At the same time expeditions from
New Mexico were blazing overland
routes to strengthen Spain’s weak but
growing claim to California, Spanish mariners
once again braved the unpredictable seas
between California and the Bering Sea. None
ofthe European powers showed much inter-
est in exploring the Pacific Northwest until in
the late 1770s they heard rumors of Russian
fur traders edging down the coast. Russians
had reached Alaska 50 years earlier but mainly
as roving traders rather than as explorers.
Vitus Bering explored western Alaska, but he
did not continue down into the Pacific North-
west region (for full coverage of this, see the
Exploring the Polar Regions volume). Not
wanting to forgo a claim on the rugged and
potentially profitable land to the north, new
explorers set forth, eventually contending in
an international rush to lay claim to the land
between San Francisco and the Arctic.

FIRST ATTEMPTS

The first Spanish ship to investigate the

rumors of a Russian and English presence was

the Santiago,commanded by Juan Pérez.

Bearing instructions from the Spanish viceroy

in Mexico to find suitable sites for settlement,

Pérez left the port of San Blas, Mexico, in Jan-

uary 1774. He reached 55°north latitude, the

southeastern tip of the present state of Alaska,

beforeturning south. Onhis return voyage,

Pérez anchored near Nootka Sound, along the

west coast of what was later named Vancouver

Island. Like other explorers of his time, how-

ever, he assumed the island was part of the

mainland. Pérez traded with Indians and laid

claim to some of the land he visited, but the

main value of his expedition was information

he brought back about the Nootka people of

Vancouver Island and the Haida, a tribe living

along the coastline north from the Queen

157

Charting the

Pacific Northwest

The 1700s

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13

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