cross, at its foot they planted a bottle filled with records, and then went through the form of taking possession of the soil for Spain. These were the first white men to set foot on the soil of the great Northwest. A little to the north lay the schooner Sonora. The Indians seemed friendly and wanted to trade for iron and copper. Quadra, needing wood and water, sent Boatswain Pedro Santa Ana with six men in a small boat to land. On reaching shore the boat was immediately surrounded by 300 savages. Two of the sailors jumped into the sea and were drowned. The others were instantly murdered and the boat was torn to pieces for the metal fastenings. Quadra was furious, and wanted to land with thirty men to punish the savages. Heceta and the other officers decided against this, and Quadra was finally allowed to proceed on his journey. There seems to have been a secret agreement between the two captains to defeat the junta or council of officers, for at the first storm at sea the vessels parted and Quadra went north to carry on a wonderful work in his little sloop as far as 58 degrees of north latitude. He kept at the work until he and his men were stricken down with the scurvy. Bodega bay, just north of San Francisco, was discovered and named in honor of the brave captain. Upon parting with Quadra, Heceta sailed southward. Quadra had I called the island where his men were murdered "Isla de las Dolores," the Island of Sorrows. Like troubles gave it a similar name in later years, for to this day it is called Destruction island. Nearing this place Heceta tried in vain to punish the savages. On August 17th he discovered a bay with signs of a river, which he called "Bahia de la Asuncion.” The north cape he called "San Roque," and the south one he named "Cabo Frondoso." He was unable to explore his discovery, for he did not have well men enough to hoist the anchor if he should once cast it. Later the Spaniards called the bay "Entrada de Heceta." Seventeen years later the river was actually discovered by a Yankee, who named it Columbia, after his vessel.

In 1789 Estavano Martinez in the Princessa, and Gonzalo Lopez in the San Carlos, sailed to the northwest coast. They were instructed to conciliate the natives, take along friars, erect buildings for a colony and fortifications for defense and sovereignty, and to treat all Russians and Englishmen courteously but firmly. The San Carlos was to explore the coast between

50 and 55 degrees of north latitude. They arrived at San Lorenzo on May 6, 1789, and changed the name of the place to Santa Cruz de Nutka. At first Martinez obeyed his instructions by treating the Englishmen with courtesy, but later he stirred up trouble which culminated in the Nootka treaty of October 28, 1790, which practically decided that our neighbor to the north should be a British Columbia instead of a Spanish Columbia. On May 14, 1789, he seized the Iphigenia, Captain Douglas, but on May 26th he seems to have regretted his rashness, for he returned the vessel entirely refitted, and Captain Douglas gave him a signed document stating that he had been properly treated and agreeing to turn over a new sloop and to pay the price of his own vessel if it was found that she had been a proper prize to the Spaniards. The drafts were found to be of no value, and the sloop North West America was seized upon arrival, as was also the Argonaut, Captain Colnett. These vessels were taken to San Blas, Mexico, but were later restored in good condition to their owners, and the crews were paid at the rates prevailing in the Spanish navy. The whole proceeding was witnessed by two American captains, who gave testimony upholding the Spaniards, but England forced the issue and won.

In the year, 1790 three Spanish captains visited this northwest coast. They were Francisco Elisa, Salvador Fidalgo and Alfarez Manuel Quimper. By the 10th of April they had all arrived at Nootka and went through the formal act of taking possession of the land. This was rather bold, considering that Spain and England were preparing for what seemed sure war over the troubles precipitated by Martinez the year before. On May 4th Fidalgo started for his work of exploring the northern coasts. He returned to San Blas on November 14th. On May 31st Elisa had sent Quimper in the Princessa Real (the Spanish name for the English sloop Princess Royal, which was to have been returned to Captain Colnett, but which was used for explorations and was finally delivered to Colnett by Quimper at the Hawaiian islands in 1791), to explore the Straits of Juan de Fuca. H. H. Bancroft, Vol. XXVII, page 242, reproduces his map, showing a number of names that have since disappeared. He found the mouth of Admiralty inlet and called it "Ensenada de Camaano, a name that still survives at a different place, on the island between Whidby island and the mainland. Port Dis

covery was first seen by Quimper and named "Porto de la Bodega y Quadra." Dungeness he called Dungeness he called "Porto y Bahia de Quimper," taking to himself an honor that was shattered two years later by Vancouver. Rosario straits he called "Boca de Fidalgo," which name we also find shifted to an island. His name "Canal de Lopez de Haro" we still have with us at its original place, but in shortened form. In the more complete map by Elisa for 1791 is shown the name "Porto de Nuestra Senora de los Angeles." It is quite likely that that was one of Quimper's names. It still survives as Port Angeles.

Captain Elisa, with his garrison, had wintered at Nootka, while Quimper being driven south from Nunez Gaona (Neah bay), returned to Monterey. Early in 1791 Elisa was joined by Guyraldo, Arriago and Narvaez. Being instructed to explore from Mt. St. Elias to Port Trinidad, Elisa set out boldly enough, but contrary winds kept him in the south. So he explored Clayoquot sound and the Straits of Juan de Fuca. He named many places, but how thankful should the American schoolboy be that those names have not endured! When he is told to study the Gulf of Georgia, how would he like to call it "Gran Canal de Nuestra Senora del Rosario Marinera?" Elisa explored that great body of water as far north as Texada island, and wrote to the Viceroy of Spain in Mexico: "It appears that the oceanic passage so zealously sought by foreigners, if there is one, cannot be elsewhere than by this great channel." He was referring to the long-sought water passage from the Atlantic to the Pacific. It was the same passage that John Smith and others sought by sailing up the James, the York and Potomac rivers from the Atlantic side.

On August 13th two corvettes under command of Alejandro Malaspina arrived at Nootka. He was on a tour of the world for scientific research. His name is written on one of the great glaciers of Alaska. Arriving in Mexico he loaned two of his officers, Dionisio Galiano and Cayetano Valdes, to Viceroy Gigedo, who sent them north in 1792 to explore the lands heretofore casually visited. They resurveyed the Gulf of Georgia to Texada island. On June 21st they met Vancouver and exchanged courtesies. Galiano told Vancouver that he had on the day before noted the presence of a river flowing from the north. Vancouver assured him that there was no such river in that vicinity.

About fourteen years after that Simon Fraser had his name written permanently upon the great river that Galiano came so near discovering. These two Spanish captains sailed north through the Gulf of Georgia, and thus demonstrated that Nootka was a harbor on an island. On their way south they looked in at Entrada de Heceta" to see if it really was in that place where the Yankee Captain Gray had that year discovered and named the Columbia river.

During this same year, 1792, Jacinto Camaano had explored around Queen Charlotte island. Dixon Entrance he named "Entrada de Perez." And during this year Fidalgo returned and built a sort of fortification at Neah bay, which was abandoned inside of a year. The late Judge James G. Swan, of Port Townsend, found at Neah bay some old bricks which are thought to have been remnants of that old temporary Spanish fortification.

The year 1792 had also been fixed as the date for the commissioners of Spain and England to meet at Nootka to carry out the terms of the treaty of 1790. England's commissioner was Captain George Vancouver, while the crown of Spain was to be represented by Don Juan Francisco de la Bodega y Quadra, the captain of the little Sonora in 1775, who had steadily climbed to the top rung of his profession on the Pacific coast. The two men became warm friends, but could not agree as to the terms of the treaty. They sent home for further instructions, but the Spanish Don died in 1794 and the English captain sailed home. Their places were taken by General Jose Manuel de Alava and Lieutenant Thomas Pierce. On March 23, 1795, these two, at Nootka, hauled down simultaneously the flags of their respective sovereigns and Nootka was abandoned forever. From that day

to this the Spanish flag has never fluttered as an emblem of sovereignty over lands north of California.

Russian Voyages.

Russia's share in the work of discovering and occupying North America was confined almost wholly to Alaska, and yet her contact with Northwestern history is of sufficient importance to demand attention in any sketch of that development.

When Michael Romanoff, of the National Party, came to power in Russia in 1613 the wild Cossacks had already begun to roam over the Siberian steppes and plains in search of walrus

ivory, gold and furs. Fossil ivory from the tusks of the extinct. mammoth was discovered in 1639 along the banks of the rivers and coasts of the Pacific. From 1650 to 1700 the Russians had explored the coast of the Pacific along the Kamchatka peninsula. From 1682 to 1725 Russia was ruled by her greatest monarch Peter the Great.

After enlarging and strengthening his domain this czar desired to learn the eastern limits of his empire. He planned an elaborate expedition to explore the coasts and especially to learn if Asia and America were united. The expedition was to be commanded by one of his imported naval officers - Vitus Bering, a Dane. The American coasts were to be explored until there was found a settlement by some European power. The harbors of Asia were also to be visited.. Peter died in 1725 and was succeeded by his widow, Catherine I (1725-1727), who furthered his plans. Peter II (1727-1730) was the monarch under whom the expedition actually did its work.

Following the elaborate instructions of Peter's plan, Bering made his way with great difficulty to the Pacific. The winter of 1727-28 was spent getting across the Kamchatka peninsula, as it was not then known that the Okhotsk sea was an arm of the ocean. He arrived on the lower Kamchatka river on March 11, 1728, and began the construction of the vessel which he called the Gabriel. The timber he hauled to the shipyard by dogs; tar they prepared themselves, while the rigging, cables and anchors they had dragged for 2,000 miles over one of the most desolate portions of the earth. Their provisions were scant and consisted of fish oil, dried fish and spirits distilled under Cossack directions from "sweet straw."

On July 9th they started down the river, and on the 13th the sails were hoisted for the cruise. The ship's crew consisted of forty-four men, and they were rather curiously apportioned to the work as follows: One captain, two lieutenants, one second lieutenant, one physician, one quartermaster, eight sailors, one saddler, one rope maker, five carpenters, one bailiff, two Cossacks, nine soldiers, six servants, one drummer and two interpreters.

They sailed mostly along the Asiatic coast, and when at the narrowest part of the strait the weather must have been cloudy, as they did not see the American shore. They reached 67 de