Memoir, historical and political, on the northwest coast of North America, and the adjacent territories : illustrated by a map and a geographical view of those countries

Table Of Contents

GEOGRAPHY OP THE WESTERN SECTION OF NORTH AMERICA.

Page.

Introduction - - - - . - ^ - - -1

Appendix

A. — Respecting the part of the northwest coast seen by Drake in 1579 - 201

B. — Respecting the pretended northern voyage of Maldonado from the Atlantic to the

Pacific in 1588 205

C— Account of the voyage of Juan de Fuca in the north Pacific in 1592, extracted from

Purchas's Pilgrims --------- 207

D. — Correspondence at Nootka in 1792, between the Spanish commissioner GLuadra, and

Messrs. Gray and Ingraham, the commanders of two American vessels, respecting

the occurrences at that place in 1789 212

E. — Showing that the 49th parallel of latitude was probably??,^ adopted as the line of sep-

aration between the British and French territories in America, agreeably to the treaty of Utrecht in 1714 - 216

F. — Containing extracts and copies of treaties between various nations respecting the

northwest coast of America - - - - - - - 219

ERRATA.

Since the following pages were printed, the author has discovered two errors, which, though not bearing upon any important question, he regrets, and is anxious to correct; particularly as the misstatements are injurious to the memory of Captain Cook, one of the noblest men whom any age or country has produced.

In order to correct these errors,

1. Substitute for the two last sentences of the second paragraph, in page 48, the following: SThe Cape Blanco, mentioned as the northern limit of Aguilar's progress along the coast, is probably the same on which Vancouver, in 1792, bestowed the name of Cape Orford.

2. Expunge the last sentence but one of the third paragraph in page 79, containing the words — "In this part of his voyage he recognised the Cape Blanco of Aguilar, near the 43d parallel, but he thought proper to bestow on it the name of Cape Gregory."

GEOGRAPHY

OF THE

WESTERN SECTION OF NORTH AMERICA,

Introduction

I. The northwest coast is the expression usually employed in the United States, at the present time, to distinguish the vast portion of the American continent, which extends north of the 40th parallel of latitude from the Pacific to the great dividing ridge of the Rocky Mountains, together with the contiguous islands in that ocean. The southern part of this territory, which is drained almost entirely by the River Columbia, is commonly called Oregon, from the supposition (no doubt erroneous) that such was the name applied to its principal stream by the aborigines. To the more northern parts of the continent many appellations, which will hereafter be mentioned, have been assigned by navigators and fur-traders of various nations. The territory bordering upon the Pacific southward, from the 40th parallel to the extremity of the peninsula which stretches in that direction as far as the Tropic of Cancer, is called California; a name of uncertain derivation, formerly applied by the Spaniards to the whole western section of North America, as that of Florida was employed by them to designate the regions bordering upon the Atlantic. The northwest- coast and the west coast of California, together, form the west coast of North America; as it has been found impossible to separate the history of these two portions, so it will be necessary to include them both in this geographical view.*

In order to show that the fortieth parallel of latitude is not assumed arbitrarily, and without adequate grounds, as the southern limit of the northwest coast, it would be sufficient to cite the fact, that this line crosses the American continent exactly midway between its most northern and its most southern points ; but there are physical reasons for the assumption, no less strong than those based on such geometrical considerations. Almost immediately under the said parallel the coast makes an

* In the following pages, the term coast will be used, sometimes as signifying only the seashore, and sometimes as embracing the whole territory, extending therefrom to the sources of the river ; care has been, however, taken to prevent misapprehension, where the context does not sufficiently indicate the true sense. In order to avoid repetitions, the northwest coast will be understood to be the northwest coast of North America; all latitudes will be taken as north latU tudes, and all longitudes as west from Greenwich, unless otherwise expressed.

;le at a point called Cap* . o^, N /.x)i vhi^t. or±^ rth for a great distance, while the other takes a southeas ioreover, this cape is the western extremity of a ridge of lofty moanjiins, extending continuously from the Pacific to the Rocky Mountains, nearly in the course of the 40th parallel, and completely dividing the region of which the waters flow southward from that drained by streams entering the Pacific north of the cape. This transverse ridge, generally called the Snowy Mountains, appears, indeed, to be the boundary indicated by nature between California, on the south, and Oregon, or the country of the Columbia, on the north ; not only does it serve as a barrier of separation almost impassable, but the differences in climate and productions between the territories on either side of it are much greater than could have been supposed, considering merely their respective distances from the equator. California is essentially a southern country, while Oregon exhibits the peculiarities of the north.

The coasts of this section of America have been carefully surveyed by distinguished scientific navigators, and they may be found accurately delineated on charts ; with regard to the interior, however, little exact geographical information has been yet obtained. From all that can be learned respecting the continent north of the 58th parallel, it is a waste of rocky snow-clad mountains, incapable of sustaining a population, and, indeed, almost impenetrable. Of California, or the country south of the 40th parallel, no accounts are to be procured, except as to the portion immediately contiguous to the sea. It is only of the territory included between these two lines of latitude, which is drained principally by the great River Columbia, that we can speak with any confidence; even of this territory, all descriptions must be conveyed in general and qualified terms, and much remains to be done in it by the astronomer before our maps can present any other than very imperfect representations of its surface.

In the following geographical sketch, an attempt will be made to combine the results of information and inquiry, relative to the western section of North America, in such a manner as to produce distinct impressions of its most prominent and characteristic features, adding only those details which may be requisite or useful in order to illustrate the statements and views contained in the political and historical memoir. In so doing, it has been found convenient to adopt the territorial divisions indicated by nature, rather than those which have been agreed on between the Governments of various distant nations. The boundaries settled by these conventions will, however, be first described, and general ideas of the political questions at issue, with regard to this part of the world, will thus be easily communicated.

POLITICAL DIVISION OP THE WESTERN SECTION OP NORTH AMERICA.

II. By the Florida treaty, concluded in 1819 between the United States and Spain, a line drawn along the 42d parallel of latitude, from the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific, was fixed as the northern limit of the Spanish territory and the southern limit of that of the United States in western America. By a subsequent treaty between the latter Power and Mexico, the same line was admitted to separate the possessions of the two republics, Mexico taking the place of Spain. The Mexicans, accordcv, y it ao parallel ; but the Rus-

A y bar the exercise of any Mexican authority beyond the\ fmA Francisco, near the 38th degree, by means of their colonies and garrisons in that quarter, established in 1812, and, ever since maintained in defiance alike of Spain and of her republican successors.

By the convention of 1824, between the United States and Russia, it was agreed that the Russians should make no settlements on the west coasts of North America, or the adjacent islands, south of the latitude of 54 degrees 40 minutes, and the United States should establish none north of that parallel.

By the convention of 1825, between Russia and Great Britain, it was in like manner stipulated that the British should occupy no place on the coasts or islands north of 54 degrees and 40 minutes, and that the Russians should make no settlement south of the same latitude ; it was, moreover, agreed that a line drawn from that parallel northward, along the summits of the mountains, within 20 miles of the sea, to its intersection with the 141st meridian of longitude west from Greenwich, (passing through Mount Saint Elias,) and thence, along that meridian, to the Arctic Sea, should be the "limit between the Russian and British possessions on the continent of America to the northwest."

Thus two lines of boundary appear on the map of Northwest America, running completely across it: one northward, from the latitude of 54 degrees 40 minutes, to the Arctic sea, as settled between Great Britain and Russia; and the other following the course of the 42d parallel, from the Pacific to the Rocky Mountains, as agreed on between the United States and Mexico. Of the intermediate region, no part has been as yet definitively assigned by convention to any one nation ; the Americans claim the portion north from the 42d parallel, and the British claim that south from the other line of boundary — each party to an extent undefined, but so far as to secure for itself the large and valuable country drained by the Columbia River. These nations have provisionally compromised their pretensions by an arrangement, made in 1818, and continued in 1827 for an unlimited period, to the effect, that any territory in that section of America, claimed by either, should be equally free and open for navigation, trade, and settlement, to the citizens or subjects of both ; the Government of each being at liberty to abrogate the arrangement, after giving due notice of twelve months to that of the other.*

III. The political questions at issue between the Governments of Great Britain, the United States, Russia, and Mexico having been summarily stated, we will now present a —

VIEW OF THE WESTERN SECTION OF NORTH AMERICA, ACCORDING TO ITS

NATURAL DIVISIONS.

The northern extremity of the west coast of America is Cape Prince of Wales, in latitude of 65 degrees 52 minutes, which is also the westernmost spot in the whole continent ; it is situated on the eastern side of

* The Russian settlements in America are under the control of the Russian- American Company, of which a particular account will be found at page 143 of the memoir. For notices of the Hudson's Bay Company, to which belong all the British establishments west of the Rocky Mountains, see pages 75 and 192 ; and, for copies of the treaties, see Appendix [F.J o ring's Strait, a chaiiix^ ic with the Arctic (or Icy, or l\o?*i/,

de of which strait, opposite Cape Prince of Wales, is hia^ istern extremity of Asia. Beyond Beering's Strait the shores c_ vvo continents recede from each other. The north coast of America has been traced from Cape Prince of Wales northeastward, to Cape Barrow, in latitude of 71 degrees 23 minutes, which is probably the northernmost point of America, and thence eastward for more than a thousand miles, though not continuously to the Atlantic ; no vessel has, however, yet proceeded beyond Beering's Strait as far as Cape Barrow.

The southernmost point of the west coast of North America is Cape San Lucas, in latitude of 22 degrees 52 minutes, the extremity of the great Peninsula of California, which stretches from the American continent on the Pacific side, nearly in the same direction, and between nearly the same parallels of latitude as that of Florida on the Atlantic. The Californian peninsula joins the main land under the 33d parallel ; south of which, it is separated from Mexico, on the east, by the long arm of the ocean called by the Spaniards the Vermillion Sea and the Sea of Cortes, but more generally known as the Gulf of California.

The coast extending between these two capes is not less than four thousand miles in length, and is bordered by a continuous line of mountains, which in most places overhang the sea, and are nowhere distant from it more than eighty miles. From Cape San Lucas the general direction of the shores is northwest as far as Cape Mendocino, near the 40th degree of latitude ; thence it runs almost due north to Cape Flattery, at the entrance of the Strait of Fuca, near the 48th degree, where it makes an angle by turning to the east. South of Cape Flattery the coast is comparatively regular and free from great sinuosities, and there are only a few islands, all of which are small, in its vicinity ; northward of that point, to Cape Spenser near the 58th degree, it is, on the contrary, indented by numerous bays and inlets penetrating the land, and it is completely masked by islands separated from each other and from the continent by narrow and intricate channels. These islands compose the Northwest Archipelago ; they lie together in a recess of the continental coast between Cape Flattery and Cape Spenser, in length about seven hundred miles, and in breadth about one hundred and twenty ; and they are, indeed, simply a continuation, through the sea, of the mountainchain which forms the westernmost rampart of America. Beyond Cape Spenser the American coast makes a bend, running northwest to the foot of Mount Saint Elias, the loftiest peak on the continent, and the most striking landmark on its western shore ; thence westward nearly in the course of the 60th parallel, and then southwest to the extremity of the Peninsula of Aliaska, in 54 degrees 40 minutes, around which it again turns to the north, and continues in that course to Cape Prince of Wales. Aliaska is, like California, formed by the projection of a lofty mountain-ridge into the Pacific ; from its extremity, and as if in continuation of it, a chain of islands, called the Aleutian Archipelago, extends westward, across the sea, to the vicinity of the opposite Asiatic Peninsula of Kamschatka.

IY. Of the northwesternmost division of the American coast, extending from Cape Prince of Wales, southward, to the extremity of Aliaska, little need be said. The part of the Pacific north of the Aleutian Islands,

. ics, . >- jmoi_. -otinguished as the Sea c ";, and sometimes as Beering's Sea, in honor of the Russian . w« of that name who first explored it. From this sea several amis run up into the main land of America, of which the largest are Norton Sound, on the south side of the peninsula terminated by Cape Prince of Wales, and Bristol Bay, called by the Russians Katnischezgaia Gulf, on the northwest side of Aliaska. The upper part of Bristol Bay receives the waters of a large lake called Lake Shellikof ; a little west of the outlet of which, on the shore of the bay, stands the small Russian factory, or fur-trading establishment, of Alexandrowsk, the only spot on this whole coast occupied by civilized persons.

The Aleutian Archipelago is considered by the Russians as consisting of three groups of islands. Nearest Aliaska are the Fox Islands, of which the largest are Unimak, Unalashka, and Umnak ; next to these are the Andreanowsky Islands, among which are Atscha, Tonaga, and Kanaga, with many smaller islands, sometimes called the Rat Islands ; the most western group is that first called the Aleutian or Aleoutsky Islands, which are Attou, Mednoi, (or Copper Island,) and Beering's Island. On the latter Beering was wrecked and lost his life in 1741. These islands are nearly all, like Aliaska, rocky, mountainous, and volcanic ; they are of little value in an agricultural point of view, but the Russians derive great advantage from the skins and furs of animals in and about their shores, for procuring which they have several establishments in the Archipelago, particularly on Unalashka. The original inhabitants are a hardy and bold race, whom the Russians had great difficulty in subduing ; these people are, however, at the present day, employed by their masters in fishing ^nd hunting for furs in every part of the Pacific, and they compose a large proportion of the population of all the Russian settlements in America. There are other islands in the Sea of Kamschatka, of which the largest are Nunivak, near the American shore, under the 60th parallel, and Saint Lawrence or Clerked Island, at the entrance of Beering's Strait.

V. Kamschatka is a large peninsula formed of volcanic mountains, extending from the Asiatic continent southward to the latitude of 52 degrees 10 minutes, under which its southernmost point, Cape Lopatka, is situated. West of the peninsula, between it and the main land of Asia, is the Sea of Ochotsk, which is separated from the Pacific on the southeast by the Kurile Islands, extending southwest from Kamschatka towards Japan. The principal place in Kamschatka is Petro-Paulowsk, or the Harbor of Saint Peter and Saint Paid, on the Bay of Avatscha, in latitude of 53 degrees 58 minutes ; it is a small town, the inhabitants of which are all engaged directly or indirectly in the fur trade.

VI. The next natural division of the coast is that included in the great bend between the southwest extremity of Aliaska and Cape Spenser. Here are to be remarked two deep gulfs, extending northward into the continent to the 62d degree, through each of which it was for some time hoped that a passage would be discovered communicating with the Atlantic. The westernmost of these gulfs was originally called Cook's River, but is now generally named on English maps Cook's Inlet, and is known by the Russians as the Gulf of Kenay ; the other, which is only separated from the former by a peninsula, received from the British navigators the appellation of Prince William's Sound, and is distinguished by the Russians as the Bay of Tschugatsch; it is unnecessary

, lo say more ot tut,..

3 Russians have several factories on the shores u* * ard are Comptroller's Bay and Admiralty, or Beering's, or Jh r akutat Bay, where it is generally believed that Beering first landeu mierica in 1741. In the reports of Beering's voyage, it is stated that he mouth of a large and rapid river was found on this part of the coast;, none such, however, has been discovered, though a considerable stream called by the Russians Reca Mednaia, (or Copper River,) empties into Comptroller's Bay at some distance from the ocean.

On this coast are several islands, of which the most extensive is Kodiak, at the entrance of Cook's Inlet, separated from Aliaska on the west by the Strait of Shellikof; its surface is rugged and mountainous, and it is indented by many deep bays, on one of which, called the Gulf of Chiniatskoy, on the east side of the island, is situated Saint Paul, one of the largest Russian settlements in America. South of Kodiak, near the southern extremity of Aliaska, are the Schumagin Islands, called after a seaman of Beering's ship, who died and was buried on one of them. Mount Saint Elias is on the northeast side of the bend, nearly under the 60th parallel of latitude ; its height is estimated at seventeen thousand feet, and that of Mount Fairweather, a little farther south, at fourteen thousand. They are both volcanic, as are nearly all the mountains in this part of America.

The region bounded on the west and south by the divisions of the American coast above described is believed to be a frozen waste, traversed in all directions by mountains, and utterly incapable of affording a support to a population except in the immediate vicinity of the ocean. It is used by the Russians only for the purposes of the fur trade, which is carried on at the cost of a dreadful sacrifice of comfort and of life ; and, as the animals yielding furs are daily diminishing in number, this part of the world must, no doubt, ere long be abandoned by all civilized persons.

VII. The Northtoest Archipelago is contained, as already stated, in a recess of the coast of the continent, between the 48th and the 58th parallels, (between which also extend the islands of Great Britain and Ireland on the western side of Europe.) This Archipelago was first minutely examined by British navigators, who have bestowed on the islands names derived almost exclusively from the lists of the royal family, the ministry, the parliament, the peerage, the army, and the navy of Great Britain ; none of which names are, however, or probably will be at any future period, used by the occupants of the islands. To present all these names would be a tedious and useless labor ; and little more will be attempted than to afford some idea of the principal groups.

King George the Third's Islands are the most northwestern ; the two largest of these are, respectively, called by the Russians who occupy them Chichagoff's and Baranoff's Islands. Near the western side of the latter, and divided from it by a narrow strait, is a small island, in the middle of which rises a beautiful conical peak, named by the Spaniards in 1775, Mount San Jacinto, and by the English under Cook, three years afterwards, Mount Edgecumb. On the southeast side of this strait, called by the Spaniards Port Remedios, by the British Norfolk Sound, and by the Russians the Gulf of Sitca, stands Sitca, or New Archangel, the capital of all the Russian possessions in America. It was establU ±<^j'^ - y i4,jliu.j uy nit; luust xcuowu u^^^ ^

.sand inhabitants, more than three-fourths of whou : t M tort mounts sixteen short eighteen-pounders, and ten long nine-pounders, and is garrisoned by about three hundred persons. The Admiralty Islands are between the first described group and the main land, being separated from the former by the Chatham Canal, and from the latter by Stephen's Passage, The part of the sea between these two groups and the continent on the north is called Cross Sound, from which the Lynn Canal, an extensive bay, stretches northward behind Mount Fairweather. South of the King George's and the Admiralty Islands are the groups of the Duke of York, the Prince of Wales, and Revillagigedo, (the last called after a Yiceroy of Mexico,) between which are Prince Frederick'' s Sound, the Duke of Clarence's Strait, and other passages.

All the islands above mentioned are north of the parallel of 54 degrees 40 minutes, which is the latitude of the southernmost point of the Prince of Wales's Islands, and are therefore all, with the coasts of the continent in their vicinity, among the territories on which the Russians claim the exclusive right of making settlements, in virtue of their treaties with the United States and Great Britain, as before stated at page 3.

Between the 52d and 54th parallels, extends a large island, of triangular shape, which will be found on the map, bearing the name of Queen Charlotte's, Or Washington's Island. Its western coast was discovered by the Spaniards in 1774; from which time to 1787 it was considered, like all the other islands of the Archipelago, as forming part of the continent. In the last mentioned year, Captain Dixon, commanding the merchant ship Queen Charlotte, of London, becoming convinced that it was an insulated territory, bestowed on it the name of his vessel ; but it was first circumnavigated in the summer of 1789, by Captain Gray, in the sloop Washington, of Boston, who, without knowing any thing of Dixon's voyage, called the country Washington's Island. It was the favorite resort of the early American fur-traders in the north Pacific ; and the manuscript Journal of Captain Ingraham, who commanded the brig Hope, of Boston, in that sea, from 1791 to 1793, contains minute descriptions and charts of several ports, particularly on its eastern side, which are not noticed in any published accounts or maps. The limits of this sketch do not admit of minute descriptions, or many interesting facts relative to the island in question might be related on the authority of Ingraham. He describes the soil and climate as being well adapted for agricultural purposes, particularly in the vicinity of Cummashawah Bay, a fine harbor on the east coast, in latitude of 53 degrees 3 minutes ; and of Hancock's River, on the north side, called by the Spaniards Port Estrada, which was after it had been surveyed and named by the captain of the brig Hancock, from Boston.

Pitt's, Burke's, and the Princess Royal groups, are composed of many small islands, situated very near the continent, east of Qxieen Charlotte's islands. On one of these, called Dundas Island, the British Hudson's Bay Company have a trading-post.

The largest and southernmost island in the northwest Archipelago, is that called Quadra and Vancouver's Island, extending, in its greatest length, from northwest to southeast about 200 miles, between the parallels of 48| and 51 degrees, and separated from the continent on the south and east by the aria of the sea called the Strait of Fuca. The spot on this

1 , island most worthy of note is Nootka Sound, an eating with the Pacific in latitude of 49 degrees 34 lm, excellent harbors for vessels in many places, particularly on the north side, about ten miles from the ocean. This place was for many years the chief rendezvous of the fur-traders on the northwest coast ; and some of the most important events in the history of that part of the world occurred there, as may be seen in the 6th and 7th chapters of this memoir. The name of Nootka was first applied by Cook, who believed it to be that employed by the natives ; no word has, however, since been found in use among them more nearly resembling Nootka than Ywquotl, their name for Friendly Cove. A few miles southeast from Nootka is another bay called Clyoquot; and further in the same direction, at the entrance of the Strait of Fuca, is a third called Nittinat, in which are many islands.

The Strait of Fuca extends between the island last described and the continent, from Cape Flattery, directly eastward, about one hundred and twenty miles, and thence northwest about two hundred and fifty miles, communicating with the ocean in the north through an entrance, called by the Americans Pintard's, and by the British Queen Charlotte's Sound. The southern part of the strait is about forty miles in width ; the part running northeast is in some places nearly as wide, but generally much narrower, and is filled with islands. This passage was discovered, in 1592, by Juan de Fuca, a Greek pilot, who declared that he ha'd sailed through it into the Atlantic ; his statement was, however, disproved in 1792 by Vancouver, Galiano, and Valdes, who surveyed it together, and determined that it was only a great sound. The island which it separates from the continent, in that year received its present long and inconvenient appellation, by agreement between Vancouver and the Spanish commandant, Quadra.

VIII. The parts of the continent contiguous to these islands have received from British navigators many names, such as New Norfolk, New Cornwall, Neiv Hanover, and Neio Georgia; all of which have become obsolete. The country north of the 58th parallel is almost unknown. Two large rivers, the Peace River and the Turnagain, flow from it eastward through the Rocky Mountains into the Mackenzie, which empties into the Arctic Sea ; another river, called the Stikine, has also been lately discovered entering the Pacific east of Duke of York's Island, in latitude of 56 degrees 50 minutes, which is said to be three miles wide at its mouth and one mile wide thirty miles higher up.

The country on the Pacific, between the 49th and 58th parallels, is usually distinguished by the British fur-traders as New Caledonia; and, from all accounts, it resembles the northern part of Scotland in its ruggedness, its lakes, and its barrenness. Its principal lakes are Stuart's, Babine, and Frazer's Lakes, all situated between the 54th and the 56th parallels. Babine Lake communicates with the Pacific by a large stream called Simpson's River; Frazer's and Stuart's Lakes are head- waters of Frazer's River, which flows from them nearly due south about four hundred miles, and enters the ocean in latitude of 49 degrees. The soil of New Caledonia is everywhere steril, very small portions only being fit for cultivation ; and the climate, though much milder than that of the dther countries of America between the same latitudes, is generally too severe for the production of the esculent grains and vegetables. The British Hudson's

,veral establishments for carrying on the fur trade which the principal are Fort Alexandria, on Frazer's •., abo \ , :ree hundred miles from the sea, and Fort Langly, at the mouth of tire same stream. From these, and other ports in New Caledonia, communications are maintained with Fort Vancouver, on the Columbia, by way of the rivers, and by steam and sail-vessels on the sea.

The coast of Oregon extends from the Strait of Fuca to Cape Mendocino ; it will be hereafter particularly described.

IX. Cape Mendocino presents two points running out into the ocean, about ten miles apart, of which the southernmost, in latitude of 40 degrees 19 minutes, is the highest and the most prominent.

From it the coast of California extends southeastward, about one thousand four hundred miles, to Cape San Lucas. On this coast are several harbors, of which the principal will be described.