It is evidently to this transaction that Schoell, in his edition of Koch’s Histoire Abrégée des Traités de Paix, t. i., ch. xxiv., refers, when he writes,—“L’exécution de la Convention du 28 Octobre 1790, éprouva, du reste, des difficultés qui la retardèrent jusqu’en 1795. Elles furent terminées le 23 Mars de cette année, sur les lieux mêmes, par le brigadier Espagnol Alava, et le lieutenant Anglais Poara, (Pierce?) qui échangèrent des déclarations dans le golfe de Nootka même. Après que le fort Espagnol fut rasé, les Espagnols s’embarquèrent, et le pavillon Anglais y fut planté en signe de possession.” M. Koch does not give his authority, but it was most probably Spanish, from the modification which the name of the British lieutenant has undergone. On the other hand, Mr. Greenhow cites a passage from Belsham’s History of England, to this effect:—“It is nevertheless certain, from the most authentic information, that the Spanish flag flying at Nootka was never struck, and that the territory has been virtually relinquished by Great Britain.” It ought, however, to have been stated, that this remark occurs in a note to Belsham’s work, without any clew to the authentic information on which he professed to rely, and with a special reference to a work of no authority—L’Histoire de Fréderic-Guillaume II., Roi de Prusse, par le Comte de Ségur;—in which it is stated, that the determination of the French Convention to maintain at all risk the Family Compact, intimidated Great Britain into being satisfied with the mere restitution of the vessels which had been captured with her subjects, while engaged in a contraband trade with the Spanish settlements! It further appears from an official Spanish paper, to which Mr. Greenhow alludes in a note (p. 257,) as existing in the library of Congress at Washington, intitled “Instruccion reservada del Reyno de Nueva España, que el Exmo Señor Virey Conde de Revillagigedo diò à su sucesor el Exmo Señor Marques de Branciforte, en el año de 1704,” that orders had been sent to the commandant at Nootka to abandon the place, agreeably to a royal dictamen. The negative remark, therefore, of Mr. Belsham, cannot disprove the fact of the restitution of Nootka to the British, against the positive statements of so many high authorities: it may, indeed, be conclusive of his own ignorance of the fact, and so far his integrity may remain unimpeached; but it must be at the expense of his character for accurate research and careful statement—the most valuable, as well as the most necessary qualifications of a writer of history.
M. Duflot de Mofras, in his recent work, intitled, “Exploration du Territoire de l’Orégon,” tom. ii., p. 145, further states, that Lieutenant Pierce passed through Mexico. “Par suite de quelques fausses interprétations du traité de 28 Oct. 1790, les Espagnols ne remirent point immédiatement Nootka aux Anglais, et ce ne fut qu’en Mars 1795, que le commandant Espagnol opéra cette cession entre les mains du Lieutenant Pierce, de l’infanterie de marine Anglaise, venu tout exprès de Londres par le Mexique, pour hâter l’exécution du traité de l’Escurial.”
CHAPTER VI.
THE OREGON OR COLUMBIA RIVER.
The Oregon, or Great River of the West, discovered by D. Bruno Heceta, in 1775. Ensenada de Heceta.—Rio de San Roque.—Meares’ Voyage in the Felice, in 1788.—Deception Bay.—Vancouver’s Mission in 1791.—Vancouver vindicated against Mr. Greenhow in respect to Cape Orford.—Vancouver passes through Deception Bay.—Meets Captain Gray in the Merchant-ship Columbia.—Gray passes the Bar of the Oregon, and gives it the Name of the Columbia River.—Extract from the Log-book of the Columbia.—Vancouver defended.—The Chatham crosses the Bar, and finds the Schooner Jenny, from Bristol, inside.—The Discovery driven out to Sea.—Lieutenant Broughton ascends the River with his Boats, 110 miles from its Mouth.—Point Vancouver.—The Cascades—The Dalles.—The Chutes or Falls of the Columbia.—Mr. Greenhow’s Criticism of Lieutenant Broughton’s Nomenclature.—Lord Stowell’s Definition of the Mouth of a River.—Extent of Gray’s Researches.—The Discovery of the Columbia River a progressive Discovery.—Doctrine as to the Discovery of a River, set up by the United States, denied by Great Britain.
It is generally admitted that the first discovery of the locality where the Oregon or Great River of the West emptied itself into the sea, was made in 1775, by D. Bruno Heceta, as he was coasting homewards to Monterey, having parted with his companion Bodega in about the 50th degree of north latitude. We find in consequence that in the charts published at Mexico soon after his return, the inlet, which he named Ensenada de la Asuncion, is called Ensenada de Heceta, and the river which was supposed to empty itself there, is marked as the Rio de San Roque. The discovery however of this river by Heceta was certainly the veriest shadow of a discovery, as will be evident from his own report, which Mr. Greenhow has annexed in the Appendix to his work. Having stated that on the 17th of August he discovered a large bay, to which he gave the name of the Bay of the Assumption, in about 46° 17′ N. L., he proceeds to say, that having placed his ship nearly midway between the two capes which formed the extremities of the bay, he found the currents and eddies too strong for his vessel to contend with in safety. “These currents and eddies of water caused me to believe that the place is the mouth of some great river, or of some passage into another sea.” In fact, Heceta did not ascertain that the water of this current was not sea-water, and as he himself says, had little difficulty in conceiving that the inlet might be the same with the passage mentioned by De Fuca, since he was satisfied no such straits as those described by De Fuca existed between 47° and 48°.
Although, however, the discovery of this river was so essentially imperfect, being attended by no exploration, as hardly to warrant the admission of it into charts which professed to be well authenticated, still its existence was believed upon the evidence which Heceta’s report furnished, and as subsequent examination has confirmed its existence, the Spaniards seem warranted in claiming the credit of the discovery for their countryman.
No further notice of this supposed river occurs until Meares’ voyage in the Felice, in 1788. Meares, according to his published narrative, reached the bay of the river on July 6th, and steered into it, with every expectation of finding there, according to the Spanish accounts, a good port. In this hope, however, he was disappointed, as breakers were observed, as he approached, extending across the bay. He in consequence gave to the northern headland the name of Cape Disappointment, and to the bay itself the title of Deception Bay. “We can now with safety assert,” he writes, “that no such river as that of Saint Roc exists, as laid down in the Spanish charts.” Meares had been led from these charts to expect that he should find a place of shelter for his ship at the mouth of this river, and Heceta, in his plan, upon which the Spanish charts were based, had supposed that there was a port there formed by an island: so that, as “it blew very strong in the offing, and a great westerly swell tumbled in on the land,” it was not surprising that Meares should have concluded, from there being no opening in the breakers, that there was no such port, and therefore no such river.