HISTORY OF EDUCATION IN Chapter I The Period of Discovery and Exploration 1. Late Discovery In the present state of universal geographical knowledge of the most minute details regarding almost every spot on the globe-even the polar regions-it seems almost incredible that the northwest quarter of the United States was such a terra incognita until the nineteenth century was well launched. Until after the American Revolution probably no white man had ever set eyes upon any portion of the region between the Rocky Mountains and the Pacific and north of 37° 48′, the latitude of San Francisco. Probably no white man set foot upon this terrain until 1775. Reference to earliest maps discloses the greatest ignorance concern. ing the extent of this vast empire. Many of the geographic features were matters of pure imaginative conjecture and those about which some actual knowledge existed were so distorted in their relative locations that one can scarcely recognize them. 2. Search for the Northwest Passage to China From the time of Columbus for nearly three centuries there was a belief that somewhere on the Continent of America there was a continuous body of navigable water connecting the Atlantic and the Pacific. Such a body of water would provide a short route from Europe to China and the rest of the Orient. All the seafaring nations, especi ally England and Spain, sent out numerous expeditions in search of this supposed connecting link in the waterways. A story gained currency that in 1592 Juan de Fuca made an expedi tion and discovered such a strait leading to an inland sea. The inlet was said to be between the forty-seventh and forty-eighth degrees of latitude. There is no strait at that exact location and the account is disbelieved by the majority of historians, including Bancroft' and Meany.2 Sir Francis Drake.-The first record of the proximity of a white man to the shores of Washington is from the log book of Sir Francis Drake. On his famous buccaneering expedition in 1579 he claimed to have reached 48° north latitude. This is not absolutely authentic, but in all probability he cruised the waters washing the shores of Oregon and Washington. If his report is correct he was in the vicinity of Clallam County, Wash., nearly due west of the city of Everett. Bancroft, however, says that Drake was the first discoverer of the coast from Cape Mendocino to Cape Blanco, but no farther north. This would include only a small portion of the southwestern Oregon coast and none of the coast of Washington.3 3. Exploration of the Pacific Coast Juan Perez.-In 1774 on June 11, Juan Perez sailed from Monterey, Mexico, under the Spanish flag, cruising for some months along the west coast of what is now California, Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia. He was instructed to go as far north as 60°, pick out the best places for eventual settlements, rear crosses, and plant bottles containing records that would later establish Spanish claims. He evidently went only to latitude 55° and then sailed southward. Here he sighted land which he named Point Santa Margarita. Bancroft says that "this is the first undoubted discovery of the territory herein designated as the northwest coast." On August 7, 1773, they discovered a harbor at 49°30' which they named San Lorenzo. This harbor is probably the one known now as Nootka Sound on the west coast of Vancouver Island, and which figured so prominently in the settlement of the northwest boundary question.5 On resuming the southw rd voyage they sighted "on the 10th or 11th of August a lofty mountain covered with snow in latitude 48°7', which he named Santa Rosalia. This is supposed to be Mount Olympus, Wash., in the Coast Range." Quadra and Heceta.-In 1775 another Spanish expedition was sent northward along the west coast of the mystery country. The schooner 1 Bancroft, Hubert Howe. The works of Hubert Howe Bancroft, vol. XXVII: History of the Northwest Coast, vol. I, pp. 70-81. Meany, Edmond S. History of the State of Washington, p. 15. Bancroft, op. cit., vol. I, p. 145. 'Bancroft, op. cit., vol. XXVII, p. 151. Bancroft, op. cit., vol. I, p. 155. Meany, op. cit., p. 22 and Bancroft, op. cit., p. 156. Santiago was under command of Bruno Heceta with Perez as pilot and second in command. The Sonora was commanded by Bodega y Quadra. On July 14 Heceta landed at a point 47°30'. They erected a cross and planted a sealed bottle at the foot containing a record of the event. "This", says Meany, "was the first known time that civilized man had touched foot to the soil of this State" (Washington).7 Because the Indians killed six of Quadra's sailors he named the place Isla de Dolores or Island of Sorrows. The name was later changed to Destruction Island. The place was evidently at the mouth of the Hoh River. Bancroft says, "Thus the whole extent of the northwest coast from latitude 42° (the eventual boundary between California and Oregon) and 55° was explored and formally taken possession of for Spain by Perez, Heceta, and Quadra, in 1774-75."8 Captain Cook.—Although Capt. James Cook never anchored at any point on the coast of Washington or Oregon his cruises in the waters in close proximity to their shores were of vast significance in the ultimate discoveries, the development of the fur trade and finally of settle. ment. "Cook in his third and last voyage, coming from the Sandwich Islands, of which he was the discoverer, on March 7, 1778, sighted the northern seaboard in latitude 44°33'." This was off the southwestern shore of the present State of Oregon. When Cook sailed from England he knew nothing definitely of what the Spanish navigators had accomplished, although he was aware that they had visited the northern coast. He was commissioned to try to find the water route through America by Hudson's Bay or by other routes farther north. He was instructed to avoid encroachment upon Spanish dominions, or trouble with any foreigners. His definite search for the inland passage was not to begin until reaching latitude 65°, although he was to cruise the coast from 45° onward. The English Government offered a reward of 20,000 pounds for the discovery of an inland passage to the Atlantic north of 52°. For 6 days he was in sight of land on the southwest coast of Oregon and gave names to several capes, including Foulweather, Perpetua, and Gregory. On resuming his northward cruise he again sighted the coast in latitude 47°5' on March 22, 1778. In latitude 48°15′ he discovered a cape which he named Cape Flattery. His own words which follow explain the apparent appropriateness of the name. "Between this 'Meany, op. cit., p. 23. Bancroft, op. cit., vol. I, p. 166. island or rock and the northern extreme of the land there appeared to be a small opening which flattered us with hopes of finding a harbour. These hopes lessened as we drew nearer; and, at last, we had some reason to think that the opening was closed by low land. On this account I called the point of land to the north of it Cape Flattery." 10 Those familiar with the northwest coast readily recognize that Cape Flattery is the most northwest point of the present State of Washington and that this cape is at the southern side of the mouth of the Strait of Juan de Fuca. Strangely enough, Captain Cook did not discern this strait, although searching for an inward passage. Upon reaching Nootka to the north, when he landed he recorded in his log book, "It is in this very latitude where we now were that geographers have placed the pretended strait of Juan de Fuca. But we saw nothing like it; nor is there the least probability that even any such thing ever existed." "1 Captain Cook remained at Nootka for a month. While there he studied the surrounding locality, appraising its products and gaining an acquaintance with the natives. Although he had missed the strait, the most important objective, his accurate descriptions later published were of great value in subsequent developments. Not much had be. come known to the world at large through the Spanish discoveries because they were so tardy in publishing. Cook took with him a small quantity of furs whose values soon became known in China and Siberia. This established the beginning of the great fur trade which for a century was one of the incentives of all American and English expeditions to this region. Cook returned for winter quarters to the Sandwich Islands (Hawaiian), where he was killed by the natives. Captain Barclay.-In 1787 Captain Barclay (sometimes spelled Berkely) of the Austrian East India Company, landed at Nootka in June. After a period of trading he coasted southward. He entered the mouth of a river in latitude 47°43'. Six of his men who went ashore were killed by the Indians. He named the river Destruction River. This river was just opposite Quadra's Isla de Dolores. The river now is known as the Hoh River. Barclay's wife was with him and was the first civilized woman to visit these northwest shores.12 4. Cruising in the Puget Sound Lt. John Meares.-In 1788 Lt. John Meares, a retired officer of the British Navy, landed at Nootka and remained there some months building a small vessel and trading with the Indians. Sailing southward, he 10 Cook, James. A Voyage to the Pacific Ocean, 1784. vol. II, p. 263. 11 Meany, op. cit., p. 24. 13 Bancroft, op. cit., vol. I, p. 182. |