10 Expedition of Esteban José Martínez Fernández y Martínez de la Sierra and Gonzalo López de Haro

We need to remember that while this expedition was developing, Spain joined the American Revolution as an ally of France. This precipitated the Anglo-Spanish war that would end in 1783 with the signing of the Treaty of Paris. This treaty, signed between Spain, France, and England, recognized the independence of the Thirteen Colonies of New England. Pedro Pablo Abarca de Bolea, Count of Aranda, who had signed said Treaty as the ambassador and plenipotentiary minister of Spain in Paris, upon his return to Madrid presented a secret memoir to King Carlos III, warning him about the independence of the English colonies in America and their potential expansion. His political clairvoyance and prophetic vision for the future are evident. In said memoir, which apparently was neglected by Carlos III and unknown by Carlos IV, the Count of Aranda warned the king about the expansionism of the Thirteen Colonies with the following words:

The independence of the English colonies has just been recognized, and this, for me, is a motive of fear and sorrow. This federal republic was born a pigmy, so to speak, and has needed the support of the force of two states as powerful as Spain and France to achieve its independence. The time will come when it will become a giant, and even a fearsome colossus in those vast regions. Then she will forget the benefits received from both powers and will not think of anything other than to enlarge. Its first step will be to take control of the Floridas to dominate the Gulf of Mexico. These concerns are, sir, too well founded and will become a reality in the next few years, if other more unfortunate events do not occur before in our Americas. A wise policy advises us to guard against the evils that threaten us.^[1]

The Count of Aranda was not mistaken, of course, as the United States would eventually expand westward. Two-thirds of New Spain’s current territories would be taken by the perceived Manifest Destiny of the United States of America. In any case, no expedition was sent to the Pacific Northwest at that time because of the war situation. Spain’s immediate needs had shifted, and expeditions would have to wait until after the signing of the Peace with England.

When Spain was ready to continue exploring, two ships were sent from the Port of San Blas with the goal of evaluating the activity of the Russians in the zone. This would be the expedition of Esteban José Martínez Fernández y Martínez de la Sierra and Gonzalo López de Haro, who were accompanied by the pilot José María Narváez, aboard the frigate Nuestra Señora del Rosario, alias La Princesa, and the packet liner San Carlos, alias El Filipino. They departed from San Blas on March 8th, 1788, and arrived on the Southwestern coast of Alaska in May. From there they sailed westward and in June localized the Russians, who traded furs on the island of Kodiak,where they also made contact with the Aleut natives. On Kodiak Island, Narváez met with the Russian supervisor Eustrati Ivanovich Delárov, a sailor of Macedonian origin who worked for the fur trading companies. He confirmed the existence of seven Russian trading posts on Alaska’s coast and Russia’s intent to take possession of the Nutka Strait (the west coast of Vancouver Island).

Following this encounter, the Hispanic expedition traveled east towards the island of Unalaska, where they again observed the Native Aleuts and another Russian post. The commander of the post confirmed their intention, ordered by Empress Catherine II, of taking possession of Nutka the following year by sending a fleet to establish the Russian dominion in those territories. Unalaska Island was the westernmost point of Hispanic expeditions in the Alaskan territory. After this encounter, Esteban and Gonzalo’s party headed south back to San Blas.

At San Blas (and after informing the Spanish authorities of Russia’s intentions in Alaska) Martínez resumed the command of a new expedition to occupy the island of Nutka, before Russia or Britain.  An interesting documentation originated about everything that had happened on this trip, including an anonymous report written in the packet liner San Carlos, telling the following:

(…) having sailed with all happiness until the first of April, the captain distributed clothes to people due to the cold weather: on the fifth, he gave [them] cloth to be used as hats, for some red and for others blue, and the 29th we reached 55 degrees, where we suffered severe winds (…) however, on May 16th we discovered land at 61 degrees, which some people said to be the port of Santiago, where we stayed for four days without being able to enter, both because of the winds and for the divided opinions on whether or not it was said port ( ..); we sailed for another two days and, on the day of Corpus, we arrived at where they claimed it was the port we were looking for; that day the boats went from one ship to another, and we were within sight of land and the port that they called Regla (…).^[2]

There were also multiple navigation diaries,^[3] and multiple reports issued by the viceroy of New Spain, Manuel Antonio Flores, informing about the expedition and the continuous conflicts that arose between the officers in charge.^[4] Among the documentation issued by the viceroy of New Spain are the notes that Esteban José Martínez and López de Haro exchanged in May of 1788, while one was aboard the Princesa frigate and the other onboard the San Carlos liner, disagreeing about where they were. This gave an idea of how difficult it was to know the exact location during those navigations. Thus, Martínez, at a latitude of 59 degrees and 8 minutes, defended the idea that it was the entrance to Prince William’s Cove:

It is the Comptroller Bay that Cook cites, I have given it the name of Floridablanca. The island we have to the S. and W. is the island of Kayes, a name given by Cook in the year 1778, for us it is the island of Carmen according to my map; the island of Montangu is the island of Santiago. Cook entered from the North East part of the island, and the Spaniards entered from where he departed ( ..) we have seen an island that delayed us at S.E.E., 5 degrees S. at noon ( ..); it was given the name of the island of Hixosa (…).^[5]

Meanwhile, López de Haro assured in his note that:

The entrance I told Your Grace was that of Prince William, I repeat, and not the Bay of Comptroller as you tell me in your official document and that the island we have to the S. and W. is the Cayes island by the English and Carmen for us. Because for this to be true, one of two things was necessary: either the latitude of said bay as Cook places it was wrong or the instruments we are using are completely wrong, since yesterday we observed a latitude of 60 degrees and 12 minutes, which places me within said bay, the same one you tell me that is Comptroller.^[6]

Despite this and other conflicts among officials and the difficulties suffered during the navigation, after this expedition Hispanic authorities clearly saw the importance of establishing a permanent base at the coast of Alaska.  In addition to the Russians, the British East India Company had set up a post in the Mowachaht village of the Yuquot, at the southernmost of the island of Nutka. They had named this place Friendly Cove, trying to establish a base in a strategic location both to occupy that territory and for trade. For this reason, in February of 1789, viceroy Manuel Antonio Flores, despite the history of conflicts that Martínez de la Sierra had had on the previous year’s trip, ordered him to depart to Nutka Bay. He was to establish there a permanent settlement that would guarantee the rights of the Spanish Monarchy in the region by completing the official annexation of the territory to the viceroyalty of New Spain. The Viceroy surely counted on him for being the only available official at that moment and also because he had volunteered himself for the expedition. It was decided that Martínez, aboard the Princesa frigate, would be accompanied again by the pilot Narváez, and by López de Haro.

Martínez fernández at Nutka

When Martínez arrived at Nutka on May 5th, he took possession of said territory and began to form a fort with 10 cannons, which would be called the Fort of San Miguel. Multiple barracks were made for the troops, both in the port located to the left and also at the entry. There he found three merchant ships: two from Boston that justified their presence in the port with the excuse of taking refuge from bad weather, for which Martínez let them leave, and one with a Portuguese flag, of convenience, called Iphigenia Nubiana, with a British captain and crew, and at least partially sponsored by merchant John Meares, whom Martínez arrested.

While Martínez settled in Nutka another British ship arrived, the Argonaut, commanded by Captain James Colnett. The Argonaut carried construction materials and Chinese workers on board. In an interview, the British captain, with evidently little diplomacy, told Martínez that he was obeying royal orders to establish a British base there. Martínez then indicated that he could not do so because that territory belonged to the Spanish Crown (since Juan Pérez had claimed possession of the bay in August, 1774 while he was searching for the Northwest Passage).

The British captain refused to subdue and after the discussion Martínez decided to arrest him and take over the British ships. A few days later two more British ships arrived, the Royal Princess sloop, commanded by Thomas Hudson who had the same pretensions as Colnett, and the Northwest America schooner. Martínez captured both arriving ships. The English ships were sent to San Blas, and Martínez quickly fell into disrepute due to his lack of diplomacy and political ability. When the seized ships arrived at the New Spain port, the Viceroy, Manuel Antonio Flórez, was about to be relieved by Count Revillagigedo, Juan Vicente de Güemes, who was greatly concerned about the situation because he feared another conflict with England.

The new viceroy had traveled from Cádiz to New Spain with a group of Navy officers that kept him informed of the difficult situation in the territories of the Northwest Coast of the Americas due to Russian and British progress throughout the area. Among Navy officials were the Lima natives: Manuel Quimper and Juan Francisco de la Bodega y Quadra. The latter had been named Commander of the Naval Department of San Blas.

On October 17th, 1789, the new viceroy took possession of his post. His first task was to find a solution to the international conflict that emerged from the capture of the English ships by Martínez. England’s warlike position became strengthened when John Meares, part of the commercial company that sent the captured ships to Nutka, returned to London and presented a memorial before the House of Commons. The memorial was full of false information. John Meares claimed to have bought land in Nutka from the Nuu-chah-nulth chief, named Macuina. Meares also accused Martínez of assassinating an Indian Chief, and enslaving traveling Chinese workers who were aboard the Colnett. John Meares used these claims to advocate for a war against Spain. This version of events (although falsified and exaggerated) was published as an instrument of propaganda to radicalize the position of the British. Spain’s secrecy with all documents and information related to their discoveries and possessions (Martínez’s Diary would not be published until 1943) influenced many contemporary writers, including some Spaniards, to accept Meares’ version.

Nevertheless, Mexican botanist José Mariano Mociño, who would travel three years later to the Northwest Coast, collected in his work Noticias de Nutka another version of the events that occurred. Mociño argued that Martínez, using false authority, requested passports and ordered the apprehension of the crew of the Portuguese ship before seizing their shipments. Moreover, the Bostonians Kendrick and Gray established a good relationship with Martínez, even declaring themselves as his friends; but the English, through Colnett, their captain, tried to persuade Martínez of previously acquired English rights over Nutka and of the supposed lands bought from Macuina (who denied it), trying to state their claim as owners of the island. Martínez then ordered the arrest of Colnett, an act that was not well received by Macuina nor his relative, Quelequem, the chief of Nutka. The conflict ended with the forced liberation of the English, who left offended and threatening, and on the discharge of Martínez’s temper on Quelequem through a salvo or shot that, according to Mociño, left this prince “floating on the waters and the blood staining the waters, which greatly saddened the Natives, [and] which threw on the fame of the Pilot of San Blas as the black stain of the abomination that is now the general view of him in the Northern Archipelago.”^[7]

After the events with Martínez in Nutka, and in the face of the imminent conflict to try to solve and reduce the tension, the Spanish authorities decided to free the English prisoners and to restore their ships. In addition, Martínez was ordered to abandon the fort of Nutka and return to San Blas. Thus, on May 11th, the Viceroy Count of Revillagigedo signed the exit passports of James Colnett and Thomas Hudson so they could leave the port of San Blas. On July 30th he wrote to Count of Floridablanca, Secretary of State, indicating that:

I will be very pleased if my resolution to declare the freedom of the Nutka vessels has been part of achieving the agreement in the differences raised between our Court and that of London, granting and satisfying their proposals without compromising decorum and sovereign authority, nor that of the Ministry. Captain Colnett has already set sail.^[8]

Nevertheless, the Viceroy Count of Revillagigedo, aware of the strategic value of Nutka, continued to defend the fortification of said port to be able to establish a settlement there permanently and safely. For this reason, in April 1790 he decided to send from the port of San Blas two of the ships seized from the English, the Argonaut liner and the Princess Royal sloop, in which Salvador Fidalgo and Manuel Quimper would travel, along with the Concepción frigate, which would sail under the command of Francisco de Eliza.^[9]

The Expedition of Salvador Fidalgo and Manuel Quimper

In this expedition, in addition to reconnoitering the port of Nutka and finishing the construction of the settlement of Santa Cruz and the fort of San Miguel, near Yuquot, in order to reaffirm the Spanish sovereignty of the island, the expedition members were also commissioned to explore the Strait of Juan de Fuca, as well as Prince William’s and Cook’s inlets. The fleet set sail on February 3rd and on April 5th the ships anchored in Nootka, where they tried to fortify themselves by building a new battery that would be occupied by soldiers of the First Free Company of Volunteers of Catalonia, under the command of Pedro Alberni, where on April 10th they raised the national flag.

From there Fidalgo was sent to the North and Quimper to the South. Fidalgo first sailed to the port of Principe Guillermo, arriving there at the end of May, to shortly after take possession of Cordova Bay (current Esquimalt Bay). He then continued north through the vicinity of Magdalena Island until anchoring in a cove to which they gave the name of Menéndez (probably the current Sheen Bay, at the end of Orca Bay). From there he went to a port located at 60 degrees and 40 minutes which he named Gravina (in the northeast area of the cove of Principe Guillermo), and later sailed south continuing the discoveries until he reached the Cook River and explored the coast until its entrance. Both in a small cove very near the mouth of the Revillagigedo port (on the southwest coast of the Kenai peninsula), and two miles further to the tip of Quadra, he Reconnoitered  several Russian settlements. He anchored nearby and noted in his Diary that in that area “the Indians were remarkably numerous and daring.”^[10] He then received news that the Russians had been on the Cook River since the year 1787.

On August 8th, Fidalgo left the port of Revillagigedo and three days later he anchored at Cabo de Dos Cabezas, and to the southwest of said cape he met again with Russians, this time established on the island of Kodiak, as well as with the native Aleuts (near present-day Old Harbor). Fidalgo was able to recognize the Russian establishment, learning that it had “nine thousand Indian friends and vassals of the Empress”, getting information about when Russians employed at Kodiak would be relieved, and that a year before a Russian war frigate had been lost in the area due to a strong storm.^[11] Soon after, he decided to start sailing back to the port of Nootka, but contrary winds prevented him from returning to said port, so, after holding a meeting with his crew he decided to return directly to Monterrey.

For his part, Quimper had to fulfill the mission of exploring the Strait of Juan de Fuca, and after spending a few days on the west coast of present-day Vancouver Island, in the Clayoquot Port, examining the waters of its strait and drawing a new map of it, he then went to the port of San Juan, in the northern coast of the strait’s mouth. Here the Natives gave him news of the presence of the English and had a meeting with Wickaninnish, chief of the Tla-o-qui-aht, inhabitants of the port of Clayoquot, and rival of the Indian chief of the Mowachaht of Yuquot, Macuina. He continued sailing along the island of Bodega y Quadra (later called Vancouver) until he reached a large bay, which he took possession of on June 23rd, 1790, calling it the port of Revillagidedo, in honor of the Viceroy of New Spain.

He continued his navigation naming geographical features and skirting the southern end of the island until arriving on the 30th to a place he named Rada de Valdés y Bazán, to later enter through the channel that he called De Fidalgo and return through the southern end of the strait, along the coast of the continent, until he took possession of the land of the bay that he called De Quimper. Toward the end of the mouth of the strait, he took possession of a bay that he named Núñez Gaona (the current Neah Bay, in the northwestern extreme of current Washington State). Noting its important strategic position “which was well-bottomed, sheltered from 1st, 2nd and 3rd quadrant winds, abundant with fish, particularly salmon, their lands fertile, and partly flat, irrigated by several streams of exquisite water (…).” Some men of the crew had to go down to look for a log in the nearby forests, to make a mast with it, and they did so without opposition from the Natives.^[12] This gave them some confidence, although a few days later a sailor who came down to wash clothes got away from the rest of the expedition members and was attacked. Quimper also learned then that that same year five foreign vessels had been there to trade in furs and that the captain of one vessel had been killed by the inhabitants of the said bay of Núñez Gaona, for which he noted in his diary that they were “bellicose, intrepid and thieves.” From there Quimper departed back to the port of Nootka, but like Fidalgo, the contrary winds made it difficult for him to navigate. After holding a meeting with the pilots, he decided to return directly to the port of Monterrey as well. Once there, he met with Fidalgo, and they both returned together to San Blas, from where they gave due account to the Viceroy, Count of Revillagigedo, of everything that had happened.^[13] Interesting plans and maps also resulted from this expedition.^[14]

Meanwhile, the climate of indignation in England caused by the news of the arrests carried out by Martínez became more and more acute, and there was already open talks of war between the two powers, so both Spain and England

began to mobilize their forces. The English Admiralty prepared its navy and a squadron of 29 ships set sail for Spain, while the Spanish fleet left Cádiz in search of them, although they did not meet each other. The government of Carlos IV, recently ascended to the throne, was willing to reject the British demands and go to war. For this Spain invoked the Family Pact and asked the France of Louis XVI for help, since without their support the position of the Hispanic monarchy was quite difficult. The French king, in compliance with his pacts with Spain, mobilized his Navy, a move which dissuaded the British from going to war. In addition to this, with the passing of the months, the popular indignation in England over the issue of the captured ships had been diminishing, thus resulting in a peaceful solution. On October 28th, 1790, the first Nootka Convention was signed in Madrid, by which both powers recognized that the other had the right to establish settlements in the disputed area. The agreement between Spain and England on the instructions to be given to the commissioners to carry out Article 1 of the Convention, relative to the restitution of land and buildings in Nootka, can be consulted in the Archivo Histórico Nacional.^[15]