276 BRITISH COLUMBIA 

tools for their execution; around the tombs was deposited all the
property of the deceased." 

The expedition had now reached another tribal territory. Spuz-
zum was situated on "the boundary between the Hacamaugh and
Achinrow nations." It was observed that the members of the latter
clan differed in speech and manners from the tribes hitherto met
with. These natives were distinguished for their fine blankets, woven
from the hair of the wild goat, or from that of a white dog bred for
this purpose. Their blankets were "as good as the wool rugs found
in Canada," and were spun with a primitive spindle and distaff. It
was noticed that the dogs had been lately shorn. ^ 

At last the little party emerged from the great canyon. At four
p. m. on Wednesday, June 28th, the expedition arrived at an Indian
camp of about one hundred and fifty inhabitants; apparently at, or
near the place where, in after years, the Hudson's Bay Company
built Fort Yale. No less than eight days had been consumed in
passing from Lytton to this spot. The Indians were armed with
bows and arrows, spears and clubs. Like those of Camchin, they
had many ornaments — "shells of different kinds, shell beads, brass
It made into pipes hanging from the neck or across the shoulders, 

bracelets of large brass wire, and some of horn." It was observed
that their hats, made of wattap, and some of "cedar bark painted
in different colours, resembling ribbon." Both sexes were stoutly
built and some of the men handsome, "but," wrote Eraser, "I cannot
say so much of the women, who seem to be their husbands' slaves, for,
in the course of their dances, I remarked that the men were in the
habit of pillaging them from one another. Our Little Fellow was
presented with another man's wife." 

The natives of this place said that white men "had come from
below to the Bad Rock, where the rapid terminates, at a little distance
from the village, and they showed us marks in the rocks which they
had made, but, which, by the bye, seemed to us to be nothing but
natural marks." 

Having with some difficulty obtained canoes, Fraser marshalled
his little force and again embarked. As the expedition advanced the
river became broader and the country assumed a different aspect, 

* Alexander Caulfield Anderson describes these dogs and dogs' hair blankets in "Notes on
the Indian Tribes of North .America." 

BRITISH COLUMBIA 277 

although the snowclad summits of the Coast Range were still in
full view. From Yale to the Gulf of Georgia, the Fraser is a broad
highway. No difficulty was experienced in the beautiful reaches of
the lower river. So far as it is known, this was the first time that a
European had beheld this magnificent country. Noble forests stood
on either bank, except where great meadows stretched far back from
.the river. As the river was in flood, the low-lying lands must have
been covered with water; near Chilliwack it "expanded into a lake."
In this neighbourhood the explorer sighted a "large round moun-
tain," called by the natives "Stremotch." No doubt this was Sumas
Mountain, a well-known geographical feature of the Chilliwack
district. In 1828, Sir George Simpson, in passing this same stretch
of the river, refers to a high mountain which he called "Sugar Loaf
Mountain." Perhaps, the "Stremotch" of Fraser and the "Sugar
Loaf" Mountain of Simpson, refer to one and the same striking
feature of the landscape. 

Seals were now seen in the river, a sure indication that the passage 

to the sea was unobstructed, for these animals do not attempt to 

ascend rapids. At sunset, camp was pitched near a grove of "remark- 

i ably large cedars five fathoms in circumference." The Journal adds 

that "mosquitos were in clouds." 

In that day the natives were numerous. Their villages and fish-
ing camps were found at every favourable situation. The explorer
concluded that they had seen white people before, because "they
evinced no kind of surprise or curiosity at seeing us, nor were they
afraid of our arms." One of their large communal dwellings is thus
described : 

"Their houses are built of cedar planks and, in shape, similar to
the one already described; the whole range, which is six hundred and
forty feet long by sixty broad, is under one roof; the front is eighteen
feet high and the covering is slanting: all the apartments, which are
separated by partitions, are square, except the chief's, which is ninety
feet long. In this room, the posts or pillars are nearly three feet
diameter at the base and diminish gradually to the top. In one of
these posts is an oval opening answering the purpose of a door
through which one man may crawl in or out. Above, on the outside,
are carved a human figure as large as life, with other figures in
imitation of beasts and birds. These buildings have no flooring, the 

278 BRITISH COLUMBIA 

fires are in the center and the smoke goes out by an opening at the
top." ' 

Sweeping past low-wooded banks, fat delta lands and fertile
benches, now, a century later, the home of prosperous and progressive
communities, Fraser entered that beautiful stretch of river known
as Queen's Reach. On the 2nd of July, he passed the pine-clad
hill later selected by Lieutenant Colonel Moody, of the Royal
Engineers, as the site of the capital of the Crown Colony of British
Columbia. At that time a dense virgin forest covered the hill where
now stands the city of New Westminster. Finding that the river at
this point divided into several channels, the explorer followed the
North Arm, and was at last rewarded with a view of the Gulf of
Georgia, so named by Vancouver in 1792, but first discovered by the
Spaniard Eliza in 1791, and called by him in the musical language
of his country "El Gran Canal de Nuestra Senora del Rosario." 

But the passage of the explorer was not without incident. Shortly
after leaving the broad expanse of water above Lulu Island, a canoe
came alongside and one of the natives embarked with the explorer;
for the purpose, it was thought, of piloting the expedition through
the right channel. It was soon remarked, however, that other
Indians, "armed with bows and arrows, spears, clubs, were pursuing
us in their canoes, singing war songs, beating time with their paddles
on the sides of the canoe, and making signs and gestures highly
inimicable. The one who had embarked with us became also very
unruly, singing, dancing and kicking up a great dust: we threat-
ened him and he mended his manners and became quiet." 

"This was an alarming crisis," continues the Journal, "but we
were not discouraged; confident upon our own superiority, at least
on the water, we continued and at last we came in sight of a gulf or
bay of the sea; this, the Indians called Pas-hil-roe. It runs in a
south-west and north-east direction. In this bay are several high and
rocky islands, whose summits are covered with snow. On the right
shore we noticed a village called by the natives Misquiame: we
directed our course towards it. Our turbulent passenger conducted
us up a small winding river to a small lake near which the village
stood: there we landed, but only found a few old men and women,
the others having fled into the woods on our approach. The fort is 

• Simon Fraser's Journal, Masson, p. 197. 

BRITISH COLUMBIA 279 

1,500 feet in length and 90 feet in breadth. The houses, which are
constructed as those mentioned in other places, are in rows; one of
the natives, after conducting us through all the apartments, desired
us to go away, as, otherwise, the Indians would be apt to attack us.
About this time those that had followed us from above, arrived." '^ 

The explorer and his men spent an hour in examining the place.
Upon returning to the canoe it was found high and dry on the beach,
the tide having ebbed. While the men were engaged in dragging the
little vessel to the water, the natives made their appearance from all
directions, armed cap a pie, and "howling like so many wolves and
brandishing their war clubs." The canoe was quickly launched,
however, and the party escaped from an awkward predicament. 

It is evident that Fraser actually reached the Gulf of Georgia.
Several writers have asserted that he turned back at the point where
the city of New Westminster now stands; but if this had been the
case the journey would have ended at the place "where the river
divides into several places, "^ — which description can only refer to
the reaches immediately below the Royal City. Eraser's particular
description of Musquiam, however, leaves no doubt upon the point.
That village is situated exactly at the mouth of the northern outlet
of the north arm of the Fraser River on the shore of the Gulf of
Georgia. If further proof should be required, it is found in David
Thompson's great map of North Western America, which bears the
following legend, opposite the words "Musquiame Village," "Mr.
Simon Fraser and party returned from the Sortie of the River." 

As to the small winding river and small lake, it will suffice to
point out that a little rivulet, now as in Eraser's time, flows past
Musquiam; the lake was no doubt formed by the flooding of the
lowland between the village and the river. This land is now dyked
and therefore not subject to overflow. It should be borne in mind
that the river was at its highest stage when Fraser descended it in
1808. 

.Much as Simon Fraser desired to reach the Pacific, he was at
this point compelled to turn back. The hostility of the natives
and lack of supplies made further progress impossible. In this
respect he was no more fortunate than Sir Alexander Mackenzie in
1793. Neither of the explorers sighted the main ocean. Neverthe- 

" Simon Fraser's Journal, Masson, p. 199. 

The third expedition of this period of renewed activity on
the part of the Spaniards left San Bias under the command of
Ignacio Arteaga, who sailed in the Princesa accompanied by Bodega
y Quadra, with the faithful Maurelle as second officer, in the Fa-
vorita. Arteaga sailed on the 17th of February, 1779, and after a
voyage of four months made Port Bucareli, where he remained
several weeks surveying the bay, trading with the natives and refit-
ting his vessels. Leaving this harbour, Arteaga and Quadra made
the highest point yet reached by the Spaniards, sighting the mag-
nificent mountain of St. Elias, so named by Bering in 1741. 

While searching for a passage which might lead into the Arctic
Sea they entered a large bay containing many islands, which they
called Isla de la Magdalena. Port Santiago was also discovered and
named. At this point, as their provisions were failing and the men
suffering from the prevailing malady, it was decided to return to
Mexico. Accordingly a course was set for the south, and on the
15th of October, the expedition entered the Golden Gate of San
Francisco, and on the 21st of November it arrived at San Bias, with
little, if anything, to its credit. In short, the voyage was barren of
results, yet strange to relate the officers engaged in it were all pro-
moted as if they had rendered excellent service. 

So far, the Spanish voyages to the Northwest had done little more
than barely discover the coast which is now the Pacific seaboard of
Canada. That deeply indented and island-fringed shore was still,
even as it has been from time immemorial, a land of mystery, asso-
ciated in the^ minds of geographers and navigators with the vaunted
exploits of travellers otherwise unknown to fame. Even the romantic
literature of that time reflects the curiosity of the age with regard to
the strange land which Verendrye had failed to penetrate from the
east, even as Bodega y Quadra had failed to explore it from the
west. Here Dean Swift placed his fabled land of Brobdingnag, and
long before Lemuel Gulliver related the story of his strange adven-
tures, Pantagruel, Rabelais' eccentric hero, had found his way to 

BRITISH COLUMBIA 47 

vas J' 

California — at least it has been surmised that the French abbe had
[that country in mind when he recounted Pantagruel's travels. In
fact, the world was curiously concerned about it all, the more espe-
cially so, perhaps, because the reports of the Spanish explorations
that escaped from, or were given to the world by, the secretive Span-
ish ministry were too vague to do more than give rein to conjecture. 

Three hundred years had elapsed since the Spaniard found his
way across Mexico to the shores of Balboa's great South Sea, chris-
tened "The Pacific" by Magellan, the Portuguese, but in all that
time the Northwest coast had not been charted or surveyed. Such
iter^was the position of affairs in 1779 when war broke out between Great
ind Britain and Spain, and for the time being the latter country was
forced to abandon her enterprise in the North Pacific. When Spain
was again prepared to pursue an active policy she found that Cap-
tain James Cook, and the fur traders who followed him, had done
much to make known the true configuration of the Northwest coast,
although the gaps were not closed, or the continental shore line fully
examined, until Captain George Vancouver's survey of 1792 to 1794. 

ih 

Wll 

em 

pre- 

mort 

;rdot 

lanoi 

Titk 

7, aii« 

aiAP OF NORTH AMERICA. CIRCA. 1625

44 BRITISH COLUMBIA 

however, when the Indians to the number of three hundred rushed |
out of the woods and overwhelmed the small Spanish force. The
tragedy was observed from the deck of the Sonora, but nothing could
be done to aid the landing party, as the schooner could not get within
range of the shore. Not a man escaped the murderous savages and
Bodega y Quadra found his crew reduced to five men and one boy
in health and four sailors too ill to perform their duties. The In-
dians, after the massacre on the shore, attacked the vessel from their
canoes, but were repulsed with the loss of six men. Maurelle. the
pilot, relates that there were only three on board able to handle a mus-
ket — the captain, his servant, and himself. Fortunately, the Sajitiago
then arrived upon the scene of action and rescued her consort from an
awkward position. In commemoration of the event the point was
called Punta de Martires — Martyrs' Point; and the island a little
to the northward, for the same reason therefore, was named Isla
de Dolores — Island of Sorrows. The same island twelve years later
was called Destruction Island by Captain Berkley of the Imperial
Eagle, because some of his crew were massacred on the mainland
opposite. 

After this disaster the question of continuing the voyage was
argued in council. Perez, Quadra, and Maurelle were all in favour
of sailing northward, but Heceta was anxious to return to Monterey.
The voyage was continued, but shortly after the vessels had got under
way they were separated by a storm and Heceta seized the oppor-
tunity to sail for California, while Quadra nobly persevered in his
determination to carry out at all hazards the instructions of the
Viceroy to reach the sixty-fifth degree of latitude. 

Heceta, after parting company with the Sonora, made land on
the west coast of Vancouver Island near the fiftieth parallel and
thence sailed southward, passing by the roadstead San Lorenzo.
On his way southward, in a latitude reckoned as forty-six degrees
and seventeen minutes, he noticed an opening in the coast, from
which issued a strong current. He thought that he had discovered
the mouth of some great river, or perhaps the strait reported to have
been found by Juan de Fuca in 1592. In his journal it is recorded
that he bestowed upon the bight then discovered the name of En-
senada de Asuncion, and the points north and south of it he called
Cape San Roque and Cape Frondoso, respectively. In charts of
the locality subsequently published in Mexico the opening is called 

BRITISH COLUMBIA 45 

Ensenada de Heceta and Rio de San Roque. The journal of the
explorer is more or less explicit and his description leaves little room
for doubt that he had sighted the mouth of the lordly river called
by Jonathan Carver "Oregan," subsequently know^n to the world as
the Columbia, so named by Captain Gray after his vessel, Columbia-
Rediviia, seventeen years later. Heceta arrived at Monterey on
the 30th of August with two-thirds of his men disabled by scurvy. 

In the meantime Quadra and Maurelle in their little vessel the
Sonora — she was but twenty-seven feet in length, manned by a pilot,
a boatswain, a mate, ten seamen, a cabin boy and a servant — made a
desperate attempt to reach the sixt5''-fifth parallel, an effort as heroic
as it was foolhardy in such an unseaworthy and ill-equipped craft.
They sailed northwest without sighting land until the beautiful snow-
capped mountain of San Jacinto (St. Hyacinth) appeared above the
horizon, and somewhat further on, the ports Remedios and Guade-
lupe were visited and so named. The San Jacinto of the Spaniard is
unquestionably the Mount Edgecomb of Captain Cook, while Port
Remedios is not unlikely the Bay of Islands of the English navigator,
and Port Guadelupe the Norfolk Sound of today. 

While in the neighbourhood of the fiftieth parallel Bodega y
Quadra determined to sail for San Bias, comforting himself with the
reflection that although he had not succeeded in carrying out his
instructions, yet he had reached a latitude beyond that effected by
any other navigator. 

On the way homeward the Archipelago San Lazarus of that
famous romancer, Admiral La Fonte, and the imaginary strait lead-
ing therefrom far into the continent, were sought for in vain, but the
Sonora discovered Bucareli Sound, a name that has remained on
the map from that day to this. It is situated on the west side of the
largest island of the Prince of Wales Archipelago, so named by Van-
couver. Here again the Spaniards landed and took possession of
the country with due formality. From Port Bucareli, Quadra sailed
southv^^ard across Dixon's entrance, to which he gave the name of
Entrada de Perez, and sighted Cape Santa Margarita (Cape North) .
Thence the schooner sailed down the coast and, on the 20th of No-
vember, 1775, reached San Bias, after an absence of eight months.
The expedition, however, cannot be said to have been entirely suc-
cessful, although in some respects it was important. Heceta, the
commander, certainly did not distinguish himself. Quadra and Mau- 

46 BRITISH COLUMBIA 

relle, on the other hand, as certainly proved themselves navigators I
of more than ordinary determination and courage. Though their
vessel was miserably equipped and one-half of their crew laid low
with that terrible distemper, the scurvy, they made a brave attempt
to carry out their instructions. Their achievement indeed was a
brilliant example of Spanish seamanship.

BRITISH COLUMBIA 41 

the compass were hidden by a dense fog which hung over land and
water. Then occurred one of those sudden changes in the weather
to which all coasts are at times subjected. The storm came up so
i quickly that there was not even time to hoist the long boat, which
had been launched early in the morning, ready for the landing party.
The captain immediately ordered the anchor to be weighed and the
sails set, but the ship drifted shoreward so swiftly that it was found
necessary to cut the cable and with great difficulty she doubled a
reef to the southwest which ran far out into the sea. Having weath-
ered the point, the vessel was hove to in order that the long boat
might be taken on board. While this was being done, however, a
heavy wind struck the boat and it was nearly lost, together with the
sailors who were in it. After this fortunate escape sails were again
loosed and the course set for the southeast, the wind and sea still
increasing in violence. Thus the first Spanish vessel to reach the far
Northwest ran from the only anchorage it had been possible to make
in the whole course of the expedition. 

The landfall of Perez, named by him San Lorenzo, has been the
subject of much discussion, but it is not difficult to fix upon the
anchorage of the Santiago. The American historian, Robert Green-
how is painfully in error when he asserts so positively that the Spanish
commander discovered the sound, named a few years later "King
George's," or "Nootka" Sound, by James Cook. The fact that
the writer had access to Perez and Pena's journal, although appar-
ently not to that of Crespi, which certainly is quite clear upon this
point, only makes his blunt assertion more remarkable. Father
Crespi, however, mentions San Lorenzo as lying between two points,
of which the southeast w^as called San Estevan, in honour of the navi-
gating officer, and that to the northwest, Santa Clara. If the San-
tiago had anchored in Nootka Sound she would have found a harbour
safe in all weathers and there would have been no necessity to cut
the cable in order to mnke an offing, no matter from what direction
the wind might blow. There is little doubt then that the open
roadstead where the vessel anchored a league from the shore
is the bight or bay, of which the southern extremity is marked by
the Point Estevan of the admiralty charts of today. Nothing in the
journals mentioned can possibly be construed as evidence that Nootka
Sound was ever seen, much less entered. It is certain then that Perez
did not enter the historic channel named- Nootka, by Cook, in spite 

42 BRITISH COLUMBIA 

of Navarette's statement to the contrary, and Greenhow's even more
explicit asseveration. If further evidence upon this point is desired it
may be found in Robert Haswell's manuscript journal of the Colum-
bia-Rediviva and sloop Washington, in which it is set forth that
"Nootka Sound was discovered by Captain Cook March the 30,
1778, on his passag to the Northern hemisphere of this Ocean. But
from the natives we lern their was a ship anchored at the enterence
of the Sound forty months before Captain Cooks arrival. From the
description they must have been Spaniards but the natives say their
boats weir not out diiering their tarey." The italics mark the signifi-
cant passage. 

Making no further effort to explore the northern coast line, Perez
turned his vessel southward and sailed for Monterey, reaching that
point on Saturday, the 27th of August; and thus ended the first voy-
age of the Spaniards to the mysterious northern region. Beyond a
cursory examination of one or two points and ascertaining the gen-
eral trend of the coast line, little was accomplished by this expedi-
tion. Yet it is important historically from the fact that it marked
the first effort of the Spaniards to learn something of a region of
which for many years it had been in their power to acquire full
knowledge; and although no mention of the Strait of Juan de Fuca
is to be found in any of the journals, nor was it reported therein that
an opening in the coast corresponding to that of the Greek pilot
had been seen, Estevan Martinez at a crucial moment in the Nootka
controversy conveniently remembered that he had noticed a large
opening near the forty-eighth parallel, a fact which he strangely
enough omitted to report at the time. 

The voyage of Perez, although abortive, whetted the appetite
of the Spaniards for northern exploration. Two expeditions fol-
lowed in the wake of the Santiago, of which a brief account is here 1
given. The Viceroy of Mexico, encouraged by the reports brought by |
Juan Perez, immediately ordered another expedition to be fitted
out. The Santiago was again commissioned and placed in com-
mand of Naval Lieutenant Don Bruno Heceta, with whom Juan
Perez sailed as quartermaster. The Santiago's consort was the little
schooner Felicidad — renamed the Sonora — under Lieutenant Juan
Francisco de Bodega y Quadra, whose name came to be inseparably
associated with the most important incident of early Northwest his-
tory. A great deal might be said concerning the character of Bodega 

BRITISH COLUMBIA 43 

y Quadra, but perhaps his own introduction to the journal of this
expedition gives a better idea of the man than anything else that has
been written of him. "Immediately," he writes, "on the arrival at the
Department of San Bias of the six officers appointed by His Excel-
lency the Viceroy, Friar D. Antonio Maria Bucareli, who were to
command the frigate, packet, and schooner, I thought that on account
of my seniority some position was due me, and being desirous of seeing
myself included In the expedition upon which the frigate and
schooner were going, their orders being to advance as far as possible
towards the N. Pole from California, and to survey the coast; re-
flecting likewise that the greater the risk the more it should be sought
for when the results tend to the sovereign's service, and that it is a
quality of honour to desire to request from His Majesty a post where
dangers must be despised for the sole object of seeking the means
by which His royal ideas may be maintained or duly carried out; I
could not restrain my ardour upon these reflections, and prayed that
1 1 might embark as second Captain in the schooner, a vessel in which
I at once conjectured that even the lightest undertaking would be
noteworthy, both on account of its small size, scanty crew, evident lack
of necessaries, accumulation of risks, entire want of suitable qualities
for such routes and lastly a vessel which only the ardour of a resolute
mind would select on such an occasion of risk to life." 

The vessels sailed from San Bias on the i6th of March, 1775, and
proceeded slowly up the coast, in the teeth of contrary winds. It
was the 19th of June before Heceta left Port Trinidad, off the Cal-
ifornian coast. Three weeks later, on July nth, the Northwest
coast was sighted in latitude given as forty-eight degrees and twenty-
six minutes, from which point the Spaniards searched southward in
vain for the entrance to the Strait of Juan de Fuca. The Spaniards
anchored near Point Grenville, in latitude forty-seven degrees and
twenty minutes. Here on that point, on the 14th of July, of the year
1775, so far as it is known, Europeans first set foot on the Northwest
Coast. Bruno Heceta, the Padre, Pierre, the surgeon, Davalos, and
Cristoval Revilla, the second pilot, landed w^th a few sailors and,
after erecting a cross, with due ceremony took possession of the coun-
try in the name of the Sovereign King of Spain. 

While the officers of the Santiago were thus engaged, the crew
of the Sonora were in sore straits. A few men in the only boat
hsid been sent ashore in quest of water. Scarcely had they landed,

After several abortive eflforts, the Santiago proceeded on her 

oyage, slowly making her way northward under heavy weather.
Fogs, calms, and head winds delayed the progress of the vessel and 

t was not until the i8th of July that land was sighted, the distinctive
[features of which were an insulated clifif or peak, with a flat top, cov- 

red with snow. From the observations taken on board, this coast
as sighted between latitudes fifty-three and fifty-four degrees, the
[first land seen by the Spaniards ofif the northwest coast being 

he western seaboard of the Queen Charlotte Islands. But no
landing was made by the Spaniards. On the following day
ithe coast was seen clearly seven or eight leagues away and an
observation was taken by Perez, which marked the latitude,
according to his calculations, as fifty-three degrees, fifty-eight min-
utes, north. In the afternoon the vessel advanced to within three
leagues of the coast, but owing to the lateness of the hour it was 

ecided not to land. On the following day, the 20th of July, a canoe
approached the vessel and as it drew near the ship the occupants
could be distinctly observed. The natives were singing one of their
pagan songs and scattering feathers on the water as if to propitiate
the strangers, so thought the Spaniards. At first they did not ven-
ture to come alongside of the vessel but at sight of handkerchiefs,
beads, and biscuits ofTered by the Spanish sailors, their cupidity over-
came their fear and they came close enough to the stern of the ship
to take all that was thrown to them, but they would not go on board,
although invited to do so. The graceful canoes which the Indians
managed with such dexterity were apparently hewn out of a single
tree trunk. These natives were of the Haida nation, perhaps the
most w^arlike and advanced of all the tribes inhabiting the coast
region. In their large canoes they swept down the coast, ruthlessly
Inputting to death men, women, and children, sparing only those of 

40 BRITISH COLUMBIA 

whom they wished to make slaves, and to this day their exploits are
preserved in the traditions of the weaker tribes they harassed so
terribly. In later years they were bold enough to threaten the infant
colony and the Hudson's Bay posts at the southern extremity of
Vancouver Island. 

The insulated cliff first sighted by Perez, he named Santa Mar-
garita, "because it was seen yesterday, which was the day of that
glorious saint." So it is recorded by Father Crespi. 

Father Pena in his diary says that that name was also bestowed
upon a group of three small islands not far from the coast. Some
forty or fifty miles north of this point was sighted a promontory
covered with trees, which was named Santa Maria Magdalena. Be-
yond this cape the coast was flanked by high land covered with tim-
ber and trending east and west as far as it could be seen. An island
near by was christened Santa Cristina and the snow-capped moun-
tains of the interior were called San Cristobel. 

In seeking land in a latitude so far below that mentioned in his
instructions, Perez was influenced by the fact that his water barrels
needed replenishing. After a counsel of his officers it w^as decided
to land at the first convenient spot, before proceeding to the sixty-
fifth parallel, the point set as the northern limit of the voyage. Hence
it was that the expedition made land near the fifty-fourth parallel,
discovering the Queen Charlotte Islands. Neither Perez nor any
of those on board the Santiago were aware of the fact that the land
seen was not part of the continental shore. 

Leaving Cape Santa Margarita, the Santiago sailed southward,
but the weather was either so boisterous or so foggy that Perez only
got occasional glimpses of the coast. Continuing her course, on the
evening of Monday, the i8th of August, the Santiago sighted land
about the forty-ninth parallel, according to an observation taken on
board. With a light wind the vessel gradually drew near the strange
coast and at 6 o'clock, being about a league from it, she came
to anchor in twenty-five fathoms of water. From the deck of the
vessel, the heavily wooded land could easily be seen. 

It seemed that after nearly three centuries of intermittent effort
the Spaniard was at last to set his seal upon the northwest coast, but
the same powers and obdurate fate seemed ever to stand between
the Spaniard and the attainment of his desire. The morning of
Tuesday, the 19th, dawned calm and still, but all other quarters of 

!^ 

H
O 

o 

O 

o 

<1 

1-1 

« 

o
I— I 

o 

h:]
P 

CQ

Other explorations were made overland by expeditionary parties \
sent out from Mexico. Friar Marcos tells of having discovered iri }
Northwest Mexico beyond the thirty-fifth degree of latitude, exten- |
sive territories richly cultivated and abounding in gold, silver, and
precious stones. In these countries were many towns and seven cities,
one of which the friar called Cibola, containing twenty thousand large
stone houses, some four storeys in height, adorned with jewels. Like
the narratives of the discovery of channels through the northern conti- 

BRITISH COLUMBIA 37 

nent, which a little later obtained credence amongst geographers,
the stories emanating from the fertile imaginations of the Friar Mar-
cos and his contemporaries as to Quivira, Cibola and Totonteac were
equally fictitious. How^ever, such relations but reflected the glamour
and romance which surround the early history of the territories
lying to the northwest of Mexico. 

Fernando de Alarcon, sailing from the port of Santiago on the
9th of May, 1540, reached the extremity of the Gulf of California
in August following. There he discovered a great river which he
named Rio de Nuestra Senora de Buena Guia (or River of Our
Lady of Safe Conduct), probably the same now called Colorado. 

Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo, a Portuguese of high reputation as a
navigator, sailed from Navidad, a small port in Xalisco, in June,
1542. By the middle of August he had advanced beyond the limits
of the supposed discoveries of Ulloa. Ruy Lopez de Villalobos
soon followed Cabrillo with another expedition, his objective being
jindia, there to form establishments. Bartolome Ferrolo and Vas-
nuez de Coronado also contributed their part in these early explo-
raticns as did Sebastian Vizcaino, a distinguished Spanish officer.
J From the time of the death of Vizcaino, which occurred in 1608,
until the last quarter of the eighteenth century, Spain, although it
controlled the sea routes to the northw^est, had made no effort to add
to her discoveries in that direction. At last, however, Spain was
induced to play a more active part in the North Pacific. Before
1778 British sailors had confined their operations to the South Pacific, 

(>ut the Spaniards had been in constant dread of their appearance
n the northern part of that ocean, more particularly because there had
recently been a recrudescence of the stories of a navigable communi-
cation between the Pacific and the North Atlantic. Then the acquisi-
jtion of Canada bv Great Britain in 1763 rendered the discovery of the
Northwest Passage of importance to that power, while Spain had at
this time additional reasons for viewing with dissatisfaction any
attempts of her rival to advance westward across the continent.
Moreover, the Court of Madrid was perturbed by the reported ac-
tivities of the Russians on the northernmost coasts of the Pacific. The
fact that knowledge of the Russian explorations was vague and con-
tradictory in nowise tended to lessen the apprehension of the Span-
ish cabinet. Russia had not made known the extent of her discoveries
in the Northwest, conceiving it more politic to remain silent. Yet 

38 BRITISH COLUMBIA 

enough had leaked out to make the Spanish Government fear for j
the safety of its Californian provinces. In this relation it should j
be borne in mind that the boundaries of the Californias at that time j
did not coincide with those of the California of today. The Cali-
fornias of Spain it was claimed extended indefinitely northward, far I
beyond the point reached by the earliest navigators. 

In view of these events and in order to give life to her claim
to the sole sovereignty of the American islands and coast washed
by the North Pacific, Spain in 1765 adopted a policy of expansion.
The viceroy of Mexico, deCroix, and the visitador, Galvez, were
instructed to enquire into the condition of that country and to put into
effect measures of reforms. It was also intended by the Spanish
Government that the vacant coasts and islands to the northward of
California should be annexed and occupied. 

At this time the sovereigns of France and Spain followed the
example of Portugal in Europe and expelled the Jesuits from Mex-
ico and the Peninsula of California. California was immediately
proclaimed a province of Mexico and it was duly provided with a
governmental establishment under Caspar de Portala, who set out
upon his famous expedition from La Paz to the newly created prov-
ince in 1769. The missions in Lower California were handed over to
the austere Dominicans who in turn were followed by the zealous
Franciscan Fathers. 

However important and interesting as the relations of Spain
in California are to the student of British Columbian history, the
newly awakened interest of Spain in the territories of northern lati-
tudes is still more important and still more interesting. Spain had
been slow to move, but once having embarked upon a policy of
expansion it was not long before that policy bore fruit. As a pre-
cursor to the fitting out of exploratory expeditions for the North, a
department of the Mexican Government was created about the year
1774, for the special purpose of promoting and fostering the w^ork,
under the title of the Marine Department of San Bias, so-called be-
cause the port of that name on the Mexican seaboard was selected
as the base of operations. At this port arsenals, shipyards and ware-
houses were erected and thence the ships for the North were
despatched. 

The first Spanish keel to ply the North Pacific was the little
corvette Santiago, which sailed from San Bias on the 25th of Jan- 

BRITISH COLUMBIA 39 

ary, 1774, in command of Don Juan Perez, who was ordered by 

he Viceroy, to examine the coast as far north as the sixty-fifth degree 

f latitude. The pilot, or navigating officer, of the Santiago, was
stevan Martinez, who afterwards achieved a unique distinction
in the service of his country. Perez w^as accompanied by the Francis-
can Fathers, Crespi and Pena, to whom the world is indebted for
accounts of the expedition. The two friars embarked at Monterey at
the order of their superior, the celebrated Junipero Serra, then the
Father Superior of the Franciscan mission at Monterey.

CHAPTER III 

SPANISH EXPLORATIONS 

It has been shown that the first printed information concerning
Nforthwestern America consisted of the imaginative efforts of the
:artographers of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries; and it has
ilso been remarked that the first printed descriptions concerning that
egion were the narratives of men who apparently wished to test the
:redulityof theage; now the student must follow the navigators whose
hips were the first actually to plough the North Pacific, and from
vhom were obtained the first authentic accounts of the seaboard of
hat immense territory which stretches from California to the Arctic
])cean, between the Rocky Mountains and the Pacific Ocean. 

At first there was little disposition displayed on the part of
European governments to colonize America. Navigators were too in-
ent upon finding a short route to India and China and so imbued were
hey with the theories advanced by the leading geographers of the
lay, who wrongly computed the circumference of the earth, that in
he beginning the continents of North and South America were looked
ipon as nothing more than a barrier in the path of the explorer^
vhose sole ambition had been to reach the Orient. The search for
I strait or open sea which might afford direct access to Japan and
he East led men to brave cold and hunger in desolate Arctic re-
gions, to suffer untold hardships, unknown dangers, sickness, and
leath. At last Balboa in 15 13 sighted the Pacific Ocean from the
sthmus of Darien and gave a new impulse to the quest, which from
hat time was carried on with unabating zeal. Then Magellan, a
;jifted Portuguese, in the service of Spain, discovered the strait which
5ears his name. He reached the great ocean which separates Amer-
ca from Asia and was the first European to sail into the Pacific
rom the East. 

Vol. 1—3 

33
34 BRITISH COLUMBIA

A new direction was given American affairs at this juncture.
Cortes, in the years 15 19 and 1520, conquered Mexico and with an
iron hand ruled its unfortunate peoples and wrested from them untold
treasures which reached the coffers of the Spanish king, and a new
era dawned for Spain.

From the subjugation of Mexico sprang many things, not the ,
least of which was the exploration of the western coast of North j '
America. Cortes pushed his conquest to the Pacific seaboard and I
with great energy prepared to explore the unknown regions of the '
North. The knowledge gained by Cortes and the discovery of the
Philippine Islands by Magellan in 1520 kindled afresh the ambition
of Spain to be supreme in the South Sea, and Philip II, in 1523, being
informed of the efforts of the English to find a passage through or
above the continent, ordered Cortes to search for the Pacific outlet 1 1
of the Strait of Anian.

In pursuance of instructions given him by the King of Spain, j
Cortes ordered the construction of two caravels and two brigantines.
The material for these, however, which had been transported six
hundred miles, was destroyed by fire at Tehuantepec. But Cortes
solaced himself with the reflection that the vessels would be ready
to sail in 1525. In one of his despatches of that time we find the
following memorable words :

"I attach such importance to these ships that I could not express
it; for I consider it very certain that with them, if it please God, I
shall be the means of your Imperial Majesty becoming in these
regions Lord of more kingdoms and dominions than there is any
knowledge of in our nation up to the present time. * * * por j
I believe that when I do this your Highness will have nothing more i \
to do in order to become monarch of the world." j

Cortes' troubles, however, did not end here. The brigantines |
were burned just as they were ready to sail from Zacatula. To re- \
place these craft, orders were given for the construction of three or I
four vessels at Tehuantepec (1527-28). While the vessels were in |
course of construction, the conqueror of Mexico, being obliged to
visit Spain to counteract by the weight of his personal influence the
effects of the envy and persecution which his successes had brought
upon him, placed Pedro Nunez Maldonado in command of the new
arsenal and shipyards. In the month of July^ 1528, that officer
sailed from the mouth of the River Zacatula towards the Northwest. •
He returned in course of six months, bringing with him, as usual,

BRITISH COLUMBIA 35

imaginative accounts of the extent, richness, and fertility of the lands
he had seen. This expedition marked the beginning of Spanish
effort in the new field.

Cortes returned from Spain in 1530 and injected a new spirit into
the affairs of the Pacific. At his own expense he brought with him
"many noble adventurers, artizans, workmen and sailors, to the num-
iber of more than four hundred, for employment in expeditions he
jhad planned." His vessels were refitted, and the St. Miguel and
\St. Marcos, under command of Diego Hurtado de Mendoza, sailed
from Tehuantepec on June 30, 1532, having in view the exploration
of the islands of the Pacific off the coast of New Spain. According
to his own accounts Mendoza reached the twenty-seventh degree of
latitude. Here the crew mutinied and the St. Miguel was ordered
to return with the papers of the expedition and the disaffected sail-
ers, while the commander continued the voyage. The returning
vessel, under the command of Juan de Mazuela, endeavoured to

f' each Acapulco, but she went ashore, and all on board, with the
xception of three, were put to death by the natives of the country,
ifter which the vessel was seized and plundered by Nuno de Guzman.
\s to the ship in which Mendoza continued his voyage, an account
vas received that she had been thrown on the coast far to the north
jind that all her crew had perished.

After the lapse of a year Cortes learned of the loss of the vessels,
commanded by Hurtado de Mendoza, and he then despatched two
hips from Tehuantepec in search of the missing expedition. These
hips left the port on the 30th of September, 1533, but were soon after
jeparated. Hernando Grijalva discovered a group of islands situated
ibout fifty leagues from the coast, which he named Islands of St.
Thomas. He remained until the following spring and returned to
\capulco, without adding much to geographical knowledge. Diego
^ecerra, commander of the other ship, was less fortunate, being mur-
lered by the pilot, Fortuno Ximenes. Other labours of Cortes in the
Mscovery and exploration of the Pacific side of North America will
»e mentioned in brief.

On the 3d of May, 153?, he entered the bay near the shore of
■Calisco, where Becerra had been murdered, and in honour of the
ay the name of Santa Cruz was bestowed upon the place, of which
'ossession was solemnly taken for the Spanish sovereign. It was the

36 BRITISH COLUMBIA

southeast part of the great peninsula which projects from the Amer-
ican continent on the Pacific side in nearly the same direction and
between nearly the same parallels of latitude as that of Florida on
the Atlantic side. It soon afterward received the name of California.
The bay called Santa Cruz by Cortes, says Greenhow, was prob- ;
ably the same later known as Port La Paz. |

Returning to Mexico in the beginning of 1537, by reason of his 1
having been removed as commandant of the country which he had I
added to the dominions of Spain, he thereupon recalled from Santa
Cruz his lieutenant, Francisco de Ulloa, with the forces which had
been left there, and in 1539 the last expedition made by water by ,
Cortes was begun. It was commanded by Francisco de Ulloa, who
sailed from Acapulco on the 8th of July, 1539, with three vessels,
and took his course for California. One of the vessels was driven j
ashore near Culiacan. With the others Ulloa proceeded to the i
Bay of Santa Cruz, and in a few days departed to survey the coast j
towards the northeast. He examined both shores of the great gulf
which separates California from the mainland on the east and as-
certained the fact of the junction of the two territories near the
thirty-second degree of latitude. Then rounding Cape San Lucas I
the expedition followed the oceanic coast of the Californian penin- j
sula, at length reaching, under the twenty-eighth parallel, an island
which Ulloa named the Isle of Cedars. Thence, on the 5th of April,
the Santa Agueda set sail for Santiago, where she was seized by the ,
officers of Don Antonio de Mendoza, who had succeeded Cortes as i
Viceroy. Of the fate of Ulloa there are contradictory accounts. |
Cortes in the meantime having come into conflict with the Viceroy \
and others in regard to continuing his explorations in a certain
direction, returned in disgust to Spain, where he passed the remain- ;
ing seven years of his life in vain efforts to recover his authority j
in Mexico or to obtain indemnification for his losses. |