Page:Oregon, her history, her great men, her literature.djvu/24

Rh accidentally resulted in the discovery of the Columbia, which is the water highway of the Oregon Country, later known as Old Oregon. The explorations were numerous, covering almost three centuries. They were the thrilling adventures chiefly of Spaniards, Englishmen and Americans. Some of them will be recounted in this narrative.

Explorations Stimulated by the Story of Anian Strait. While historians tell us that these explorations were begun by Columbus and Balboa, it may assist the reader to know some interesting things concerning the Strait of Anian, through which Gaspard Cortereal, a Portuguese navigator, claimed to have sailed from the Atlantic to the western ocean, in the year 1500. This was at a time when Columbus was seeking just such a passage-way to the waters that led to India, and it may be that he received inspiration from the report that Cortereal gave. The seriousness with which the Strait of Anian was considered may be inferred from the fact that the Hudson's Bay Company in their charter in 1670, an-