E XPLORATION
OF THE
PACIFIC N ORTHWEST
T HE F IRST V ISITORS

The first non-Indians to the area probably
came from either China or Japan.

More than likely they were blown off course
and came to rest on North America.

Chinese documents tell of Hui San, a Buddhist
monk, who probably sailed to the Pacific
Coast in the year 499.

None of the groups established permanent
settlements.
K EEP
IN MIND …

One of the largest driving forces for
exploration was the search for a Northwest
Passage.

It was a route that would save time, money
and held the possibility
of finding new lands.

Explorers were highly
funded by European
royalty to find this
elusive passage.
S PANISH E XPLORERS

The Spanish may have been the first to purposefully
sail ships along the Pacific Coast.

Juan de Fuca claimed in 1598 that Spain had hired
him to sail in the Pacific and that he had found a wide
strait.

European mapmakers began calling this area the
Strait of Juan de Fuca.

180 years later Juan Perez sailed to Alaska and
claimed the territory for Spain.

Finally, in 1775 Bruno de Hezeta claimed the coast of
modern day Washington for Spain.
W HY D IDN ’ T S PAIN S ETTLE
THE N ORTHWEST ?
1.
Spanish crews were very busy harvesting
pearls off the western coast of Mexico and
California.
2.
There was no surface mineral wealth- no gold
or silver to be harvested.
3.
There were no large populations to enslaves.
4.
The coastline was steep and rugged and
made easy development very difficult.
J AMES C OOK AND THE
B RITISH

An experienced explorer, Cook had already
been around the world twice, in both
directions.

He sailed on two ships, the Resolution and the
Discovery in 1776.

Seeing the Spanish already at Nootka Sound,
(modern day Vancouver Island) Cooks crew
gave up and traded trinkets for warm Sea
Otter pelts that worked great for clothes and
bedding in the poor climate.
S OFT G OLD CHANGES THE
W ORLD !!!

Eventually Cook sailed back to the Sandwich
Islands (Hawaiian Islands) and was killed by
natives.

His crew sailed to China where they were
delighted to find the Chinese paid high prices
for otter pelts.

While Cook failed, his efforts spawned the
lucrative fur trade and so brought the first
European settlements to Washington.
D OWNFALL OF THE S EA O TTER

Between 1750 and 1790 thousands of sea otters
were killed for their furs.

Almost all of the otters were taken by explorers
and trappers before beaver trapping really got
underway.

Why the need? Chinese people used the furs for
blankets and coats during the bitter winters.

The trade of otter furs only stopped when their
were not enough otters to make the trips to get
them worthwhile.

In 1977, the U.S Fish and Wildlife Service placed
the sea otter on the Endangered species list.
N OOTKA S OUND C ONTROVERSY

Spain feared America’s efforts to find western
seaports, so in an effort to protect it’s
interests, it built Fort San Miguel.

Eventually, the Spanish, British, Americans
and Russians all wanted to profit from the fur
trade.

Since both Spain and Britain had claimed
Nootka Sound, George Washington feared
being pulled into a war by Britain.

Eventually, Spain ceded and Britain took
complete control of the Oregon Country.
R OBERT G RAY

In 1792, after hearing of the profits from fur
trading, Gray left Boston for the Pacific Ocean.

Once he and his crew reached the Pacific they
discovered what seemed to be a large river,
but could not enter into it.

Because of this they sailed on to a large inlet
“which had the very good appearance of a
harbor.” (Gray’s Harbor!!!!)

Later they would go back and make it into the
river, naming it the Columbia and claiming it
and all it’s land on either side for America.
A MERICAN F UR T RADERS

The Pacific Fur Company, started by John
Jacob Astor, built Fort Astoria to control the
Columbia River for the United States.

They struggled through many great ordeals
and eventually firmly established America’s
“ownership” of the coast of Oregon.

They traded with Indians in the region, took
furs to China,, bought Chinese silk, spices, and
rugs and then sailed to New York to sell them.
T HE H UDSON ’ S B AY C OMPANY

In 1821, the British Hudson’s bay company
controlled the majority of the fur trade in Canada
and the Oregon Country.

The HBC chose Dr. John McLoughlin to head their
Oregon Country division.

McLoughlin built a new fort at the mouth of the
Willamette and called it Fort Vancouver.

The fort contained a hospital, a dairy, herds of
cattle, a sawmill and a gristmill to grind grain.

Fort Vancouver was a trading post, not a military
fort. It was the main source of supplies and
information for early trappers, missionaries, and
settlers.
V OYAGEURS

Traders used canoes to move up and down
the rivers.

The men who paddled the canoes were
French-speaking Canadians called voyageurs.

The voyageurs
became famous for
their strength, their
colorful dress, and
the songs they sang
paddling down the
rivers.
F URS , F ORTS
AND
FARMS

The main purpose of the forts was trading furs.

Trappers killed animals for their furs, while
Indians brought furs to trade for glass beads,
muskets and metal objects.

By this time, around the 1830’s, beaver pelts –
called a plew – was in high demands for hats.

By the time silk hats replaced beaver hats, the
beaver in the Pacific Northwest was nearly
extinct.

The HBC set up farming operations to supply it’s
trappers and traders with necessary products.
T HE
FUR TRADE ENDS

By the late 1840’s the fur era was over.

All of the fur-bearing
animals in the Pacific
Northwest were gone.

Pioneers were now
beginning to move into
the area and used the
help of the forts and
trappers to help them
get along in the frontier
territory.