North West Americawas a Britishmerchant shipthat sailed onmaritime fur tradingventures in the late 1780s. It was the first non-indigenous vessel built in thePacific Northwest.In 1789 it was captured atNootka SoundbyEsteban José MartínezofSpainduring theNootka Crisis,after which it became part of theSpanish Navyand was renamedSanta Gertrudis la Magnaand laterSanta Saturnina.[2]
| History | |
|---|---|
 Great Britain | |
| Name | North West America |
| Launched | 1788 |
| Captured | By Spanish Navy, 1789 |
 Spain | |
| Name | Santa Gertrudis la Magnaand, later,Santa Saturnina |
| Acquired | 1789 |
| General characteristics[1] | |
| Tons burthen | About 30–50 tons (bm) |
| Length | 33 ft (10 m) |
| Propulsion | Sails and 8 oars |
| Sail plan | Schooner |
The vessel also played an important role in both British and Spanish exploration of thePacific Northwest,especially theStrait of Juan de Fuca,San Juan Islands,and theStrait of Georgia.Under the Spanish commanderJosé María NarváezSanta Saturninawas the first European vessel to find and explore the Strait of Georgia and the area that is the city ofVancouvertoday.
The vessel was aschooner,orgoletain Spanish.[3]Its exact size is not known.John Meareswrote thatNorth West Americawas about 40 to 50 tons (bm).Robert HaswellofColumbia Rediviva,who watched the vessel launched, estimated it at about 30 tons.[2]
The vessel may have been enlarged when it was renamedSanta Saturnina,at which point it acquired the nicknameLa Orcasitas.TheSanta Saturninawas about 33 feet (10 m) long on the keel, of shallowdraft,and had eight oars.[1]
British merchant vesselNorth West America
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North West Americawas built atNootka Sound,Vancouver Island,in 1788 from materials brought from Asia aboardFelice Adventurer,captainJohn Meares,andIphigenia Nubiana,captainWilliam Douglas.These ships had sailed fromMacauin January 1788. Meares, who had cruised the Northwest Coast for furs in 1786 and 1787, intended to establish a permanent fur trading post at Nootka Sound. For that purpose he brought materials for building the vessel as well as a house. To assist with construction 50 Chinese men were hired and sailed with the expedition. They became the first Chinese known to have visited the Pacific Northwest and Hawaii.[4]
Meares had chosen not to pay for licenses from theEast India CompanyandSouth Sea Company,which were legally required of British merchants working in East Asia and the Pacific Ocean. Instead he tried to conceal the illegal activity by using the flag ofPortugaland sailing under the titular Portuguese command of Francisco José Viana, who pretended to be the captain ofIphigenia.After being built and launched,North West Americaalso flew the Portuguese flag.[2]
North West Americawas launched on 20 September 1788. It was the first non-indigenous vessel built in the Pacific Northwest.[2]Command was given toRobert Funter.Soon after the launch, Meares sailedFeliceback to Macau.[2]On 27 October 1788IphigeniaandNorth West Americawere towed out of Nootka Sound byJohn Kendrick'slongboats. They then sailed to theHawaiian Islandswhere they spent the winter. They arrived atMauion 6 December 1788, then sailed to the island ofHawaiiand anchored inKealakekua Bay.Other thanQueen Charlotte,under CaptainGeorge Dixon,andKing George,underNathaniel Portlock,IphigeniaandNorth West Americawere the first European ships to visit Kealakekua Bay since CaptainJames Cookwas killed there in 1779. On 10 December the future king of theHawaiian Kingdom,Kamehameha Ivisited the two vessels.
Over the winter of 1788–1789 Douglas and Funter sailedIphigeniaandNorth West Americafrom island to island. In March, 1789, Douglas was ready to sail back to the Pacific Northwest coast. On 17 March 1789 Douglas and Funter left the Hawaiian Islands for Nootka Sound, where they hoped to meet Meares in another ship. Douglas arrived at Nootka Sound on 20 April 1789 and anchored near theNuu-chah-nulthvillage ofYuquot.Funter tookNorth West Americaon a fur trading cruise along the Pacific Northwest Coast before sailing to Nootka Sound, arriving there on 24 April 1789.[2]North West Americawas then hauled up on the beach for repairs.Iphigeniawas also in need of repairs.
Meanwhile, in Macau Meares and his business partners had decided to merge their company with their former rival, theKing George's Sound Company,owned by theRichard Cadman Etchesand his brothers in London. The merged company was called by various names such as "The Associated Merchants of London and India", "The United Company of British Merchants Trading to the North West Coast of America", "The South Sea Company of London", or simply "the united Company".
Because the Etches brothers had proper licenses with the East India Company and South Sea Company, the several company ships that sailed to Nootka Sound in 1789 flew the British flag. The company's 1789 expedition and all its ships were put under the command ofJames Colnett,includingIphigeniaandNorth West America.Until they learned about the new situation, Douglas and Funter continued to fly Portuguese flags and pretended to be under the command of the Portuguese captain Viana.
Nootka Incident
editBefore Colnett's ships arrivedNorth West Americawas ready for sea again. Funter set out on a trading voyage to the north, departing Nootka Sound on 28 April 1789. Two days laterRobert Grayleft withLady Washington.The only ships left in Nootka Sound were Douglas'sIphigeniaand John Kendrick'sColumbia Redivivawhen on 6 May 1789 the Spanish warshipPrincesa,underEsteban José Martínez,entered the harbor to build an outpost and assert Spanish sovereignty. On May 12 the 16–gunSan Carlos,underGonzalo López de Haroarrived, reinforcing Martínez, who then arrested Captain Douglas and seizedIphigenia,the first event in what soon became an international incident called theNootka Crisis.[2]
After lengthy negotiation between Martínez and Douglas, Martínez released Douglas and allowed him to depart withIphigenia.Douglas left Nootka Sound on 1 June 1789. He hoped to encounter Funter returning onNorth West Americabut the vessels missed each other. On June 8 Funter sailedNorth West Americainto Nootka Sound. In a series of events similar to what had happened to Douglas andIphigenia,Funter and his crew were soon arrested andNorth West Americaseized.[2]According toJoseph Ingraham,second mate ofColumbia,Martínez had paid to repair and provisionIphigeniaand had an agreement with Douglas thatNorth West Americawould be held as security for these costs, not because of any threat to Spanish sovereignty.[5]
Due to the way the events of the Nootka Crisis played out, and that Douglas was never able to repay Martínez,North West Americawas never returned to the British. It became a Spanish ship, renamedSanta Gertrudis la Magnaand, later,Santa Saturnina.
Spanish naval vesselSanta Gertrudis la Magna
editOn 21 June 1789, Martínez dispatchedJosé María Narváezin the capturedNorth West America,renamedSanta Gertrudis la Magna,to explore inlets to the south of Nootka Sound.[2]By early July Narváez returned to Nootka, having sailed about 65 miles (105 km) into the Strait of Juan de Fuca, demonstrating that it was a very large inlet. He also visited theMakahvillage atNeah Bay,the first Spaniard to do so.[5]After hearing Narváez's report, Martínez felt that the Strait of Juan de Fuca was the entrance of the legendaryNorthwest Passageand of extreme strategic importance. Therefore, he placedGonzalo López de Haroand Narváez in command ofSan Carlosand the capturedPrincess Royal,renamedPrincesa Real,and sent them to the Spanish naval base atSan Blaswith news about the strait. In October, Martínez completely evacuated Nootka Sound and returned to San Blas himself, with his prisoners and captured ships.[6]
Spanish records aboutSanta Gertrudis la Magna,often simply calledSanta Gertrudis,can be confusing and difficult to interpret, in part because a Spanish warship calledSanta Gertrudiswas redeployed fromCallao,Peru,to the San Blas Naval Department in 1790. Over the next few years both vessels were in use at Nootka Sound and along the coast Northwest Coast.[5]Sometime before early 1791Santa Gertrudis la Magna,formerlyNorth West America,was renamedSanta Saturnina.
Spanish naval vesselSanta Saturnina
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On 4 May 1791 an exploring expedition underFrancisco de Eliza,commandingSan Carlos,set out from Nootka Sound, withSanta Saturninaunder the command ofJosé María Narváez(rankedsegundo piloto havilitado(qualified second pilot—pilotoin Spanish being equivalent tomasterin English).Juan Pantoja y Arriaga(primer piloto),José Antonio Verdia(segundo piloto), andJuan Carrasco(pilotín,"pilot's mate" ), were also involved.Juan Francisco de la Bodega y Quadra,commandant of the Naval Department of San Blas, had instructed Eliza to exploreBucareli Bayin Alaska and the Strait of Juan de Fuca, among other places. Accordingly, the expedition sailed north from Nootka Sound, butSanta Saturninawas greatly impeded by contrary winds, so after three days Eliza decided to turn south towardClayoquot Sound,and not explore Bucareli Bay.[5]
Narváez tookSanta Saturnina,with Carrasco and Verdía, to Clayoquot Sound andBarkley Soundand spent about two weeks exploring and mapping. On two occasions in Barkley SoundSanta Saturninawas attacked by groups of about 200 Nuu-chah-nulth. Narváez used cannon fire to keep them away. According to Narváez, the natives were surprised to see the schooner and said they had never seen a Western vessel inside Barkley Sound.[1]From Barkley Sound Narváez tookSanta Saturninato rendezvous with Eliza atEsquimalt Harbour,calledCordovaby the Spanish, arriving there on 11 June 1791.[3]
Eliza had Juan Pantoja y Arriaga, assisted by Narváez, Carrasco, and Verdía, takeSanta Saturninaand a longboat to exploreHaro Strait.The longboat was 28 feet (8.5 m) in length and had thirteen oars.[1]Pantoja entered the strait on June 14. He sailed along the shores ofSan Juan Island,Pender Island,andSaturna Island,then entered the open waters of theStrait of Georgia,which was namedCanal de Nuestra Señora del Rosario.He continued east, reachingRosario StraitandLummi Island,then returned the Esquimalt by the same route.[3]
Eliza moved his base of operations from Esquimalt toPuerto de Quadra(present-dayPort Discovery), on the southern side of the Strait of Juan de Fuca. On 1 July Narváez tookSanta Saturninaand the longboat to explore Rosario Strait, with Carrasco aspiloto.[7]Narváez sailed through the strait, which he calledCanal de Fidalgo.He surveyedGuemes Island(Islas de Guemes),Cypress Island(San Vincente), andLummi Island(Pacheco), exploredPadilla Bay(Seno Padillo) andBellingham Bay(Seno Gaston), and anchored inChuckanut Bay(Puerto Socorro), before heading north into the Strait of Georgia. He anchored inBirch Bay(Puerto del Garzon) and Drayton Harbor (Punta de San José), and sailed west acrossBoundary Bayto roundPoint Roberts.[1]
From there Narváez tookSanta Saturninanorth far into the Strait of Georgia, the first Europeans to do so. He made a rough survey of the coast, includingPoint Roberts,Point Grey(today part of the city ofVancouver),Burrard Inlet,Texada Island,Hornby Island,Denman Island,Nanaimo Harbour,Valdes Island,Porlier Pass,andGaliano Island.[1]He returned to Port Discovery by a route not exactly known, arriving in late July. WhenSanta Saturninahad been in the vicinity of Point Grey Narváez noted large amounts of fresh water and correctly deduced the presence of a large river nearby—theFraser River.[7]He also noted many whales in the Strait of Georgia, which suggested to Eliza that there must be another connection to the open ocean and that Nootka Sound was on an island rather than the mainland, as it is.[3]
Because many of his sailors were sick, Eliza decided to return to Nootka Sound. He transferred Narváez to his command shipSan Carlosand gave command ofSanta Saturninato Juan Carrasco. The two vessels sailed out of the Strait of Juan de Fuca together, finding and namingPort Angeles Harboron the way. On 7 August they arrived atNeah Bay.From thereSan Carlossailed north and reached Nootka Sound on 9 November. Carrasco was unable to beat upwind to Nootka so instead sailedSanta Saturninasouth toMontereyand thenSan Blas.[3]At Monterey he found theMalaspina Expedition,underAlejandro Malaspina,who therefore learned about the Strait of Georgia and arranged for two of his officers to explore it more thoroughly in 1792.[8]
Fate
editThe ultimate fate ofSanta Saturninais not known. It seems to have become part of the small Spanish fleet based at San Blas, mostly tasked with supplying theSpanish missions in California.In 1792Santa Saturnina,commanded by Juan Carrasco, sailed from San Blas toSan Francisco.From there Carrasco sailed toMontereyto meet Bodega y Quadra and give him a Royal Order regarding the imminent negotiations withGeorge Vancouverabout resolving the Nootka Crisis.[5]Further details aboutSanta Saturninaare unknown.
See also
editReferences
edit- ^abcdefMcDowell, Jim (1998).José Narváez: The Forgotten Explorer.Spokane, Washington: The Arthur H. Clark Company. pp.50–60.ISBN0-87062-265-X.
- ^abcdefghiPethick, Derek (1976).First Approaches to the Northwest Coast.J. J. Douglas. pp. 121–132, 143–145, 150–152, 198.ISBN978-0-88894-056-8.Retrieved3 May2020.
- ^abcdePethick, Derek (1980).The Nootka Connection: Europe and the Northwest Coast 1790-1795.Vancouver: Douglas & McIntyre. pp.97.ISBN0-88894-279-6.
- ^Marsh, James H. (1999).The Canadian Encyclopedia.Toronto: McClelland & Stewart. p. 459.ISBN978-0-7710-2099-5.OCLC1015498450.Retrieved25 November2020.
- ^abcdeTovell, Freeman M. (2009).At the Far Reaches of Empire: The Life of Juan Francisco de la Bodega y Quadra.University of British Columbia Press. pp. 133–134, 157–159, 196, 207–208, 212, 270.ISBN978-0-7748-5836-6.Retrieved24 November2020.
- ^McDowell, Jim (1998).José Narváez: The Forgotten Explorer.Spokane, Washington: The Arthur H. Clark Company. pp.32–45, 51.ISBN0-87062-265-X.
- ^abInglis, Robin (2008).Historical Dictionary of the Discovery and Exploration of the Northwest Coast of America.Scarecrow Press. pp. 230–232.ISBN978-0-8108-6406-1.Retrieved25 November2020.
- ^Kendrick, John (1999).Alejandro Malaspina: Portrait of a Visionary.McGill-Queen's University Press. pp.58–59.ISBN0-7735-2652-8.