Since the independence of the United States of America, the merchants of that industrious and enterprising nation have carried on an extremely advantageous commerce on the northwest coast of this continent. In the course of their voyages they have made a great number of discoveries which they have not thought proper to make public; no doubt to avoid competition in a lucrative business.
In 1792, Captain Gray,[1] commanding the ship Columbia of Boston, discovered in latitude 46° 19['] north, the entrance of a great bay on the Pacific coast. He sailed into it, and having perceived that it was the outlet or estuary of a large {18} river, by the fresh water which he found at a little distance from the entrance, he continued his course upwards some eighteen miles, and dropped anchor on the left bank, at the opening of a deep bay. There he made a map or rough sketch of what he had seen of this river (accompanied by a written description of the soundings, bearings, &c.); and having finished his traffic with the natives (the object of his voyage to these parts), he put out to sea, and soon after fell in with Captain Vancouver,
- ↑ Captain Robert Gray was a native of Rhode Island (born 1755), who served in the United States navy during the Revolution. He afterwards commanded merchant vessels for Boston firms, and visited the Northwest Coast of America on the expedition commanded by Captain John Kendrick (1787-90). Gray sailed home in his ship "Columbia," by way of the Cape of Good Hope, and first carried the American flag around the world. Upon his next Northwest Coast expedition, Gray made the discovery herein cited (May 11, 1792), upon which the United States based its claims to the valley of the Columbia River. He continued in the service of the merchant marine until his death at Charleston, South Carolina, in 1806. For a brief history of the discovery of the Northwest Coast, see Thwaites, Rocky Mountain Exploration (New York, 1904), pp. 16-21.—Ed.
