History and government of Washington, to which are appended the constitution of the state of Washington and constitution of the United States and list of territorial and state officers

Front matter

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Preface

The study of local history and civil government is an essential part of the training of the. young people of our country.

The design of the present work is to furnish for the youths of the state of Washington a reliable text book on the history and government of our commonwealth.

Pains have been taken to verify every historical event presented. The task was a difficult one, and doubtless errors still exist in the book. Any corrections pointed out by readers will be thankfully received by the author.

The plan and execution of the book are believed to conform to the true principles of pedagogy.

J. M. Taylor.

Chapter I. Discovery And Exploration

1. Early Voyages. The history of the state of Washington begins with the early voyages of European navigators to the northwest coast of the Pacific. The Spanish, the Russians, the EngHsh and the French all sent vessels to this coast; some to search for a northwest passage connecting the Atlantic with the Pacific, some to engage in the fur trade with the Indians.

2. The Strait of Anian. It was long believed that Caspar Cortereal, a Portuguese navigator, who explored the coasts of Labrador in 1499 and 1500 had actually sailed through a channel, named by him the Strait of Anian, westward from the Atlantic, nearly on the line of the 58th parallel of latitude, into another great sea, tributary to the Indian ocean. The belief in the existence of such a northwest passage to India caused many voyages to be made to the coasts of North America both on the Atlantic and the Pacific during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.

3. The Northwest Passage Eagerly Sought. All the great maritime nations of Europe were anxious to discover the northwest passage. Jacques Cartier from 1534 to 1 541 made three voyages to the North AtUintIc under the French flag to find it. The English in 1576 sent Martin Frobisher to the North Atlantic coast to find it. One of the injunctions given to the Hudson's Bay Company in 1669 was to prosecute the search for a northwest passage for ships from the Atlantic to the Pacific. In 1745 the British government offered a reward of twenty thousand pounds for the discovery of a northwest passage "through Hudson's Bay, by ships belonging to his majesty's subjects."

Nearly all the early voyages of the Spanish, Russian, and English navigators to the northwest Pacific coast were made to find this supposed interoceanic communication.

4. Voyages of Cabrillo and Ferrelo. In 1 542 Cabrillo, a Spanish navigator, with two small vessels sailed northward along the coast of California to search for the Strait of Anian. He discovered a small harbor which he named Port Possession, situated in the island of San Bernardino, near the main land in latitude 34 degrees north. This was the first land taken possession of by the Spanish on the Pacific coast. Here Cabrillo died, and the pilot, Bartolome Ferrelo, was left in command. Fully as zealous and determined as his predecessor, Ferrelo resolved, if possible, to accomplish the objects of the expedition and sailed northward. On the 26th of February, 1 543, he discovered a promontory situated in latitude 41 which he named Cabo de Fortunas (Cape of Perils, or Stormy Cape), now called Mendocino. On March the first, he reached the latitude of 44 degrees. Without doubt Ferrelo was the first civilized man to see the coast of Oregon, but he did not chart its coast nor make a landing upon it.

5. The Spanish Galleons. The Spanish nation held full sway on the Pacific for a long time after the voyages of Cabrillo and Ferrelo. Her large ships called galleons sailed back and forth across the Pacific richly laden with precious metals and European merchandise in return for which they brought back silks, spices, porcelain and other oriental products for trade with America or for transportation to Europe. These galleons proceeding from Mexico to India were wafted by the trade winds directly across the ocean, the voyage taking about three months, the return occupying about twice the time. They always made the west coast of California, in consequence of which the lower Pacific coast was well knov/n before the end of the sixteenth century. Their route did not carry them as far north as the limits of the present state of Washington and of this country they knew nothing, but their presence on the Pacific led the navigators of other nations here as we shall see.

6. Voyage of Drake. The time was fast approaching when the flag of the Spanish merchantmen was to disappear from the Pacific. Both England and

France were watching this profitable Spanish trade with jealous eyes. They commissioned privateers to prey upon the commerce of Spain. The most noted of these was Sir Francis Drake. He was nothing but a freebooter and Queen Elizabeth knew it, but favored his enterprise through her hatred for Spain. Drake entered the Pacific through the Strait of Magellan in September, 1578, with one small vessel and sixty men. He proceeded northward, plundering the Spanish settlements and ships on the west coast. Having loaded his vessel with spoils he determined to return to England by sailing northward to search for the Strait of Anian through which to pass to the Atlantic and thus avoid the Spanish. It is alleged that Drake advanced northward beyond the 42 d degree and then turned southward, coasting along the shore to a bay in 38 degrees north latitude, supposed to have been San Francisco bay. Here he remained five weeks, repairing his vessel. He went ashore and took possession of the country in the name of his sovereign and named it New Albion. There is no evidence that Drake discovered any land north of the 38th parallel and the discoveries which he did make had long been anticipated by the Spanish.

7. Voyage of Juan de Fuca. It is related by Michael Lock, an Englishman, that an old man named Juan de Fuca, a Greek by birth, by profession a mariner and an ancient pilot of ships, declared that in 1592 he was sent with a small caraval to discover the Strait of Anian and that he followed a northwest course along the coasts of Mexico and California

DISCOVERY AND EXPLORATION. II

until he came to the latitude of 47 degrees, and there found the land trended north and northeast, with a broad inlet of the sea between the 47th and 48th degrees of latitude. He claimed to have spent more than twenty days in exploring this inlet and then returned to Acapulco, whence he came. Many historians are disposed to discredit the story of the old Greek pilot, but whether true or false, the name of Juan de Fuca is forever fixed as the name of the strait which connects the waters of Puget Sound with the Pacific.

8. Voyages of Sebastian Viscaino. Viscaino, a distinguished Spanish officer, made two voyages along the northwest coast in 1602 and 1603 by order of Philip III to search for the Strait of Anian. He left Acapulco with three vessels and sailed northward along the coast to latitude 43 degrees, near which he discovered a rapid river, on the banks of which grew ash trees, willows, brambles and other trees of Castile. Viscaino endeavored to enter this river, but could not because of the force of the current, and returned to Acapulco. The stream which he discovered is believed to be the Umpqua, a river of Southern Oregon. Thus discoveries were being made, but the phantom of the Strait of Anian was still beyond the reach of the navigator.

9. The Period From 1608 to 1768. For more than a hundred and sixty years after the voyages of Viscaino, no attempt was made by the Spanish to extend their discoveries in the northwest part of America.

This country during this period remained almost unknown to the civilized world. It was the terra

10. The Voyage of Juan Perez. In 1774 ^"^ ^775 two exploring voyages were made by order of the Spanish government, in which the northwest coast of America was examined, as far north as the 58th degree of latitude. These voyages have a direct bearing on the early history of the state of Washington. The first was made by Juan Perez accompanied by Estevan Martinez, as pilot. Perez sailed from San Bias northward to the 60th degree of latitude and then turned southward, surveying the coast as he went. The first land observed was in latitude 54 degrees north at a point on the west side of the island afterwards named Queen Charlotte's Island by the British. Perez also discovered a deep bay in latitude 49 degrees 30 minutes north, at the entrance of which he anchored between two high promontories. He named it Port San Lorenzo, perhaps the same bay to which Captain Cook, four years later, gave the name King George's or Nootka Sound, situated on the southwest side of Vancouver Island. Proceeding southward along the coast, Perez saw in latitude 47 degrees 47 minutes a lofty mountain covered with snow, which he named Sierra de Santa Rosalia — probably Mount Olympus. Martinez, the pilot, many years after, said that he had observed between the 48th and 49th parallels a wide opening of land, and the Spanish on the strength of this statement have claimed for Martinez the merit of rediscovering the strait of Juan de Fuca.

1 1 . The Voyages of Heceta and Bodega. After the return of Perez to Mexico, the viceroy ordered a second expedition to be made to examine the northwest coast as far north as the 65th degree of latitude. Accordingly Captain Bruno Heceta and Lieutenant Juan de Bodega with two vessels sailed from San Bias northward. They sighted land in latitude 48 degrees 27 minutes north and proceeded to examine the shore southward in search of the strait of Juan de Fuca, which was placed on their chart between the 47th and the 48th degrees of latitude. Of course they did not find the strait and having satisfied themselves that no such opening existed there, they cast anchor near the shore. Here seven of the crew having gone ashore for water were killed by the natives. The site at which this occurred was named by Heceta Pimta de Martires — Martyr's Point. It is now called Point Grenville, in latitude 47 degrees 20 minutes on the west coast of Washington. Just north of this point Heceta discovered an island which for the same reason he named Isla de Dolores — Isle of Sorrows — now called Destruction Island. Afterward Heceta proceeded southward along the shore and in latitude 46 degrees 17 minutes he observed a strong current flowing from an opening in the shore against which he could not enter. Undoubtedly it was the mouth of the mighty Oregon, the great river of the west, but Heceta know it not and so sailed away and

14 HISTORY AND GOVERNMENT OE WASHINGTON.

lost the glory of being its discoverer. That the current of the Columbia was first seen by Heceta on the 15th of August, 1775, is unquestionable.

12. Origin of the Name Oregon. The name Oregon applied to the great river of the west seems to have been first used by Jonathan Carver in his book of travels published in London in 1778. William Cullen Bryant may have found the name which he uses in his beautiful poem Thanatopsis in Carver's narrative.

13. Captain Cook's Voyage to the North Pacific. Captain James Cook sailed from Plymouth, England, on the I2th of July, 1776, with two ships, bound for the northwest coast of America, in sight of which he arrived on the 7th of March, 1778, near the 44th degree of latitude. Cook examined the coast northward and discovered a cape a little north of the 48th parallel, which he named Cape Flattery, the northwest point of the state of Washington, sometimes called Cape Classet.

14. The Fur Trade in the North"west. During Cook's voyage Great Britain was at war with the United States, France, and Spain and the British government withheld all information in regard to the voyage until the close of the war. The war having ended, the regular journals of the expedition were published at London in 1785. These journals gave an account of the abundance of fine fur to be obtained in Northwest America and the high prices paid for fur in China. Soon the fur trade became very profitable and the merchantmen of all the commercial nations began to compete with one another in the fur trade between Northwest America and China. One of the chief competitors after the war was the new nation bearing the ensign of Stars and Stripes. But the Russians were the first to avail themselves of Cook's discoveries, for as early as 1783 they had established several colonies in Russian America, now Alaska, and were ready to engage in the fur trade. The fur trade caused many voyages to the northwest Pacific coasts. An account of several of these is valuable to this history, as it embraces the claims and rights of several nations to the territory now comprised by the state of Washington.

15. Voyage of La Perouse. The government of France sent their great navigator La Perouse to the North Pacific in 1785 with special instructions to "explore the parts of the northwest coasts of America which had not been examined by Cook, and of which the Russian accounts gave no idea, in order to obtain information respecting the fur trade, and also to learn whether, in those unknown parts, some river or internal sea might not be found communicating with Hudson's Bay or Bafftn's Bay." La Perouse first saw the coast in June, 1786, near the foot of Mount Fairweather, and then turned southward examining the coast between the 54th and the 5 2d parallels on the west side of Queen Charlotte's Island, which La Perouse suspected to be insular, although he did not establish the fact. The Journal of La Perouse's voyage was not published until 1797 and in the meantime all his discoveries had become well known to other navigators.

16. Voyag-es of Portlock and Dixon. After Cook's voyage the next discoveries on the northwest coast of America were made by Captains Portlock and Dixon in 1786-7. They left England together in command of the ships King George and Queen Charlotte, passed around Cape Horn and reached Cook's river in July, 1786. Then went to Nootka Sound, thence to the Sandwich Islands and returned to Prince William's Sound in the spring of 1787. Here Dixon left Portlock and sailed along the coast to the inlet on the south side of Mount San Jacinto, or Edgecumb, which Dixon named Norfolk Sound. Dixon also claimed the discovery of the land between the 54th and 5 2d degrees of latitude, on the ground that it had not been seen by Cook, although it was specially marked on Cook's chart as discovered by the Spanish in 1775. Dixon said that he was told by the natives that the land was an island and named it Queen Charlotte's Island; the passage immediately north of it he called Dixon's Entrance.

17. Voyages of Duncan and Oolnett. In 1787 Captain Duncan, in the ship Princess Royal, and Captain Colnett, commander of the ship Prince of Wales, were sent by King George's Sound Company to engage in the fur trade in the North Pacific. Duncan in 1788 explored the sea between Queen Charlotte's Island and the main land and thus proved what Dixon had assumed and what La Perouse had guessed. This exploration of Duncan's led to the belief that the whole northwest part of America consisted of islands. Thus little by little the truth was unfolding.

18. Re-Discovery of the Strait of Fuca. The coast of Washington was not visited by the people of any civilized nation from the time of Cook's voyage until 1787. In this year Captain Berkeley, an Englishman, commanding a ship named the Imperial Eagle sailing under the flag of the Austrian East India Company, discovered the Strait of Fuca situated immediately north of Cape Flattery, opening into the ocean between the 48th and the 49th parallels, instead of between the 47th and 48th, as stated in Juan de Fuca's account. This statement had misled all the other navigators until this time and caused them to doubt Fuca's story. Berkeley did not attempt to explore the passage, but sailing along the coast south of Cape Flattery, he sent a boat ashore, the crew of which were killed by the natives, almost at the same place where the Spaniards of Bodega's crew were massacred in 1775. The island near, which Bodega had named Isla de Dolores, Berkeley, for a like reason, called Destruction Island. It is the only island off the west coast of Washington and is situated almost due west of the city of Seattle.

19. Voyage of Meares. In November, 1787, Berkeley communicated the re-discovery of the Strait of Fuca to John Meares, who had been a lieutenant in the British navy and who at the time was at Macao preparing for a trading voyage to the northwest coasts of America. Meares sailed from Macao on the first of January, 1788, with two ships under the Portuguese flag. Besides himself there was but one other English subject on board of the ships, William Douglas, acting as super-cargo. The circumstances connected with this voyage led to the first dispute and the first treaty between civilized nations relative to this part of the world.

20. Meares' Nootka Purchase. Meares sailed directly to Nootka Sound, where he had been in a previous voyage. Here he claimed that he had purchased a tract of land from Chief Maquinna, native ruler of the country, and erected a house thereon over which he hoisted British colors. A strange procedure for a navigator sailing under the Portuguese flag! From Meares' own statement it is clear that Maquinna made this grant of land for a small consideration — "a pair of pistols " — and "only for temporary purposes."

Leaving a part of his crew at Nootka engaged in building a small vessel, Meares, sailed to the entrance of the passage supposed to be the Strait of Juan dc Fuca, which he reached by following the directions given by Berkeley. He called it by the name of its original discoverer, Juan de P'uca, a name it has borne ever since.

21. Meares Attempts to Find River San Roque. From the Strait of Fuca Meares sailed along the

DISCOVERY AND EXPLORATION. IQ

shore southward in search of the river which the Spaniard, Heceta, had charted near the 46th degree of latitude and named Rio de San Rogue, as related in the account of Heceta's voyage. Having examined this latitude, without observing the current of the river, Meares named the promontory which forms the southwest point of Washington Cape Disappointment, and the indentation in the shore Deception Bay — very appropriale names for the occasion — and made the following entry in his Journal: "We can now with safety assert that there is no such river as that of St. Roc exists, as laid down in the Spanish charts." This statement is somewhat ungrammatical, yet clear and explicit. In 1826 the commissioners appointed by the British government to treat with the plenipotentiary of the United States at London, on the claims of the two governments to territories in the northwest, insisted that Meares on this occasion discovered the Columbia River !

22. First Vessel Built on the Coast. Meares returned to Nootka and launched the small vessel, which some of his men had built during his absence, under the name of the Northwest America, the first vessel ever built on the North Pacific Coast. It is not known whether Meares placed her under British or Portuguese colors.

23. Voyages of the Columbia and "Washington. When the United States had secured her independence, her citizens resumed the whale and seal fishery, which they had carried on before the revolution, and also engaged in trade with India and China. In order to combine the fur trade of the North Pacific with the China trade a company of merchants at Boston, in the summer of 1787, fitted out two vessels, the ship Columbia and the sloop Washington. John Kendrick commanded the expedition and was master of the Columbia. Joseph Ingraham was mate of the Columbia. Captain Robert Gray was master of the Washington. The cargo of the vessels consisted of articles for trade with the Indians, blankets, knives, etc. They also carried with them a number of small copper coins, then recently issued by the state of Massachusetts. Alexander Mackenzie relates that in July, 1793, he found one of these coins bearing the inscription "half-penny of the state of Massachusetts Bay, coined in 1787," in possession of an Indian native of the country east of the Strait of Fuca. Copper medals were struck to commemorate the expedition. The following cut represents both sides of one of these medals.

The two vessels sailed from Boston on the 30th of September, 1787, and were separated in a storm near Cape Horn. The appointed place of rendezvous was Nootka Sound, where the Washington arrived on the 17th of September and the Columbia in October.

While passing northward along the coast Captain Gray observed an opening near latitude 46 degrees, which he attempted to enter in August, 1788, but did not succeed at that time. Before relating the important discoveries and explorations connected with this important expedition, the order of sequence requires us to give an account of the first occupation of the country.

24. The Spanish Occupy Nootka. On the 6th of May, 1789, Martinez arrived at Nootka Sound and took possession of the country in the name of the Spanish sovereign. He built a fort on a small island in the bay. During the year Martinez seized several vessels, among them the two under the command of Meares. Most of the vessels seized were British. The two American vessels he did not molest. This high-handed action of Martinez at Nootka led to a complicated controversy between Great Britain and Spain, the history of which belongs to another chapter.

25. Gray's First Explorations. In June, 1789, Gray in the Washington explored the whole East coast of Queen Charlotte's Island, which had never before been visited by civilized people. Gray named it Washington Island. On a subsequent voyage from Nootka Gray entered the Strait of Juan de Fuca, through which he sailed, as he told Vancouver, in 1792, "fifty miles in an east-southeast direction, and found the passage five leagues wide." He then returned to the Pacific, where he met the Columbia on her way to China. The two captains exchanged vessels, Kendrick taking command of the Washington and remaining on the coast, while Gray took the Columbia to Canton, sold his furs and took a cargo of tea, with which he entered Boston harbor on the loth of August, 1790, having carried the Stars and Stripes for the first time round the world.

26. Kendrick Sails Throug-h the Strait of Fuca. When Kendrick took command of the sloop Washington he entered the Strait of Juan de Fuca, through which he sailed, passing to the east of the island now called Vancouver, and entered the Pacific again on the north, thus proving Nootka Sound to be on an island. This was done in the autumn of 1789. Kendrick was the first civilized man to pass entirely through the Strait of Fuca.

27. Spanish Explore the Strait of Fuca. In 1790 Francisco Elisa, the Spanish Commandant at Nootka, sent Lieutenant Quimper to explore the Strait of Juan de Fuca. Quimper examined both shores of the strait to the distance of about a hundred miles from its mouth, where he noted that the strait had numerous small channels opening into it from the south, east and north, with islands between. Quimper did not penetrate any of these channels, but simply marked their entrances and assigned to them Spanish names, some of which still cling to them, but the names afterward given by Vancouver have superseded most of them. Among these may be mentioned Canal de Caamano, now called Admiralty Inlet; the Boca de Flon, now Deception Pass; the Canal de Guemes, and Canal de Haro.

28. Ingraham's Voyage in the Hope. The American Brig Hope was equipped at Boston for the North Pacific trade and placed under the command of Joseph Ingraham, the former mate of the Columbia. She sailed from Boston on the i6th of September, 1790, doubled Cape Horn, and April 19th, 1791, Ingraham discovered six islands previously unknown, situated in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, between the 8th and lOth parallels of latitude. Ingraham named these islands Washington, Adams, Franklin, Knox, Federal, and Lincoln, very appropriate names for islands first discovered by an American. These islands should belong to the state of Washington. Ingraham proceeded to Queen Charlotte's or Washington's Island, where he arrived on the 29th of June and anchored in a harbor on the southeast side, which he named Magee's Sound. He spent the summer on the coast of this island and the adjacent continent, collecting valuable information" of the geography of the country.

29. Second Voyage of the Columbia. The Columbia left Boston on her second voyage September 28th, 1790, with Captain Gray in command, and arrived at Clyoquot, near the entrance of the Strait of Fuca, on June 5th, 1 79 1. Gray coasted along the shores of

Queen Charlotte's Island, trading and exploring until September. During this time he examined many inlets and passages between the 54th and 56th parallels. He penetrated one of these channels, afterwards named by Vancouver Portland Canal, in latitude 54 degrees 33 minutes, about one hundred miles. Gray was first to explore this part of the northwest coast, and gave the United States additional right to the celebrated line, " Fifty-four-Forty."

30. Second Vessel Built on the Coast. After these explorations Gray returned to Clyoquot, where during the winter he built a block-house on the shore, which he named Fort Defiance. He also constructed and launched the second vessel ever built on the North Pacific coast, which he named the Adventure.

31. Vancouver's Voyage to the North Pacific. The British government sent Captain George Vancouver to the northwest Pacific coast to treat with the Spanish at Nootka and to examine and survey the west coast of the American continent from the 35th to the 60th parallels of latitude.

Vancouver reached the American coast near Cape Mendocino in April, 1792, and sailed northward to the Strait of Fuca, examining the shore as he went.

He noticed that the water off the opening, named by Meares Deception Bay, had changed from its natural to river-colored water, but passed on without discovering the river, and when he reached the Strait of Fuca he made an entry in his journal, stating that

"the whole coast formed one compact and nearly straight barrier against the sea."

32. Vancouver Meets Gray. On the 29th of April, 1792, Vancouver met Gray in the ship Columbia near the entrance to the Strait of Fuca, who informed him that he had just penetrated the strait to the distance of about fifty miles and returned to the ocean. Gray also informed Vancouver of his having been off the mouth of a river in latitude 46 degrees 10 minutes, where the outset was so strong as to prevent his entering it. The English captain gave little attention to Gray's account of the river. He was not willing to believe the Yankee captains more skillful in exploration than himself. The two captains parted company, Vancouver to do his important work of surveying Puget Sound, and Gray to complete his important discoveries, which gave the United States government the best right to the Valley of the Columbia.

33. Discovery of Gray's Harbor. After the interview with Vancouver Gray sailed southward along the coast of the continent, and on the 7th of May, 1792, he "saw an entrance which had a very good appearance of a harbor," in latitude 46 degrees 58 minutes. Gray passed through this entrance and found himself in a bay "well sheltered from the sea by long sandbars and spits," where he remained at anchor three days. Gray named this bay Bulfinch's Harbor, in honor of one of the owners of his ship, and it is so called on the old maps, but is now called Gray's Harbor in honor of its discoverer.

34. Discovery of the Columbia River. After leaving Gray's Harbor, at daybreak on the nth of May, 1792, Gray observed "the entrance of his desired port, bearing east-south-east, distant six leagues," and running into it, with all sails set, between breakers, he anchored at one o'clock "in a large river of FRESH WATER," ten miles above its mouth. Here he remained three days and then sailed up the river about fifteen miles along the northern shore, and again came to anchor. Here Gray remained about a week and then sailed out, and as he passed over the bar he named the river Columbia — after his ship — a name it is destined to always bear. The cape on the south side of the mouth of the Columbia he named Point Adams, and the one on the north side. Cape Hancock. Gray returned to Nootka and there informed Captain Ingraham and the Spanish commandant of the discovery of the harbor and the river, and gave them charts and descriptions of his discoveries.

35. Observations on the Discovery of the Columbia. The following observations on the discovery of the Columbia should be noted :

1 . The opening through which the Columbia discharges its waters was first seen by the Spanish navigator, Heceta, in August, 1775.

2. Captain Meares examined this entrance in July, 1788, and departed convinced that no river existed there.