Sea and Land Exploration

Spain•Spain was an early

leader in exploration along with Portugal

•The Line of Demarcation• 1494• Pope Clement

(Catholic Church)• Atlantic Ocean• Portugal: East of the

line• Spain: West of the

line

Spain1542-1819

•Why explore?•3 reasons:

•Control of the Native Americans•Finding mineral riches (gold and

silver)•Finding the western entrance to

the Northwest Passage

Spain: 1542-1819Important Explorers

• Juan Perez•Sailed north

exploring the coasts of Washington and British Columbia

•Established Nootka Village in Nootka Sound (1774)

spain

•Bruno de Hezeta and Juan Bodega y Quadra•1775:

Acknowledged and never entered the San Rogue River (later named the Columbia)

Juan Bodega y Quadra

Spain•Strait of Juan de Fuca

• Francisco Eliza and Manuel Quimper• Named after a Greek sailor (Ioánnis Fokás)

who sailed with the Spanish along the Washington coast in 1592

•Conclusion: Why Washington isn’t part of Spain• Should have explored the land more• Needed more settlements• Should have made political claims

Britain•Why explore?•Necessity

•Spain controlled the Mid-Atlantic and the South Atlantic.

•The British needed to find the “Northwest Passage” for safer trade route to Asia.

Britain Important Explorers

•Sir Francis Drake•Sailed to the west coast of South

America in 1577 where he discovered Spanish ships of gold that were defenseless.

•1588: Spanish Armada defeated. Marked the decline of the Spanish naval power and the emergence of the British Empire.

Britain•James Cook (1778)

• Searched for Northwest Passage• Sailed the Oregon coastline. • Recognized economic value of

PNW• Fish, Furs, Forest

• Concluded that there was no direct water route through the North American continent. There was no Northwest Passage.

• Trained many men who later explored and made scientific contributions

Britain•John Meares

• Story: 4 of his own ships and crews seized by the Spanish in Nootka Sound. He demanded justice. The dispute almost started a war. Instead, it showed that Spain did not have exclusive rights.

• Discovered• Cape Disappointment • Tillamook Bay• Mouth of Columbia

• Accomplishments• Established first lumber mill• Conducted fur trade in China

Britain

•George Vancouver (1792)• Sailed near Columbia River, but

never in it. He chose not to explore the “stream.”

• Instead, he sailed north and entered the Strait of Juan de Fuca and Puget Sound.

• He named many waterways and physical features in the Puget Sound area

• Vancouver’s vast exploration caused Spain to give up their “exclusive” rights to trade in the area

Spain and Britain exploration: end