extends from the Atlantic to the Pacific ocean, in its broadest part, between the 43d and 46th degrees of north latitude. Had

PACIFIC COAST. 49

I been al)ie to accomiilisli this, I intended to have proposed to tlie government to establish a post in some of those parts, abont tlie Straits of Anian, wliich, having been (hscovered by Sir Francis Drake, of conrse belongs to the English. This I am con- vinced, wonld greatly facilitate the discovery of a northwest passage, or commnnication between Hndsou's bay and the Pacific ocean." His idea that the Straits of Anian, or any other passage inland from the Pacific, had been discovered by Drake was an exceedingly erroneons one.

Just how far west Carver penetrated is uncertain, and his claim of a residence of five monlhs in that region is a doubtful one. since the accounts of the manners and cus- toms of the natives given in his narrative (published twenty-five years later in London at the suggestion of a number of gentlemen who hoped the proceeds of its sale would be sufficient to relieve the author's necessities; he died in 1780, in penury), are but translations into English of the writings of Hennepin, Lahontan, Charlevoix and other French explorers. To him, however, must be credited the first use of the name " Oregon," which is given in the following connection : '' From these natives, together with my own observations, I have learned that the four most capital rivei's on the continent of North America — viz., the St. Lawrence, the Mississippi, the River Bourbon (Red River of the North), and the Oregon, or River of the West — have their sources in the same neighborhood. The waters of the three former are within thirty miles of each other ; [This is practically correct, and this point, somewhere in Western Minnesota, is probably the limit of his westward journey.] the latter, how- ever, is rather further west. This shows that these parts are the highest in North America ; and it is an instance not to be paralleled in the other three quarters of the world, that four rivers of such magnitude should take their rise together, and each, after running separate courses, discharge their waters into different oceans, at the dis- tance of two thousand miles from their sources, for in their passage from this spot to the Bay of St. Lawrence, east, to the Bay of Mexico, south, to Hudson's Bay, north, and to the bay at the Straits of Anian, west, each of these traverse upwards of two tliousand miles."

It will be observed that Carver lays no claim to having visited even the head- waters of the "Oregon, or River of the West," and the probability is that all he knew of it was gathered from the same works of the French explorers which had supplied the other leading features of his book, though, possibly, like them, he may have heard sncli a stream spoken of by the Indians. In many of these French narratives to which he had access, a belief is asserted in the existence of a large stream flowing westward from the vicinity of the headwaters of the Mississippi into the Pacific, founded upon information given by the natives ; and on many maps of the eighteenth century such a stream was indicated, bearing variously the names " River of the West," "River Thegayo" " Rio de los Reyes," and " River of Aguilar" (the one whose mouth Aguilar reported having seen in latitude 43 degrees in the year 1608.) All tliat was new in Carver's account was the name "Oregon," and of that he fails to give us any idea of its meaning or origin. Many theories have been advanced, plausible and even possible, but none of them susceptible of ]n'Oof, and the probabilities are that the word is one of Carver's own invention. The fact that he stands sponsor foi- the name of this great region, is all that entitles Carver and his plagiarisms to any notice

50 PACIFIC COAST.

in this volume Avhatever. The first definite account of the Eiver of the West was one given by a Yazoo Indian to Lepagn Dupratz, a French traveler, many years before Carver's journey. The Indian iisserted that he bad ascended the Missouri north- westerly to its source, and that beyond this he encountered another great river flowing towards the setting sun, down which he passed until his j)rogress was arrested by hos- tilities existing between the tribes living along the stream. He participated in the war, and in a certain battle his party captured a woman of a tribe living further west, from whom he learned that the river entered a great water where ships had been seen sailing and in them were men with beards and white faces. There is nothing improb- able in this narrative, in the light of ascertained geographical facts, unless it be the portion relating to ships ; even that is possible, or may, perhaps, be simply an embel- lishment of the story by the Indian or Dupratz. Several maps published about fifteen years prior to Carver's journey, on the authority of this narrative, had marked upon them such a stream with the name " Great River of the West" attached to it. This fully accounts for the valiant captain's knowledge of such a stream, though it clears up none of the darkness surrouudiug the title " Oregon."

In 1771 the Hudson's Bay Company sent Samuel Hearne on a tour of explora- tion of the regions lying to the westward of the bay, for the purpose of finding a rich mine of copper which the Indians had frequently spoken of and whose name translated into English, was The Far-off Metal Eiver. He was also instructed to determine the question of a passage westward from Hudson's bay, in whose existence the directors had now no faith Avhatever, and in consequence were anxious to make a showing of great zeal in searching for it. Hearne discovered Great Slave lake and its connecting- rivers and lakes, finally reaching the Coppermine river and following the stream to its point of discharge into the Arctic ocean. This body of water he conceived and re- ported to be a great inland sea of a character similar to Hudson's bay, between which two bodies of water there was evidently no connecting passage. He also learned from the natives that the land extended a great distance further west, beyond high moun- tains. The result of his journey, since it tended to prove that no passage to the Pacific from Hudson's bay could be possible, was quickly communicated to the British Admi- ralty by the company, though the journal kept by Hearne was not published for the benefit of the jiublic till twenty years later.

The Admiralty were now satisfied that a further search for a strait leading west- ward from Hudson's bay would be futile; but still hoped that a navigable passage could be found leading from Baffin's bay into the sea discovered by Hearne and still another one from this new ocean into the Pacific. Parliament had in 1845 offered a reward of £20,000 to anyone discovering a passage from Hudson's bav, which the company had carefully rendered nugatory, and now Parliament, in 1776, again passed an act ofiering a like reward to any English vessel entering and passing through any strait, or in any direction, connecting the Atlantic and Pacific, north of latitude 52 degrees, which was about the southern limit of Hudson's bay. This led to a series of voyages by English navigators in the Pacific ocean, stimulated especially by the reports which about that time reached England of voyages and settlements made by representatives of Spain. The era of positive discoveries in Oregon was coming on apace.

CHAPTER VIII.

EXPLORATIONS BY LAND AND SEA.

Strue:e:le Between Enp;land and Spain for Dominion on the Pacific Coast Juan Perez Discovers Port San Lorenzo or Nootka Sound Martinez Claims to Have Seen the Straits of Fuca Spanish Explorers Take Possession of the Country at ihe Bay of Trinidad Fruitless Search for the Straits of Fuca Heceta Discovers the Mouth of the Columbia and Names it San Roque Inlet Bodega takes Formal Possession on George III.'s Archipelago and Searches for the Rio de los Reyes- He also takes Possession on Prince of Wales Island- Vain Search for Aguilar's River on the Coast of Oregon Discovery of Bodega Bay Practical Result of these Voyages and England's Solicitude Voyage of Captain James Cook- Discovery of Hawaiian Islands Cook at Nootka Sound— He Passes Through Behring's Straits into the Arctic Ocean Death of Cook- Return of the Expedi- tion - -Arteaga and Bodega Follow Cooks Route.

The proceedings of the Sjoanish nation which had aroused England to such un- usual activity in exploring the northwest, were the colonization of California by the Franciscans which has already been spoken of, and several voyages and efforts to take possession of the coast still further to the north which were made soon afterwards. The struggle between England and Spain for dominion in the unexplored portion of the New World had begun in earnest, and was embittered by the chagrin of the latter at the manner in which Louisiana had slipped from her clutch when France sold it to Spain just as it was about to be snatched from her grasp.

The first of these voyages, and it must be remembered the first voyage of explora- tion undertaken by Spain along the northern coast for one hundred and seventy-one years, was that of Juan Perez, who was instructed to sail as far north as the 60th par- allel, and to then explore the coast southward, landing at all convenient places to take possession of the country in the name of the king of Spain. On the twenty-fifth of January, 1774, Perez sailed from San Bias in the corvette Santiago, piloted by Estivan Martinez, and stopped both at San Diego and Monterey, sailing from the latter port on the sixteenth of June. Thirty-two days later he espied the first laud seen since leav- ing Monterey, in latitude o4 degrees, probably the west coast of Queen Charlotte's island. Simptoms of scurvy beginning to be observed among the crcAV, and being but poorly supplied with the requisites for a long voyage, Perez decided not to attempt further progress north in his little vessel, and so coasted along to the southward. He proceeded about a hundred miles, encountering a number of natives in their canoes, with whom he drove a profitable trade in furs, and was then driven to sea by a storm. He again discovered land on the ninth of August, casting anchor at the entrance of a deep bay in latitude 49 degrees and 30 minutes upon which, following the custom which has plastered the map of the Pacific coast with "Sans" and " Santas," he bestowed, the name Port San Lorenzo, because it was discovered upon the day specially de- voted to that saint in the Roman calendar. It was beyond doubt the harbor on the west coast of Vancouver island now known as King George's or Nootka sound. Hav-

5-2 PACIFIC COAST.

ing- enjoyed a profitable trade with the natives, who are represented as being of a much lighter complexion than other native Americans, Perez weighed anchor and sailed again to the southward. In latitude 47 degrees and 47 minutes a lofty, snow-crowned peak was observed, which was christened Sierra de Santa Rosalia, being, probably, the one subsequently named Mount Olympus by English explorers. On the twenty- first of August Perez arrived off Cape Mendocino, whose exact latitude he then de- termined, and a week later dropped anchor in the harbor of Monterey. This voyage added but little to the geographical knowledge of the coast, since no thorough explora- tions were made and land was observed only in a few places. In the journal of the voyage nothing is said of the Straits of Juan de Fuca, and yet, many years later and long after the .strait had been entered l)y the English and Puget sound explored, the pilot of the Santiago, Martinez, asserted that he had observed a wide opening in the land between latitudes 48 and 49 degrees, and that he had honored the point of land on the south side of the entrance with his own name. Upon the strength of this loug-de- laved assertion, Spanish geographers entered upon their charts as Cape Martinez the point of land now universally known as Cape Flattery.

The return of Perez with the information that America extended at least as far north as the latitude 54 degrees, determined the Mexican viceroy to dispatch another expedition in quest of still further discoveries as far as the 65th parallel. The Santinyo, commanded ])y Bruno Heceta and piloted by Perez, and the Sonora, a small schooner under the command of Juan de Ayala and having Antonio ]\Ianrelle for a pilot, sailed from San Bias March 15, 1775, being supplied with the latest chart of the Pacific, in which the reports of the various voyages were woven together by the fertile imagination of Bellin, a French geographer. They were accomjDanied as far as Monterey by the Sau Carlos, to which vessel Ayala Avas transferred before reaching that port, and the command of the Sonora devolved upon Lieutenant Juan Francisco de la Bodega y Quadra.

Sailing from Monterey to the northward, the two vessels doubled Cape Mendocino and anchored on the tenth of June in a roadstead, which was named Port Trinidad, for the usual reason that the day was the one devoted to the Trinity on the calendar, that fertile source of Spanish nomenclature. Nine days later the voyage up the coast was resumed, though not until the Spaniards had landed and with proper solemnity and religious ceremonies taken possession of the country in the name of their sovereign, including the planting of a cross with appropriate inscriptions as a testimonial monu- ment of their visit. They described the harbor as being safe, spacious and a valualile one to commerce, and the contiguous country agreeable in climate and having a fruitful soil ; and this discovery was considered by Spanish authorities to l^e an exceedingly valuable one.

Having kept out to sea for three weeks, they again sighted land in latitude 48 de- grees and 27 minutes, just south of the Straits of Fuca. Since the Greek pilot had located his passage between latitudes 47 and 48 degrees, as wall be remembered, in wliich locality it was indicated on their chart, the explorers naturally coasted to the southward in searching for it, thus sailing directly away from its entrance. A careful examination of the coast revealed no such passage, and, satisfied that it had no exis- tence, they cast anchor near a small island off the coast in latitude 47 degrees and 20

i

PACIFIC COAST. 53

minutes. Here seven of the Sonnrax crew, who were sent to the mauihiiid to i)roeure water in the (Mily boat the vessel carried, were killed by the natives ; and the island was christened Isla de Dolores, oi- Island of Sorrows, lieing the same one afterwards called Destruction Island by an English captain, because of a similar flite which befel a jjortion of his crew.

Disheartened by this disaster and observing alarming symptoms of scurvy among his crews, Heceta desired to return, but at the urgent solieitatiou of the other officers reluctantly consented to continue the voyage northward. A few days later a severe storm 2)arted the vessels, and Heceta then abandoned the enterprise and started to return with the Santiago to Monterey. He soon observed land on the ocean side of Vancouver island, in latitude 50 degrees, and passing by Port San Lorenzo and the entrance to Juan de Fuca straits without; observing them, he again saw the coast in the 48th parallel, south of which he once more searched for the passage he had so carelessly overlooked. On the fifteenth of August, 1775, he came opposite an opening in the land in latitude 46 degrees and 17 minutes, through which poured a stream of water so forcibly as to prevent him from entering. Satisfied that he was at the outlet to a great river, or, possibly, the Straits of Fuca, though too far south for this according to his chart, Heceta waited a day with the hope of effecting an entrance ; but in this he was doomed to disappointment, and abandoning the eftbrt he continued his voyage to Monterey, carefully observing the intervening coast, of which his journal contains extremely accurate descriptions. The Catholic calendar was again brought into requisition to supply a name for this new discovery, and since the fifteenth of August was the day of the Assumption, Heceta called it Ensenada de Asuncion (Assumption inlet); the sixteenth being set apart to Saint Roc, he called the northern promontory Cape San Roque, while to the low land on the south side of the entrance he gave the name Cape Frondoso (Leafy cape). Beyond question this was the first discovery of the mouth of the mighty Columbia, and Mexican charts, published soon after the return of Heceta, had indicated upon them an entrance to the land at that point, variously denominated Ensenada de Heceta, and Rio de San Ro(iae.

In the meantime Bodega and ^laurelle were persevering in their attenq)t to carry out the original plan of the expedition, and were still endeavoring to reach the ()5th parallel in the little Sonoru. On the sixteenth of August they suddenly came in sight of land both to the north and east of them, being then, according to their observations, north of latitude 56 degrees, and at a point which their chart told them was 1:35 leagues distant from the American shore. This proved to l)e the large island known as King George Ill's Archipelago, though supposed by the Span- iards to be a portion of the main land. A large mountain rising from a jutting head- land and draped in snow, was called by them San Jacinto, though it was a few years later named Mount Edgecumb by Captain Cook. The Spaniards landed to take formal possession of the country for the Spanish crown and to procure a supi)ly of fish and watei, to both of which ])roceedings the natives fiercely objected, compelling the intruders to pay lil)cially for the fish, and the water as well, and derisively tearing up and destroying the ci'oss and other symbolic monuments the would-be po.ssessors of theii- land had erected. The vovaiic northward was resumed, but upon icaehiiio; lati-

U PACIFIC COAST.

tude 58 degrees Bodega deemed it imi^nident to advance farther and turned again to the southward. From that point to the 54th parallel the coast was closely scrutinized for the Rio de los Reyes of Admiral Fonte, liut as the romancing admiral had located his mythical river a degree farther south their search would have proven in vain even had the stream an existence beyond its creator's fancy, and therefore their assertion that no such river existed north of latitude 54 degrees was valueless to prove Fonte's great water route from the Pacific to the Atlantic to be a myth. On the twenty-fourth of August they again landed to take j)ossession of the country, this time at Port Bucareli, named in honor of the viceroy under whose authority the expedition was dispatched, on the west coast of Prince of Wales Island. From this place they casually observed the coast at various j^oints until they reached the Oregon coast in latitude 45 degrees and 27 minutes, when they began a careful search for the great river Martin de Aguilar claimed to have discovered in 1603. Though they noticed currents of water setting out from the land in various places, nothing was observed indicating a stream of the magni- tude described by Aguilar, and they became satisfied that none such existed in that locality ; yet they observed a headland which was recognized as answering the descrip- tion of Cape Blanco, being, no doubt, the one called later Cape Orford by Captain Vancouver. On the third of October the Sonora entered a bay supposed to be that of San Francisco, but wdiich proved to be a much smaller one a short distance north of that great harbor, and was therefore named Bodega bay by the discoverer in his own honor.

By the voyages of Perez, Heceta and Bodega, and especially the latter, which was conducted under the most disadvantageous conditions, through stormy and unknown seas, in a small vessel Avhich had lost its only boat, and with a crew afflicted with that terrible scourge of the early mariners, the scurvy, Spain justly laid claim to the first exploration of the Pacific coast from which even an approximately correct chart could be made; especially was this true of our immediate coast, for j^rior to these explorations the coast between Cape Mendocino and Mount San Jacinto, or Edgecumb, was so prac- tically unknown that in regard to it the most utterly erroneous ideas prevailed.

Condensed reports of these voyages, containing the leading features, soon reached England, together with the accounts of the progress Spain was making in her scheme of colonizing California, and caused much anxiety to the government. With her Florida and Louisiana possessions extending indefinitely westward, with her California colonies already established and the possibility of her making additional settlements at some or all of the favorable localities on the northern coast where her representatives had already performed the ceremony of taking formal possession in the name of the king, the prospect of Spain soon obtaining control of the whole Pacific of America south of the 56th parallel, the limit to which Russian explorations formed a foundation for a claim by the czar, was imminent. With the zeal which England would exercise under the same circumstances, the claim of Spain would be perfected in ten years, and England be confined in North America to Canada and the possessions of her fur mo- nopoly around Hudson's bay. The prospect was far from pleasing, and nothing l)nt the indolence of Spain saved England from entire exclusion from Pacific Xorth Amei- ica. Yet for England to establish colonies in opposition to those of Spain was jiractically impossible. She had no Mexico to form a base of o])eration and supplies, but could

PACIFIC COAST. 55

hold coinmiiiiication with them only by means of a long and hazardous voyage of eight or ten months around Ci\pe Horn or by the way of the Cape of Good Hope.

Under this condition of affairs England looked upon the discovery of a northern passage from ocean to ocean as absolutely necessary to further her interests on the Pa- cific coast. It was this idea of the situation which led Parliament to renew the offered reward spoken of at the close of the last chapter, and which stimulated English ex- plorers into that great activity which resulted in revealing so much of our geography during the next fifteen years, laid the foundation for the claim to Oregon which Great Britain so strenuously asserted, and gave her title to the immense territory she now possesses on the Pacific coast.

About this time Captain James Cook returned from his great voyage of explora- tion in the South sea and Indian ocean, having established the fact that no habitable land existed in the vicinity of the Antarctic circle and made a voyage so extensive and im- portant that he was universally recognized as the leading exjilorer of the century. To him England turned in her hour of anxiety. Here was the man above all others to whom could be entrusted the search for that passage so vitally important to British interests in the Pacific, with the assurance that whatever skill, diligence and the most thorough acquaintance with the geographical knowledge and theories of the day could accomplish would certainly be achieved. This task Cook at once undertook, and sailed upon his new quest with high hopes of winning laurels greater than those which already encircled his brow.

The instructions given to Cook by the Admiralty were very minute and particular. He was directed to jiroceed by way of the Cape of Good Hope, New Zealand and Otaheite and endeavor to reach the coast of New Albion in the latitude 45 degrees. To the name New Albion the English government had tenaciously clung since the time Hir Francis Drake so christened the C^alifornia coast and ceremoniously took possession in the name of the queen. To England there was much in a simple name, since her adherence to it showed her resolution to claim to the last all the benefit which could possil)ly be derived from the voyage of that adventurous marauder ; and this name was only changed for another when the basis upon which the English claim to Oregon rested was also altered. Though resolved to abate not one whit of her dis- covery rights, England was careful not to commit the least overt act of hostility against any rival claimants whatever. Serious trouble had roninicnced with her Atlantic colonies ; the battle of Bunker Hill had been fought and the evacuation of Boston compelled ; the whole coast from Massachusetts to Georgia was in a state of armed rebel- lion, encouraged by both France and Spain, who appeared upon the verge of offering- substantial aid. The times were not ]ii'opitious for England to assert her rights in the Pacific in a niaiincr bordering in the least upon arrogance. Under the circum- stances an extiTHU'ly modest demeanor was considered exceedingly becoming, and Cook was "strictly enjoined, on his way thither, not to touch upon any part of the Spanish dominions on the western continent of America, unless driven to it by some unavoid- able accident ; in which case he was to stay no longer than shoulil be absolutely neces- sary, and to be very careful not to give any umbrage or offence to any of the inhal)i- tants or subjects of his Catholic majesty. And if, in his farther progress northward, he should find any subjects of any European prince or state, ujion any part of the

56 PACIFIC COASr.

coast which he might think proper to visit, he was not to (Usturli tlicni or give them any just cause of offence, l.)Ut, on the contrary, to treat them with civility and friend- ship." The last chai-ge referred especially to the Russian settlements in the extrenu' north.

But little positive knowledge was possessed in England of the geography of the coast north of Cape Mendocino. To be sure it was the reports of Spanish settlements in California and of several important voyages of exploration recently made by repre- sentatives of that nation, which had created such anxiety and infused such zeal into the English Admiralty ; but the particulars of those voyages were not yet received. All that was really known of the northwest coast was Avhat could be learned from the records of Viscaino's voyage nearly two centuries before, from the indefinite and con- tradictory accounts of Russian discoveries in Alaskan waters, and the recent report by Samuel Hearne that the continent extended many miles westward from the Coppermine river. Between Viscaino's most northern limit, latitude 45 degrees, and the extreme southern point reached by Tchirikof in the 56th parallel, there was a vast stretch of coast line absolutely unknown. Cook was consequently instructed to proceed along the coast and, "with the consent of the natives, to take posse-;sion in the name of the King of Great Britain of convenient stations in such countries as he might discover that had not been already discovered or visited by any other European power, and to distribute among the inhabitants such things as will remain as traces of his having been there ; but, if he should find the countries so discovered to be uninhabited he was to take pos- session of them for his sovereign, by setting uji jsroper marks and descrijitions, as first discoverers and possessors." This was exactly what Heceta and Bodega had done for Spain the year before, though of this fact England was ignorant. Cook was directed to coast along to the 6oth parallel, before reaching which he was expected to find it trending sharply towards then ortheast in the direction of the Coppermine river, the Admiralty being of the opinion that the great North sea visited by Hearne was identical with the Pacific. From that point he was to explore carefully " such rivers or inlets as might appear to be of considerable extent and pointing towards Hudson's or Baffin's bays," and endeavor to sail through all such passages, either in his vessels or in snraller ones to be constructed on the spot from materials taken with him for that especial purpose. In case he became satisfied from the configuration of the coast that no such passage existed and that the Pacific ocean and North sea were not identical, he was then to repair to the Russian settlements at Kamtchatka, and from that point ex- plore the seas to the northward " in further search of a northeast or northwest passage from the Pacific ocean into the Atlantic or the North sea."

To carry out these minute and exhaustive instructions, Cook sailed from Plymouth July 12, 1776, in the Resohdion, the vessel he had just taken around the world, ac- companied Ijy Capt. Cliarles Clerke in the Discovery. The crews and officers were men selected carefully for this expedition, and the vessels were sujjplied with every nautical and scientific instrument which could in any possibility be needed, as Avell as the most accurate charts at the command of the government. After passing the Cajie of Good Hope, Cook spent nearly a year making examinations about Van Dieman's Land, New Zealand, and the Friendly and Society islands. On the eighteenth of Jan- uary, 1778, he discovered the Hawaiian islands, that most imi)ortant station in the

i

PACIFIC COAST. 57

Pacitic, wliicli he called Sandwich islands in honor of the first lord of the Admiralty under whose orders he was sailing. (Jii the .seventh of the following March he was delighted with a glimpse of the Oregon coast, or New Albion, near the 44tli parallel, in the vicinity of the Umpqua. Contrary winds forced him as far south as the mouth of Rogue river, when, the wind becoming fair, he took a course almost due north and did not again see huid until just above the 48th degree of latitude, when he descried a bold headland which he christened Cape Flattery to show his appreciation of the flatter- ing condition of his prospects.

It was now that Cook fell into the same error which had so sorely baffled and defeated Heceta and Bodega two years before. Like them, having reached the very southern edge of the Straits of Fuca, he turned away and searched for them to the south- ward, because in Lock's nairative they had been located between latitudes 47 and 48 degrees. Finding the coast line unbroken. Cook pronounced the passage a myth, and abandoning the search sailed northward, passing heedlessly by the straits for which he had been so diligently looking. He soon dropped anchor in a safe and spacious harbor in latitude 49^ degrees, which he called King George's sound, but later substituted Nootka when he learned that such was its Indian title. This was, beyond doubt, the Port Lorenzo entered by Perez in 1774, and like the Spaniard, Cook reports the natives to be of a very light complexion and to possess ornaments of cojjper and weapons of iron and brass. This, united with the fact that one of them had suspended about his greasy neck two silver spoons of Spanish manufacture, and because they manifested no surprise and but little curiosity about the ships, and seemed not to be frightened at the report of guns, and were eager to barter furs for a valuable considera- tion, especially metals of all kinds, led Cook to the opinion that they had held inter- course with civilized nations in former times. Their supposed familiarity with firearms was soon found to be erroneous, for "one day, upon endeavoring to ])rove to us that arrows and spears would not jienetrate their war-dresses, a gentleman of our company shot a musket-ball through one of them folded six times. At this they were so much staggered, that their ignorance of fire-arms was plainly seen. This was after- Avards confirmed when we used them to shoot birds, the manner of which confounded them." This discovery and other facts elicited by a closer observation caused Cook to change his opinion about their previous intercourse with white people. In speculating on this subject he says that though "some account of a Spanish voyage to this coast in 1774 or 1775 had reached England before I sailed, it was evident that iron was too common here, was in too many hands, and the use of it too well known, for them to have had the first knowledge of it so very lately, or, indeed, at any earlier period, by an accidental s^upply from a sliij). Doul)tless, from the general use they make of this metal, it might be supposed to come from some constant source, by way of trallic, and that not of a very late date; for they are as dexterous in usjng their tools as the longest practice can make them. The most probable way, therefore, by whicli we can suppose that they get their iron, is by trading for it with other Indian tribes, who either have innnediate communication with Euroi)ean settlements upon the continent, or receive it, perhaps, through several intermediate nati(ms ; the same might be said of the 'brass and copjier found amongst them." Tlie indifference of the natives to the shins, in rci;ard to which tlicir lack of curiositv was noticeable and had been one of

58 PACIFIC COAST.

tlie causes wliicli at first led him to suppose they were fauiiliar with such objects, he atti'ibuted "to their natural indolence of temper and want of curiosity." Cook's ignorance of the vast extent of the American continent and the degree of civi- lization attained by the various aboriginal nations occu^iying it, must be his excuse for supposing that such a commodity as iron could have been transported from the Atlantic coast to the Pacific, j^assing from hand to hand through numerous tiibes of Indians, many of them engaged in unceasing and unrelenting warfare. That such could not have been the case, even aside from these objections, we are well assured by the fact that the inland tribes through whose hands the metal must have passed knew nothing of iron or its uses, and employed flint and bones for knives, sjoear-heads and arrow-tips. In the region then visited by the English for the first time exist vast quantities of iron ore, and in the mountains of the mainland copper ledges abound, and though no traces have as yet been observed of the ancient working of these mines, it is more than probable that the iron and copjjer possessed by the natives of Vancouver island, who were the most civilized and intelligent found on the Pacific coast, were produced from the crude ore by their possessors themselves. This supposition is sup- ported by the fact that the natives forged iron in an ingenious manner, making harpoons, weapons and ornaments, thus showing how well they understood the nature of the substance and demonstrating their ability to produce it fi'oni the native ore. The com- paratively limited amount in their possession indicated that they only utilized surface croppings, and this fully explains the absence of any signs of former mining opera- tions on the ledges. When Captain Meares visited the same locality a few years later, he was equally astonished at their familiarity with these metals. He tells us that the Indians manufactured tools of the iron obtained from him in trading ; and that it was seldom the\' could be prevailed upon to use European tools or utensils in prefei'euce to their own, with the exception of the saw, the utility and labor-saving value of which they at once recognized. They made a tool for the j)urpose of hollowing out large trees, which answered the purpose better than any instrument possessed by the ship's carpenter. For an anvil they employed a flat stone and a I'ound one did duty as a sledge ; and with these implements they fashioned the red hot iron at will, attaching to the tools or weapons when desired a wooden handle, fastened securely Avith cords of sinew. What little brass they possessed may have been procured from the Spanish vessels which had visited them a few years before. In this connection the legend re- lated to Meares, explaining the origin of their knoAvledge of cojjper, will be interesting. The fact that there existed a legend on the subject is sufficient evidence of the length of time the use of copper had been familiar to them. Meares says : " On expressing our wish to be informed by what means they became acquainted with copper, and why it was such a peculiar object of their admiration, a son of Hannapa, one of the Xoot- kan chiefs, a youth of uncommon sagacity, informed us of all he knew on the subject, and we found, to our surj^rise, that his story involved a little sketch of their religion. He first placed a certain number of sticks upon the ground, at small distances from each other, to which he gave separate names. Thus, he called the first his father, the next his grandfather ; he then took what remained and threw them all into confusion together, as much as to say that they were the general heap of his ancestors, whom he could not individually reckon. He then, pointing to this bundle, said, when they

PACIFIC COAST. 59

lived an old man entered the sound in a copper canoe, with copper paddles, and every- thing else in his possession of the same metal ; that he paddled along the shore, on which all the people were assembled to contemplate so strange a sight, and that, hav- ing thrown one of his copper paddles on shore, he himself landed. The extraordinary stranger then told the natives that he came from the sky, to which the boy pointed with his hand ; that their country would one day be destroyed, when they would all be killed, and rise again to live in the place from whence he came. Our young inter- preter explained this circumstance of his narrative by lying down as if he were dead, and then, rising up suddenly, he imitated the action as if he were soaring through the air. He continued to inform us that the people killed the old man and took his canoe, from which event they derived their fondness for copper, and he added that the images in their houses were intended to represent the form, and perpetuate the mission, of this supernatural person who came from the sky."

Cook's vessels lay in NooLka sound nearly a month, repairing the casualties of the long voyage, laying in a supply of wood and water, and permitting the seamen to recruit their imjjaired health. They were constantly surrounded by a fleet of canoes, whose occupants came from many miles along the coast for the purpose of trading with the strangers. They had for barter " skins of various animals, such as wolves, foxes, bears, deer, raccoons, polecats, martins, and, in particular, of the sea-otters, which are found at the islands east of Kamtchatka ;" and, he might have added, in great num- bers about the Straits of Fuca. " Besides the skins in their native shape, they also brought garments made of the bark of a tree or some plant like hemp ; weapons, such as bows and arrows, and spears ; fish-hooks and instruments of various kinds ; wooden visors of many monstrous figures ; a sort of woolen stuff or blanketing ; bags filled with red ochre ; pieces of carved rock ; beads and several other little ornaments of thin brass and iron, shaped like a horseshoe, which they hung at their noses ; and several chisels, or pieces of iron fixed to handles. '^' '■'■ Their eagerness to possess iron and brass, and, indeed, any kind of metal, was so great that few of them could resist the temptation to steal it whenever an opportunity offered."

About the last of April Cook sailed out of Nootka sound and resumed his explor- ations northward. His next object was to look for the Rio de los Reyes of Admiral Fonte, but a violent wind drove him to sea and prevented him from viewing the coast about the 53d parallel. " For my own part," he says, " I gave no credit to such vague and improbable stories, that convey their own confutation along with them ; neverthe- less, I was very desirous of keeping the American coast aboard, in order to clear uj) this point beyond dispute." He next saw land near the 55th parallel on the first of May, and soon after passed the beautiful mountain called San Jacinto by Bodega, but upon which he bestowed the title Mount Edgecumb ; and a little later he observed and named Mount Fairweather, on the mainland. Cook had now entered the region ex- plored by the Russians, with whose voyages he was somewhat familiar, and consequently it was no surprise to him, but an expected gratification, when his eyes rested upon a giant,snow-raantledpeak which he at once recognized as the Mount St. Elias described by Behring. This icy monarch is upwards of 17,000 feet in altitude, the highest and grandest peak of the North American continent

60 PACIFIC COAST.

Mount f^t. Elias was seen on the fourth of ^lay, 1778 ; and from its base the shore line was seen to trend sharply to the west ; which fact induced Cook to hegin at that point his search for the Straits of Auian, hoping soon to find a passage which would lead him eastward into Hudson's bay or Baffin's bay, or northward into the great North sea spoken of by Maldonado and seen by Hearne. Russian maps of this region, cojiies of which he possessed, showed the whole space between Kamlchatka and Mount St. Elias to be an ocean thickly strewn with islands, the largest of which was called Aliaska, so that he had good authority for his belief in a passage into the North sea. He sailed westward, and then southwestward to the latitude 5Ai degrees, minutely examining all the bays, inlets and islands encountered, especially Prince William's sound and Cook's inlet, the latter of which he probably conceived to be the entrance to a river since he named it Cook's river. Nowhere could he observe an oj^ening through the white chain of niountains, and he became satisfied that the American continent " extended much further to the west than, from the modern most reputable charts, he had reason to expect," and that the Russians were erroneous in their idea that the region west and northwest of Mount St. Elias was but a sea of islands. The result was that he abandoned the hope of finding a passage into eitlier Hudson's or Baffin's bay, and resolved to see how far west the continent extended and to sail into the North sea through the passage discovered by Behring just fifty years before. He therefore sailed southwesterly, and on the nineteenth of June fell in with a number of islands which he recognized as the Schumagim group, and where he saw the first evi- dences of the presence of Russians at any time in those waters, in the form of a piece of paper in the possession of the natives, upon which was written something in a for- eign language which he sujoposed to be Russian. He soon after passed the extremity of the Alaskan peninsula and the islands which seemed an extension of it, and doubling this turned again eastward, soon reaching the large island of Ounalaska, which Russian accounts had frequently mentioned as an important station in their fur trade.

At Ounalaska Cook remained five days, and on the second of July sailed north- ward along the coast, searching faithfully for a passage eastward. On the ninth of August he reached a point wdiich he correctly believed to be the utmost extremity of the continent, and upon it he bestowed the name of Cape Prince of Wales. The va- rious names and titles of that worthy prince appear to have been as liberally scattered about by the loyal English explorers as were the saints of the Roman calendar by tlie devout subjects of Spain. Cook crossed Behring's strait from this point, finding it but fifty miles in width, and landed upon the coast of Asia. He explored the Asiatic coast of the Arctic ocean northwestward to Cape North in latitude 68 degrees and 5Q minutes, and the American coast northeastward as far as Icy Cape, in latitude 70 de- grees and 29 minutes, and being prevented by ice from progressing further returned to Ounalaska, where he fell in with some Russian traders, who soon convinced him that they knew far less of the geography of the North Pacific than he did. He then proceeded to the Sandwich islands to spend the winter, and was slain in an unfortunate affray with the natives on the island of Hawaii on the sixteenth of February, 1770.

The death of this renowned explorer, though a sad blow to the enterprise, did not terminate it altogether; yet the results accomplished thereafter \vere l)y no means as

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PACIFIC COAST. (Jl

great as they would have lieeii had ojierations Iteen directetl l)y tlie great executive ability and geograpliieal knowledge pot^sessed by Cook. Captain Charles Clerke suc- ceeded to the command, and in March, 1779, sailed from the Sandwich islands, with the purpose of passing into the Arctic sea and thence, if possible, into the Atlantic. He headed northward and on the twenty-ninth of April entered the harbor of Petro- paulovski in the Bay of Avatscha, the chief military station of Russia in Kamtchatka, where he was received with great courtesy by the officials of the czar. Clerke then sailed into Behring's strait, but was prevented from advancing even as far as the year before by the vast quantities of ice, having arrived too early in the season. Being in ill health and discouraged by his want of success. Captain Clerke returned to Petro- paulovski, and died near that port on the twenty-second of August. Lieutenant John Gore succeeded to the command, but deeming the vessels in too battered a condition to endure another season in that rigorous climate, he sailed at once for his native land by the way of Canton, where he had learned, through the Russians, would be found a good market for the furs he had on board.

The vessels arrived in Canton early in December, bearing the first cargo of fui-s taken from America proper to China, and with the excejition of the cargo taken there by Benyowsky and the Polish refugees in 1770, the lirst to be conveyed into the Celestial Kingdom by sea. This was a