Explorations George Vancouver

life-sized gilded statue of george vancouver on british columbia parliament buildings in victoria, british columbia


vancouver expedition

departing england 2 ships, hms discovery , hms chatham, on 1 april 1791, vancouver commanded expedition charged exploring pacific region. in first year expedition travelled cape town, australia, new zealand, tahiti, , hawaii, collecting botanical samples , surveying coastlines along way. formally claimed @ possession point, king george sound western australia, town of albany, western australia british. proceeding north america, vancouver followed coasts of present-day oregon , washington northward. in april 1792 encountered american captain robert gray off coast of oregon prior gray s sailing columbia river.

vancouver entered strait of juan de fuca, between vancouver island , washington state mainland on 29 april 1792. orders included survey of every inlet , outlet on west coast of mainland, way north alaska. of work in small craft propelled both sail , oar; maneuvering larger sail-powered vessels in uncharted waters impractical , dangerous.

vancouver named many features after officers, friends, associates, , ship discovery, including:

mount baker – after discovery s 3rd lieutenant joseph baker, first on expedition spot it
mount st. helens – after friend, alleyne fitzherbert, 1st baron st helens
puget sound – after discovery s 2nd lieutenant peter puget, explored southern reaches.
mount rainier – after friend, rear admiral peter rainier.
port gardner , port susan, washington – after former commander vice admiral sir alan gardner , wife lady susan.
discovery passage, discovery island, discovery bay , port discovery.

vancouver second european enter burrard inlet on 13 june 1792, naming after friend sir harry burrard. present day main harbour area of city of vancouver beyond stanley park. george vancouver surveyed howe sound , jervis inlet on next 9 days. then, on 35th birthday on 22 june 1792, returned point grey, present day location of university of british columbia. here unexpectedly met spanish expedition led dionisio alcalá galiano , cayetano valdés y flores. vancouver mortified (his word) learn had crude chart of strait of georgia based on 1791 exploratory voyage of josé maría narváez year before, under command of francisco de eliza. 3 weeks cooperatively explored georgia strait , discovery islands area before sailing separately towards nootka sound.

after summer surveying season ended, in august 1792, vancouver went nootka, region s important harbour, on contemporary vancouver island. here receive british buildings , lands returned spanish claims francisco de eliza spanish crown. spanish commander, juan francisco bodega y quadra, cordial , , vancouver exchanged maps had made, no agreement reached; decided await further instructions. @ time, decided name large island on nootka proven located quadra , vancouver island. years later, spanish influence declined, name shortened vancouver island.

while @ nootka sound vancouver acquired robert gray s chart of lower columbia river. gray had entered river during summer before sailing nootka sound repairs. vancouver realized importance of verifying gray s information , conducting more thorough survey. in october 1792, sent lieutenant william robert broughton several boats columbia river. broughton got far columbia river gorge, sighting , naming mount hood.

vancouver sailed south along coast of spanish alta california, visiting chumash villages @ point conception , near mission san buenaventura. vancouver spent winter in continuing exploration of sandwich islands, contemporary islands of hawaii.

further explorations

the next year, 1793, returned british columbia , proceeded further north, unknowingly missing overland explorer alexander mackenzie 48 days. got 56°30 n, having explored north point menzies in burke channel northwest coast of prince of wales island. sailed around latter island, circumnavigating revillagigedo island , charting parts of coasts of mitkof, zarembo, etolin, wrangell, kuiu , kupreanof islands. worsening weather, sailed south alta california, hoping find bodega y quadra , fulfil territorial mission, spaniard not there. again spent winter in sandwich islands.

in 1794, first went cook inlet, northernmost point of exploration, , there followed coast south. boat parties charted east coasts of chichagof , baranof islands, circumnavigated admiralty island, explored head of lynn canal, , charted rest of kuiu island , of kupreanof island. set sail great britain way of cape horn, returning in september 1795, completing circumnavigation of south america.