Morning of Fire

by Scott Ridley

  Two seamen “seduced”: James King, January 11, 1780, journal entry in Cook and King, Voyage, vol. 3, 441.

  The Harriet had gone out: Samuel Eliot Morison, The Maritime History of Massachusetts, 1783–1860, 44.

  “superior to any the country enjoys”: Barrell, “Annotations on Business.”

  15 Barrell took four shares: Bulfinch, Life and Letters, 65.

  hundreds of ships: Morison, Maritime History, 31–32.

  16 both had risked their lives: Joseph Barrell was a member of the Sons of Liberty, and financed and provisioned privateers. John Kendrick owned and mastered privateers.

  17 It would be the first circumnavigation: Joseph Barrell, “Orders Given Captain John Kendrick of the Ship Columbia for a Voyage to the Pacific Ocean, 1787.” Also Shea and Stiles, “Explorations of the Northwest Coast.”

  If land could be purchased: Barrell included the purchase of lands in his orders to Kendrick; and in a letter to Thomas Jefferson of March 28, 1792, accompanying five deeds, Kendrick said he had been led to believe that Congress would authorize the purchase.

  18 he was currently mastering: Advertisements and shipping news in Boston newspapers show the regularity of Kendrick’s embarking and returning. See, for example, “Entries,” Massachusetts Centinel 6, no. 4 (September 30, 1786), 15; “Entries,” Massachusetts Centinel 6, no. 23 (December 6, 1786), 91; and “For Charleston, South Carolina, the Brigt. Charletown Packet, John Kendrick, master,” Massachusetts Gazette 6, no. 288 (December 19, 1786), 4.

  Barrell sent his partner John Pintard: For date of Pintard letter, see Hill, Journals, 514.

  The following weekend: Ibid., 516–17.

  18 “bound on a voyage”: Congress passed the Northwest Ordinance of 1787 to establish the process for forming a territorial government and creating new states on July 13, 1787.

  On Monday, September 24: Hill, Journals, 516–17.

  19 The command ship: Samuel Deane, History of Scituate, Massachusetts, 20.

  20 fitting out for sea: The armament of the Columbia was noted in a letter of Blas Gonzales to Viceroy Teodoro de Croix, August 1, 1788. The armament of the Lady Washington was noted by Estevan José Martinez in Diary of the Voyage …, 75.

  News of the voyage appeared: See, for example, “Boston, August 13,” Massachusetts Spy 3, no. 20 (August 16, 1787), 265; Massachusetts Centinel 8, no. 4 (September 29, 1787), 15; “Extract from the Journal of Congress: Monday, September 24, 1787,” Charleston Columbian Herald, no. 326 (October 22, 1787), 2.

  Signing on were: For a list of crew members, see Columbia Papers, Massachusetts Historical Society. Background on the crew is from various genealogical sources.

  22 On Friday, September 28: The dates and actions of the ships’ preparation are noted in Robert Haswell’s manuscript, A Voyage Round the World Onboard the Ship Columbia-Rediviva and Sloop Washington, 1–2.

  “The evening was spent”: Ibid., 2.

  Barrell presented Kendrick: Barrell, “Orders Given Captain John Kendrick.”

  CHAPTER TWO

  26 Lord Anson, seeking to raid: Richard Walter, Anson‘s Voyage Around the World: In the Years 1740–1744.

  27 Five large Spanish warships: Ibid., 20–23.

  Four hundred miles below: Ibid., 83–84.

  28 Two nights later: Haswell, First Voyage, 29.

  29 During the week of March 17: Ibid., 30.

  “as we lost sight of him”: Walter, Anson‘s Voyage, 73.

  30 “Winds have allowed us”: Haswell, First Voyage, 30.

  A month behind them: William Bligh to Sir Joseph Banks, October 13, 1789.

  31 “This Gentleman was of known abilities”: Haswell, First Voyage, 11.

  he was not listed as an officer: Alan Cooke and Clive Holland, The Exploration of Northern Canada 500 to 1920: A Chronology, 445.

  complaining of “inhuman treatment”: Haswell, First Voyage, 12.

  31 As they were preparing to leave: Ibid., 13.

  they had the skills on board: Ibid., 12.

  32 At the Falklands, Haswell: Ibid., 28.

  On March 19, the ships were: Ibid., 30.

  Between four and five in the morning: Ibid., 31.

  33 In the first few hours: Ibid., 31–32.

  The sloop‘s jib stay: Ibid., 32.

  CHAPTER THREE

  35 messages about strange ships: Richard Walter, Anson‘s Voyage Around the World: In the Years 1740–1744, 81.

  Gardoqui had arrived: Frederic Austin Ogg, The Opening of the Mississippi: A Struggle for Supremacy in the American Interior, 421. Also David Arias, Spanish-Americans: Lives and Faces, 131.

  36 Gardoqui was presented: U.S. Department of State, The Diplomatic Correspondence of the United States of America … September 10, 1783 –March 4, 1789, 150–51.

  Although now in decline: For a full description of the Spanish Empire and its interests in North America, see Arthur Preston Whitaker, The Spanish-American Frontier 1783–1795: The Westward Movement and the Spanish Retreat in the Mississippi Valley.

  37 his family bank had channeled funds: Arias, Spanish-Americans, 131. Five million Turin pounds were channeled through the Gardoqui family bank to the revolutionaries. Just prior to the Declaration of Independence, at the urging of his cousin King Louis of France, King Carlos III had sent funds for munitions and supplies through a clandestine French trading company, Roderigue Hortalez and Co. More supplies and munitions were sent through the port of New Orleans, including cannons, muskets, tents, gunpowder, and cattle. And among the people of New Spain, collections were gathered for additional funds to send north to support the Americans in their rebellion.

  Spain had entered the war: For a thorough treatment of Spain’s involvement in the American Revolution, see J. H. Elliot, Empires of the Atlantic World: Britain and Spain in America 1492–1830.

  In 1784, Spain shut down: Fredrick J. Turner, “The Diplomatic Contest for the Mississippi Valley,” 677.

  discussions had been deadlocked: Ogg, Opening of the Mississippi. Also Whitaker, Spanish-American Frontier, and Turner, “The Diplomatic Contest.”

  38 Britain also knew that the grant: Ignoring Pope Alexander VI’s division of the globe in 1492, Spain’s inveterate English enemy made explorations and claims on the coast of North America. These claims were resolved in part by the Anglo-Spanish Peace Treaty of 1670, which allowed English colonies to occupy the coastal region north of Charleston, South Carolina. Following the American Revolution, British disputes with Spain over borders and rights in North America were passed to the independent states and Congress through rights granted by the British to the United States in the Peace Treaty of 1783.

  “The cabinet of Madrid thinks”: Extract from a letter by French ambassador Armand Marc, comte de Montmorin, at Madrid to French foreign minister Charles Gravier, comte de Vergennes, quoted in U.S. Congress, State Papers and Publick Documents of the United States …, 185–86.

  In 1786, Gardoqui was nearly successful: Ogg, Opening of the Mississippi, 434.

  39 By the summer of 1787: W. R. Shepard. “Wilkinson and the Spanish Conspiracy,” 748–66. Also Ogg, Opening of the Mississippi, 441–44.

  40 Ancient texts called it: For the myths about and voyages seeking the Northwest Passage, see Samuel Purchas, Hakluytus Posthumus or Purchase His Pilgrimes, Contayning a History of the World in Sea Voyages and Land Travells, by Englishmen and Others.

  41 Following these stories: For example, see 1752 map of Joseph-Nicholas de l’Isle’s and 1790 map of John Meares’s.

  The British Parliament offered: Charles Henry Carey, History of Oregon, 91.

  The Loyal Company of Virginia: Donald Jackson, Thomas Jefferson and the Stony Mountains: Exploring the West from Monticello, 8.

  42 One of his captains: T. C. Elliott, “The Origin of the Name Oregon,” 101–10. Includes Rogers’s proposals of 1765 and 1772.

  he wrote to George Rogers Clark: Thomas Jefferson to George Rogers Clark, December 4, 1783. It is worth noting that George Rogers Clark wa
s the elder brother of Captain William Clark, who would co-lead the Lewis and Clark expedition twenty years later in 1803.

  “We should not be surprised”: Letter of Viceroy Manuel Flores to Minister Antonio Valdes. December 23, 1788, Estado 4289, Archivo General de Indias, Seville.

  44 Russian empress Catherine II: Hubert Howe Bancroft, History of Alaska, 1730– 1885, 281–84.

  to keep an eye on: The Spanish voyages were by Juan Perez in 1774, Bruno Heceta in 1775, and Don Ignacio Arteaga in 1779.

  44 Cook concluded that a northern passage: James Cook, The Journals of Captain James Cook on his Voyages of Discovery.

  A number of Cook’s other officers: Nathaniel Portlock as well as George Dixon and James Colnett.

  larger Pacific campaign: Vincent Harlow, The Founding of the Second British Empire, 1763–1793, 62. The concept of a swing to the East is controversial among historians who dispute either the facts or the dating of such a movement. The overriding reality is that even if an official policy was absent, there was an unofficial focus to secure a stronger British merchant presence in the Pacific.

  45 At the City Palais: A royal order issued November 9, 1787, addresses steps to be taken with foreign ships entering Spanish waters and makes reference to Article 10 of the Anglo-Spanish Peace Treaty of 1670, which established conditions for allowing refuge. The order is given in a document concerning the removal of Don Blas Gonzales from office: Don Pedro Vanela to Conde Campo de Alange, December 29, 1791. Estevan José Martinez, Diario de la Navegacion … (hereafter referred to as Martinez Diary 1788).

  Conditions at the royal port: Information concerning San Blas and military operations for the port are from: Michael Thurman, The Naval Department of San Blas: New Spain’s Bastion for Alta California and Nootka, 1789–1795; Christian I. Archer, “Spanish Exploration and Settlement of the Northwest Coast in the 18th Century”; Warren L. Cook, Flood Tide of Empire: Spain and the Pacific Northwest, 1543–1819, 50–51. And also documents from Archivo General de Indias, Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley.

  46 After studying Cook‘s journal: Martinez Diary 1788.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  47 Her mainmast had cracked: A statement of these facts and other information concerning the Columbia at Cumberland Bay is in Blas Gonzales to Viceroy Teodoro de Croix, August 1, 1788.

  Far to the southwest, Robert Gray: Gray’s animosity toward Kendrick is evident in a number of his letters. In regard to breaking with Kendrick’s command at this point, see Robert Gray to Joseph Barrell, July 13, 1789.

  Kendrick had written orders: The orders included sailing instructions to Nootka and for trade there and at Macao, which Gray ignored. John Kendrick, Instructions to Robert Gray, February 1788.

  48 Three weeks after parting: Robert Haswell, A Voyage Round the World On-board the Ship Columbia-Rediviva and Sloop Washington (hereafter referred to as First Voyage), 33.

  49 Twenty years before: Ibid., 38.

  Several hundred miles north: These are the islands of Saint Ambrose and Saint Felix.

  on the morning of May 3: Haswell, First Voyage, 40.

  50 During the next three weeks: Ibid., 42–43.

  He had been ordered by Joseph Barrell: Joseph Barrell, Orders Given Captain John Kendrick of the Ship Columbia for a Voyage to the Pacific Ocean, 1787.

  This was the island: Daniel Defoe based his story on Selkirk’s four-year experience, which had first been recorded by Richard Steele in The Englishman in 1711.

  51 Lord Anson had taken refuge there: Walter, Anson‘s Voyage Around the World: In the Years 1740–1744, 103–6.

  From the fort, the governor: Blas Gonzales to Viceroy Teodoro de Croix, August 1, 1788.

  52 He quickly summoned an officer: Ibid. Juanes’s observations and description of what subsequently occurred at Juan Fernándes Island were included in Blas Gonzales’s report to Viceroy Teodoro de Croix.

  Although royal law dating from 1692: Teodoro de Croix to Mexican Viceroy Manuel Flores, July 31, 1788. This law was complicated by the Anglo-Spanish Peace Treaty of 1670, Article 10, which allowed a ship refuge under certain conditions.

  53 Four days after the Americans arrived: Gonzales to de Croix, August 1, 1788.

  54 “fatiguing passage of eighty-six days”: John Kendrick to Joseph Barrell, May 28, 1788.

  the thirty-four-gun Santa Maria: Josef Munos to Captain General Higgins, August 3, 1788.

  “We cannot ignore the strangers”: De Croix to Flores, July 31, 1788.

  55 Kendrick would enlist Thomas Jefferson: Fredric W. Howay, Voyage of the Columbia to the Northwest Coast, 1787–1790 and 1790–1793, 154–55.

  de Croix sent a warning: De Croix to Flores, July 31, 1788. The letter instructed commanders of coastal ports to “secure these ships and their people.”

  “A ship named Columbia”: Manuel Flores’s instructions to Estevan Martinez, Estevan José Martinez, Diary of the Voyage.

  57 This was the curse: There are many eighteenth- century writings on scurvy, which espouse various theories and cures. James Cook was one of the few who found a preventive measure through packing dried soup and brewing spruce beer, which his crew detested. Aboard the American expedition, Haswell apparently knew the value of salad and greens to ward off scurvy, as indicated in his journal, but they did not prevent the disease for the crew of the Washington during the trip to the North Pacific. Until the mid-nineteeth century, when the use of limes became prevalent in the British navy, this disease took a heavy toll on long voyages.

  58 John Hammond and Hanse Lawton: Discharge and Wage Accounting, Columbia Papers. Massachusetts Historical Society.

  59 “not very delicate eating”: Haswell, First Voyage, 44.

  On July 31 came the surprise: Ibid., 46.

  on the morning of August 2: Ibid., 47.

  60 noted that they were “well-limbed”: Ibid., 49.

  61 A “very fine looking fellow”: Ibid., 53.

  It wasn‘t until the evening: Ibid., 56.

  “these were the most acceptable things”: Ibid., 57.

  62 “the women wearing nothing”: Ibid., 64.

  an “amazing number of the natives”: Ibid., 58.

  a war dance, “accompanied”: Ibid., 59.

  63 “turning a clump of trees”: Ibid., 61.

  64 “hoops and houlings”: Ibid., 63.

  65 The next morning, August 18: Ibid., 65–66.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  66 Martinez had sailed north: Estevan José Martinez. Diario de la Navegacion … (hereafter referred to as Martinez Diary 1788).

  67 at the mouth of Prince William Sound: Warren L. Cook, Flood Tide of Empire: Spain and the Pacific Northwest, 1543–1819, 123.

  Problems with his officers: See complaint of Lopez de Haro filed against Martinez, Gonzalo Lopez de Haro to Viceroy Flores, October 28, 1788.

  Three Saints Bay on Kodiak Island: de Haro to Flores, October 28, 1788. Also Cook, Flood Tide, 124.

  68 Another Russian ship: Hubert Howe Bancroft, The Works of Hubert Howe Bancroft, vol. 33, History of Alaska, 1730–1885, 266.

  An expedition from Siberia: Bancroft, History of Alaska, 282. Billings was appointed by Empress Catherine II on August 8, 1785, to command “A Secret Astronomical and Geographical Exploration … between Asia and America.”

  The Russians were intent: Martinez Diary 1788.

  69 “last breath in the service”: Estevan Martinez to Viceroy Manuel Flores, December 5, 1788.

  70 eager to be the first to bring news: de Haro to Flores, October 28, 1788.

  “our just and preeminent right”: Flores instructions for Martinez 1789 expedition, in Manuel Antonio Flores to Estevan José Martinez, December 23, 1788. Also Martinez, Diary of the Voyage … (hereafter referred to as Martinez Diary 1789).

  71 “a small packet”: Martinez Diary 1789, 7.

  royal standing orders allowed him: Real Cedula de 29 de Noviembre 1692, referenced by Viceroy de Croix in Teodoro de Croix to Mexican Viceroy Manuel Flores, July 31, 17
88.

  CHAPTER SIX

  76 John Hammond, had succumbed: John Hammond died September 19. Hanse Lawton would die September 28. John Kendrick to Don Estevan José Martinez, May 8, 1789, and Ship Columbia Discharge and Wage list September 1790 showing dates of death.

  Gray had arrived at Nootka: Robert Haswell, A Voyage Round the World onboard the Ship Columbia-Rediviva and Sloop Washington (hereafter referred to as First Voyage), 74–75.

  77 Haswell complained in his journal: Ibid., 76–77.

  103 days from Masafeuro to New Albion: Departure and arrival dates from Haswell, First Voyage, and Kendrick, noted in Haswell, First Voyage, 80–81. This shows that the two vessels made approximately the same forward progress during the nearly seventy-five-hundred-mile journey.

  78 James Cook had arrived here: The ships arrived Monday, March 30, 1778. James Cook and James King, A Voyage to the Pacific Ocean …, vol. 2, 265. Also see James Cook, The Journals of Captain James Cook on his Voyages of Discovery.

  according to legend, the natives: For background on the diverse perceptions of this contact, see Daniel W. Clayton, Islands of Truth: The Imperial Fashioning of Vancouver Island, 23.

  Three canoes approached Cook’s ships: For Cook’s description of the arrival and first encounters, see Cook and King, Voyage, vol. 2, 265–67.

  79 on a single note, drawing it out: There are several varying firsthand accounts of the initial encounter with native people at Nootka. See, for example, James Burney journal, March 30, 1778; Lieut. James King journal, March 30, 1778; Cook, Journals, March 30, 1778.

  Cook was apparently using a Spanish map: Cook had on board Spanish maps of the Pacific. He noted his awareness that Spanish ships had explored this coast in 1774 or 1775 and claimed that they “had not been at Nootka …” See Cook and King, Voyage, vol. 2, 332. For a description of the Spanish arrival offshore at Nootka in 1774, see José Mariano Mozino, Noticias de Nutka: An Account of Nootka Sound in 1792, 65–66. Also see Dagny Hansen, “Captain Cook’s First Stop on the Northwest Coast: By Chance or Chart?”

  79 “itchmenutka”: Tradition has held this to be one explanation of the origin of the name. Another is that Cook drew a circle in the sand to signify the sound and asked what it was; he was told by a puzzled native that what he had just done meant “to go around.”