During the last two decades of the eighteenth century—1780-1799—Spanish ships explored the Northwest Coast of North America, an area which included the coasts of northern Oregon, Washington, British Columbia, and Alaska.
The Spanish, of course, had a long history of exploring, exploiting, and colonizing the southern Pacific Coast of North America and by the end of the eighteenth century were pushing north. Under the 1494 Treaty of Tordesillas, the Spanish claimed the Pacific as its exclusive territory.
-1774-
In 1774, Juan Pérez (1725-1775) sailed north along the coast in the frigate Santiago with instructions to take possession of all places suitable for European settlement in the name of Spain. At the northern end of Queen Charlotte Island in what is now British Columbia, Pérez was ceremonially welcomed by three Haida canoes. One of the ship’s officers threw a present (a cracker wrapped in a kerchief) into one of the canoes. The next day, trade began with the Haidas who offered him furs and fine wool blankets. In his chapter in North American Exploration. Volume 2: A Continent Defined, geographer James Gibson writes:
“He was met in ceremonious and friendly fashion by some Haidas, who were eager to trade, wanting mostly iron in exchange for Chilkat robes.”
On the return voyage, Pérez stopped at Nootka Sound on Vancouver Island and traded with the Nuu-chah-nulth. The Indians offered furs for Monterey shells and iron knives. James Gibson writes:
“The great eagerness of the Haidas and Nootkas for trade and the high quality of their trade goods (furs) told the Spaniards that there was considerable potential for commercial relations between the coastal Indians and European mariners, and that therefore the situation should be closely monitored; unlike Cook, however, they failed to recognize the real value of sea otter skins, perhaps because they did not yet know that these were prized by Chinese customers.”
In 1774, Spanish ships exploring the Pacific Coast were driven ashore at Point Grenville in present-day Washington due to strong winds. The Spanish took formal possession of the bay. The Spanish sent ashore a party of seven men to obtain wood and water, but they were attacked by a force of 300 Indians. The Indians smashed the longboat and salvaged all of its iron. In retaliation, several Indians were killed when they approached one of the ships in a canoe.
-1786-
In 1786, a Spanish expedition, sailing from Hawaii, landed at Lituja Bay, Alaska to make repairs to their ships. The Spanish conducted some trade with the Tlingits. To Spanish eyes, the Tlingits appeared to have never had any contact with Europeans. However, one of the most sought-after trade items was iron. According Aurel Krause, in his 1885 book The Tlingit Indians: Results of a Trip to the Northwest Coast of America and the Bering Straits:
“Moreover, it was already well known to them, and almost everyone carried an iron dagger in a leather sheath around the neck, and only occasionally was the blade copper, a metal used freely in all kinds of decoration.”
-1790-
In 1790, Spanish explorer Manuel Quimper (1757-1844) sailed the Princesa Real into Dungeness Bay in Washington and made contact with the Clallam. He noted the impaled heads of Clallam foes on the beaches.
At Neah Bay, the Spaniards from the Princesa Real traded copper for salmon, skins, and fruits with the Makah under chief Tutusi. Tutusi told the Spaniards that they had already bartered sea-otter skins with six other ships.
One of the Spanish soldiers for the Princesa Real molested a Makah woman and in retaliation Makah warriors severely wounded the soldier. The Spanish then captured two Makah canoes and towed them to their ship. Three Makah warriors paddled out to the ship in an attempt to retrieve the canoes, but the Spanish fired the ship’s swivel gun to warn them off. In their book Indians of the Pacific Northwest: A History, Robert Ruby and John Brown report:
“Impressed with this show of force, Tutusi kept on peaceful terms with his visitors, telling them that the attackers had been punished. Some of his men continued trading with the visitors.”
At Neah Bay, Quimper performed the traditional Catholic ceremony in which he claimed sovereignty over the land, water, and people in the name of his god and the Spanish King. Robert Ruby and John Brown report:
“The reactions of the Makahs and other natives to this ceremonial is unknown. They may have been concerned mostly with the physical objects of the ceremonials, such as the crucifixes the Spanish planted on their shores.”
In British Columbia, the Spanish arrived in Nootka Sound in 1790 to establish a trading post with the Nuu-chah-nulth. In his chapter in North American Exploration. Volume 2: A Continent Defined, geographer James Gibson reports:
“They developed close and harmonious relations with the Indians, avoiding sexual contact and trade in firearms.”
The Spanish built Fort San Miguel Castillo with the help of Nuu-chah-nulth Chief Maquinna’s men.
-1791-
Spanish explorer Francisco de Eliza (1759-1825) visited the Makahs in Neah Bay, Washington in 1791 and traded 33 sheets of copper for 20 captive small boys and girls. At this time, slavery was common among the tribes of the Pacific Northwest Coast and had been an established practice long before European contact. Slaves were generally captured in warfare.
-1792-
The Spanish under Salvador Fidalgo (1756-1803) established the colony of Nunez Gaona on Washington’s Olympic Peninsula in 1792. The first pilot of the ship Princesa, against his commander’s orders, came ashore to do some shooting. He did not return to the ship and the Spanish learned that a Makah warrior from Tutusi’s village had killed him with his own gun and then hidden the body. When two canoes filled with Makahs came within range of the ship’s guns, they were fired upon by the ship’s guns, killing six. After the pilot’s body was found, the ship’s guns fired at the village. This Conflict with the Makahs--who were described by the Spanish as warlike, thievish, and treacherous—caused the abandonment of the colony.
José Cardero, the Spanish artist with the colony, painted the portrait of Chief Tatoosh and his two wives.
In 1792, a Spanish expedition under the leadership of Jacinto Caamaño (1759-1829) made contact with the Tsimshian in present-day British Columbia. The Spanish traded some beads and small metal ornaments with them. The Spanish observed that the Indians had spears about 14-16 feet in length which were tipped with very broad, sharp, iron heads. Caamaño observed:
“One of their common ornaments consists of three or four rings, worn around the ankle and wrist, made of copper or iron. These are so extremely heavy as to give the idea of being fetters; especially those that some of the women and most of the men wear around neck. These are formed on a twisted, hawser-laid, pattern; and are so large as to reach from one shoulder to the other, as well as partly over the breast.”
Summary
In addition to the historical accounts of official Spanish ships exploring the Northwest Coast at this time, there were also unofficial visits by other Spaniards. Robert Ruby and John Brown explain:
“Spanish pirates landed at various places along the coast and met various fates at the hands of the natives.”
Robert Ruby and John Brown summarize Spanish interactions with Northwest Coast Native peoples:
“With the Spanish the natives traded furs, fowl, fish, and berries for copper sheeting and learned more of the mysterious Christian symbols, such as the cross. Some may have received baptism from Spanish friars.”
The oral traditions of the Northwest Coast tribes include several stories of these encounters.
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