Spanish expeditions to the Pacific Northwest

Did You Know?

• The first Spanish voyage to the Pacific Northwest was that of Juan José Pérez Hernández in 1774, who turned back at Haida Gwaii.
• In 1789, Martínez and Haro were ordered to preemptively take possession of Nootka Sound, leading to the Nootka Crisis.
• The first colonial settlement in present-day British Columbia, Santa Cruz de Nuca, was built on Nootka Sound in 1790, along with Fort San Miguel.

1775 voyage of Heceta and Bodega y Quadra

In 1775, a second voyage of ninety men under Lieutenant Bruno de Heceta aboard the Santiago set sail from San Blas, Nayarit on March 16, with orders to assert Spanish claims for the entire Northwestern Pacific Coast. Accompanying Heceta was the schooner Sonora, initially commanded by Juan Manuel de Ayala, who later took command of the packet boat San Carlos after its commander fell ill. Heceta then gave Bodega y Quadra command of the Sonora, with Francisco Antonio Mourelle as pilot. The three vessels sailed together to Monterey Bay, where Ayala explored the Golden Gate strait, becoming the first Europeans known to enter San Francisco Bay. The Santiago and Sonora continued north to Point Grenville, named Punta de Los Martires by Heceta after an attack by the local Quinault Indians. The vessels parted on July 29; scurvy forced Heceta to return south, during which he discovered the mouth of the Columbia River. Bodega y Quadra in the Sonora reached latitude 59° north on August 15, entering Sitka Sound. He discovered and explored Bucareli Bay, performing numerous acts of sovereignty and naming places such as Puerto de Bucareli, Puerto de Los Remedios, and Mount San Jacinto.

1779 voyage of Arteaga and Bodega y Quadra

A third voyage in 1779 was commanded by Ignacio de Arteaga with two armed corvettes: the Favorita under Arteaga and the Princesa under Bodega y Quadra. The expedition aimed to evaluate Russian penetration of Alaska, search for a Northwest Passage, and capture James Cook if found in Spanish waters. Spain had learned of Cook's 1778 explorations. In June 1779, Spain entered the American Revolutionary War as an ally of France, precipitating a parallel Anglo-Spanish War. Arteaga and Bodega y Quadra did not find Cook, who had been killed in Hawaii in February 1779. They surveyed Bucareli Bay, then headed north to Port Etches on Hinchinbrook Island, entering Prince William Sound and reaching latitude 61°, the most northern point obtained by Spanish explorations of Alaska. They explored Cook Inlet and the Kenai Peninsula, performing a possession ceremony on August 2 at what is now Port Chatham. Due to sickness, Arteaga returned to California without finding the Russians. The voyage became widely known; Lapérouse obtained a copy of their map published in 1798, and Mourelle's journal was published in London in 1798.

1788 voyage of Martínez and Haro

In March 1788, two ships were sent north from San Blas to investigate Russian activity. Esteban José Martínez commanded the Princesa, accompanied by the San Carlos under Gonzalo López de Haro, with José María Narváez as Haro's pilot. They arrived at Prince William Sound in May. After evidence of Russian fur trading, they sailed west. In June, Haro reached Kodiak Island and learned of a nearby Russian post. On June 30, Narváez found the post at Three Saints Bay, becoming the first Spaniard to contact a large Russian contingent in Alaska. The Russian commander, Evstrat Delarov, gave Narváez a map and indicated seven Russian posts with nearly 500 men, and stated the Russians intended to occupy Nootka Sound. The expedition sailed to Unalaska Island, where Potap Kuzmich Zaikov gave Martínez three maps of the Aleutian Islands and confirmed the Russian plan to take Nootka Sound the next year, referring to the 1789 expedition of Joseph Billings. This visit marks the westernmost point reached by Spanish voyages in Alaska.

Legacy

Spain claimed the explored areas as part of New Spain, calling the region Nootka Territory. The Nootka Crisis with Britain in 1789 and subsequent Nootka Conventions caused Spain to decrease its presence in the North Pacific. Spain transferred its claims to the United States in the Adams-Onís Treaty of 1819. The only Spanish official expedition to Nootka Sound after the conventions and before the treaty occurred in 1796, when the Sutil stopped there and carried Scottish activist Thomas Muir to Monterey. In 1957, Spain presented stained glass windows commemorating the Nootka conventions to the church of Friendly Cove. Spain's legacy endures in place names such as Quadra Island, Haro Strait, Bucareli Bay, and towns like Valdez and Cordova.