This was

It

reaching Canton late in the summer of 1784. the beginning of American national trade with China, and more American merchants engaged in it year by year. was conducted, however, under one disadvantage-the costly cargoes purchased in China had to be paid for mainly in specie, America furnishing few goods which the Celestials demanded, and those of small value. If by some means ships could be freighted as richly on the outward as on the homeward voyage, the profits of exchange would be greatly increased. In the discussion of this problem Ledyard's plan of taking cargoes of furs from the northwest coast to Canton to pay for the silks and teas, was adopted.

The project of thus connecting the north Pacific trade with the China trade was first successfully undertaken in 1787 by a company of Boston merchants headed by Mr. J. Barrell. Two vessels were fitted out, the Columbia and the Lady Washington, with John Kendrick and Robert Gray as captains. They left Boston October 1st, rounded Cape Horn in April, 1788, and in September reached Nootka Sound, having traded with the natives on the Oregon coast, and incidentally noted on the way evidence of the existence of Fuca's Strait, which Cook had pronounced mythical. The vessels remained at Nootka during the winter of 17881789, and in the spring began the collection of furs along the coast, securing a large number of sea otter skins, giving in exchange for valuable pelts merest trifles of beads and other ornaments. Late in the summer Gray, who had taken charge of the Columbia for this purpose, sailed for China, sold the cargo of furs, loaded his vessel with tea, and returned to America by way of Good Hope, reaching Boston in August, 1790. This is noteworthy as the first voyage on which the American flag was carried round the world. It definitely inaugurated the American fur trade with the northwest coast which now became a matter of deep interest to the commercial classes of the eastern cities.

Important as was this trade for its immediate results, the incidental effects were of still greater interest. Gray, after

discharging the cargo of tea at Boston, was sent back to the Pacific in September, 1790, and reached Clayoquot June 5, 1791. The remainder of the summer was spent in trading and exploring along the coast, both north and south. Gray then went into winter quarters at Clayoquot, where he built the sloop Adventure, and in April, 1792, set out with the Columbia and the new vessel in search of more furs.

Taking a southern course, Gray in the Columbia on the 7th of May entered a harbor in latitude forty-six degrees fifty-eight minutes, which now bears his name. On the 11th of the same month he crossed the bar at the entrance of a great stream in latitude forty-six degrees ten minutes, and anchored ten miles within the capes which guard the entrance to the river. "Vast numbers of natives," as his log-book informs us, came alongside the ship in their canoes. During ten days the Columbia remained in the river, all hands apparently being kept busy filling the water casks, making and repairing irons, paying the sides of the vessel with tar, and repainting her. Besides, a trade was conducted with the Indians, and Gray made a brief exploration on shore. On the 14th, the ship sailed "twelve or fifteen miles" farther up the river; on the 19th Captain Gray gave this stream the name of "Columbia's River," and next day sailed out over the bar.

This was one of those fortunate occurrences which mark the path of our development as a continental power, for Gray was the representative of a group of Boston merchants interested in the profits of the fur trade, and with him exploration was an incident, not a primary motive. On the other hand, both Spain and Great Britain had, during the preceding seventeen years, sent several government expeditions to the northwest coast with the express objects of exploration and discovery. One of the Spanish navigators, Heceta, in 1775, discovered the bay at the mouth of Columbia River, but did not enter the stream itself. Cook, in 1778, passed up the coast from forty-four

degrees, without suspecting the existence of the river. The commercial adventurers of Great Britain, following in the wake of Cook, were likewise denied the glory of this epochmaking discovery, although Meares, in 1788, saw the cape San Roque of Heceta, and called the haven within the capes "Deception Bay." He also renamed the northern cape Disappointment." But Meares declares: "We can now with safety assert that no such river as Saint Roc exists, as laid down on Spanish charts."

Lastly, just before Gray's discovery there came to these shores the great English captain, Vancouver, dispatched with two vessels to the Pacific in 1791, to map the coast from thirty to sixty degrees, and seek a passage to the Atlantic. On the 27th of April, 1792, this navigator noted "the appearance of an inlet, or small river, the land behind it not indicating it to be of any great extent; nor did it seem accessible for vessels of our burden" on account of the breakers across the opening. The inlet was recognized as that which was called by Meares "Deception Bay," and Vancouver thought there were "some streams falling into the bay, or into the opening north of it, through the low land. Not considering this opening worthy of more attention" he continued northward. On the 29th of April Vancouver spoke the Columbia, and in answer to inquiries addressed to Captain Gray was informed that on an earlier voyage signs of a great river had been seen in latitude fortysix degrees ten minutes, but that it had not been entered on account of the strength of the current. The Englishman showed what he thought of this news by writing in the ship's journal: "I was thoroughly convinced, as were also most persons of observation on board, that we could not have passed any safe navigable opening, harbor, or place of security for shipping on this coast, from Cape Mendocino [between forty and forty-one degrees] to the promontory of Classet [between forty-eight and forty-nine degrees]; nor had we any reason to alter our opinions, notwithstanding that theoretical geographers have thought proper to assert

in that space the existence of arms of the ocean communicating with a mediterranean sea, and extensive rivers with safe and convenient ports."

This self-confidence no doubt gave place to chagrin when, a few weeks later, Vancouver learned for a certainty that the great River of the West had actually been discovered, entered and named by the Yankee trader, and that he had missed a unique opportunity of establishing claims to the northwest territory for the British king and people.

Vancouver learned of Gray's exploit from the Spanish navigator, Cuadra, and after surveying the Strait of Juan de Fuca, and the waters of the inland sea with which it communicates, Vancouver sent Lieutenant Broughton to examine the Columbia. Broughton entered the river on the 20th of October, sailed to a point about one hundred miles from its mouth, and returned again into the Pacific November 10th. Vancouver and Broughton thereupon sought to establish Great Britain's claim to the land drained by the Columbia, insisting that the American captain, Gray, had not seen the river proper, but only the inlet at its mouth. This was a distinction which seems not to have been accorded much weight in the international debate on the Oregon question a generation later. In that long dispute the discovery and naming of the river by Gray always formed the first in the series of claims by which the United States sought to maintain her right to the sovereignty of the Oregon country. Had America done nothing further to strengthen her position, Gray's discovery would not have been sufficient basis for our national claim, but by a fortunate combination of circumstances several things were achieved within twenty years after 1792, which established the American hold upon the region of the Columbia. Of these the most noteworthy were the exploration of the river valley by Lewis and Clark in 1804-1806, and the founding of Astoria, with other trading posts, on its banks in 1811-1813.

CHAPTER III

THE LEWIS AND CLARK EXPEDITION

AFTER Gray's discovery of the Columbia, the history of American exploration toward the Pacific ceased to be a matter of mere casualty or accident, and under the wise direction of Thomas Jefferson became a matured feature of public policy. Jefferson's interest in the West had two sources. It arose naturally from the fact that he was born on what was then the Virginia frontier, fronting the West, his father being one of the earliest settlers in the Charlottesburg district of the Piedmont region. When the frontiersmen began to cross the mountains into Kentucky, Jefferson had entered the public service, and as a member of the legislature of Virginia or as governor of that commonwealth, duty required him to take an interest in the condition, hopes, and prospects of those pioneers.

But from another point of view Jefferson's interest in the West was the result of the philosophical inclination of his mind. Restless, curious, enthusiastic, Jefferson never was able to lose himself wholly in public affairs, but even in the busiest seasons of official life found time for a wide variety of scientific and philosophical researches. He was one of the leading spirits in the American Philosophical Society, which under the eighteenth century interpretation of that title, undertook the investigation of a variety of subjects, gathering information about geography, natural and physical science, history, anthropology, etc.