Early knowledge of the Pacific Northwest facts for kids

The Pacific Northwest coast of North America was one of the last places in the world reached by European explorers. It was very far away from Europe by sailing ship. This article shares what Europeans knew, or thought they knew, about this area before Captain Cook explored it in 1778.

It's not clear what people in China and Japan knew about the northern areas. The old stories about the Strait of Anián might mean they knew something.

Early European Explorers in the Pacific Northwest

Spanish explorers sailed north from Mexico but did not find much that interested them.

Spanish Expeditions

• In 1542, Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo reached a point north of San Francisco.
• In 1579, Francis Drake landed somewhere on the coast above 43 degrees North latitude.
• In 1592, Juan de Fuca might have reached Puget Sound in Washington.
• In 1602, one of Sebastián Vizcaíno's ships reached Oregon.

This was the last time the Spanish explored northward for 150 years.

What Was the Strait of Anián?

From about 1562, many European mapmakers believed there was a Strait of Anián. They thought it might be near the Bering Strait. Some even thought it could be the western end of the famous Northwest Passage. No one knows for sure where this idea came from.

The Story of Juan de Fuca

In 1592, a Greek navigator named Juan de Fuca claimed he reached Puget Sound in Washington. However, the records of his journey are not very clear. Because of this, some people have wondered if his voyage was just a myth.

The Tale of Bartholomew de Fonte

The story of Bartholomew de Fonte first appeared in 1708 in an English magazine. In 1744, Arthur Dobbs brought the story back in his book about areas near Hudson's Bay.

In 1752, Joseph Nicholas Delisle published a report about what was known of the Pacific Northwest. He wrote that in 1640, de Fonte, a Spanish Admiral, sailed 5,000 miles north from Lima. He supposedly reached 53° North latitude. There, he entered a waterway called the Rio de los Reyes. This river led him through many other waterways. At a place called the Strait of Ronquillo, he met a ship from Boston. This ship was commanded by a Captain Shapely.

Delisle's map showed many places, including:

• Point Conception (California)
• Port St. Francois (San Francisco, California)
• Bahía de los Pinos (Monterey Bay, California)
• Cape Mendocino (California)
• Cape Sebastian (Oregon)
• Cape Blanco (Oregon), discovered in 1603.

The map also showed the route taken by Russian explorers Aleksei Chirikov and Louis De l'Isle de la Croyère in 1741. It included lands seen by the Russians, like what is now Prince of Wales Island and Adak Island.

A very large "Sea of the West" was also shown on the map. This sea supposedly stretched all the way to Colorado. Its northern entrance was the Strait of Juan de Fuca. In the Puget Sound area, the Rio de los Reyes led to a huge lake in the middle of the continent, called Lake de Fonte. The eastern end of this lake connected through the Strait of Ronquillo to Hudson Bay. This was near what was marked as Wager Bay and Chesterfield Inlet.

In 1757, Andrés Marcos Burriel published a book where he said he could not find any mention of de Fonte in Spanish records. This made many people doubt the story.

The Maldonado Story

Lorenzo Ferrer Maldonado was a Spaniard who claimed to have crossed the Northwest Passage in 1588. In 1609, he told the Spanish court about his journey. He said he sailed through Davis Strait to 70° North. Even though it was February, the sea did not freeze. He then sailed southwest and west-southwest for a long distance. He claimed he reached the Strait of Anian at 60° North. At the mouth of the strait, he found a large harbor. There, he met a ship with gold and pearls. This ship was crewed by people from the Baltic ports. He said he returned in June, finding temperatures north of the Arctic Circle warmer than in Spain.

A copy of his story was found in Spanish records 180 years later. In 1791, Alessandro Malaspina was sent to look for Maldonado's strait.

Later Explorations and Discoveries

• In 1728, Vitus Bering entered the Bering Strait.
• In 1771, Samuel Hearne reached the Arctic coast from Hudson Bay. This proved that there was no saltwater passage at that latitude.
• In 1778, James Cook sailed along the coast from Oregon to the Bering Strait.

Explorers like George Vancouver, who followed Cook, had to check every inlet very carefully. Any one of them could have been the exit from the Northwest Passage.

For more information, see History of the Pacific Northwest.

Images for kids

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  1772 Vaugondy and Diderot Map of the Pacific Northwest and the Northwest Passage - Carte Generale des Decouvertes de l'Amiral de Fonte et Autres Navigateurs Espagnols, Anglois et Russes pour la Recherche du Passage a la Mer du Sud.

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  The great probability of a North West Passage: deduced from observations on the letter of Admiral de Fonte, who sailed from the Callao of Lima on the discovery of a communication between the South Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. Proving the authenticity of the Admiral's letter