Page:Centennial History of Oregon 1811-1912, Volume 1.djvu/24

, selling his cargo in the Cantonese market tor $20,000. This was the first expedition coming to the North Pacific waters solely for trading purposes.

1787—Capt. Dixon, an Englishman, was the first to establish the fact that Queen Charlotte Island was an island. He named it in honor of his vessel.

1788—The American sloop, Lady Washington, of Boston, arrived, at Nootka on August 16. She was commanded by Capt. Robert Gray, who afterwards discovered the Columbia river. On the voyage up the coast, the vessel was run into Murderers' harbor, since known as Tillamook Bay. While here one of the crew was murdered by the Indians, the first instance of the kind occurring south of the Columbia river, so far as known.

1791—Capt. Robert Gray, who returned in the ship Columbia after making a voyage to Canton and Boston, wintered in the harbor of Clayoquot, Queen Charlotte's Island. He there erected buildings and mounted guns, the first thing of such a nature to be done by an American. During his stay there he built the first American vessel to be built on the Pacific coast. This was the sloop Adventurer. Robert Haswell, formerly mate with Capt. Gray, was the first master of this vessel. She was sold to Capt. Cuadra, the Spanish commander in the Pacific Northwest, in 1792, when she was taken south.

1792—In the spring of this year, Capt. Robert Gray left Queen Charlotte's Island, where he had wintered, and coasted south. On May 7th he entered Bulfinch harbor (now known as Gray's Harbor) naming it in honor of the owners of his vessel. On the 11th he arrived off the Columbia river bar and successfully crossed it, anchoring above Tongue Point in what is now known as Gray's bay. He was the first to be certain that it was a river. Capt. Gray was the first American to circumnavigate the globe.

1793—Alexander Mackenzie, a Scotchman, was the first white man to make the trip across the continent to the Pacific ocean. He discovered the Fraser river, while enroute, which he believed to be the Columbia. The Fraser river was so called in later years for Simon Fraser, who established a trading post upon its banks in 1807.

1805—Lewis and Clark expedition came across the plains. Followed down the Columbia river and wintered at Fort Clatsop, a fort built by them at the mouth of the river, the winter of 1805-6. They bestowed names upon many of the tributaries of the Columbia, gave the Indians names of others and named prominent points along the route.

Castle Rock they called Beacon rock; Hood river, Labiesche river; Klickitat river, Cataract river; John Day river, Lepage river; Touchet river, White Salmon river. This was subsequently named John Day for a Kentucky hunter coming with the Hunt party in 1811. Sandy river, Quicksand river; Washougal river. Seal river; White Salmon river, Canoe river; Sauvie's Island was Wapato island; the Willamette was Multnomah river from the Columbia to the falls; above the falls the stream was known as the Willamette; Tillamook was named by Clark Killamuck Head. It had been called Cape Falcon by the Spanish and Cape Lookout by Meares.

With this party came York, the first negro to come to the Pacific coast.

1807—Fraser river named for Simon Fraser, who established a trading post on Fraser Lake adjacent to it.