The Spanish Explorers
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De Fuca,originally named Apostolos Valerianos, was sent by the Spanish to sail northward from Mexico and look for a northern passage from the Pacific to the Atlantic. In 1592 his exploration took him as far north as the body of water now named after him - the Strait of Juan de Fuca. |
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Galiano accompanied Valdes in 1792 in a Spanish expedition to the northwest. They sailed in the Sutil and Mexicana, met with the Englishman Vancouver and mapped. |
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In 1784 Malaspina completed the circumnavigation of the globe. On an expedition in 1789 he sailed in the Atrevida for the Pacific Northwest. In 1791 the Atrevida and her sister ship travelled as far north as Nootka Sound. On his return to Spain he counseled the government to forsake its plans for domination. He was imprisoned for his trouble and his researches suppressed for many years. Malaspina Strait between Texada Island and the Sechelt Peninsula is named after him. |
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Perez named Estevan Point after Martinez, his second-lieutenant on the Spanish expedition which reached Oregon in 1774. Martinez led an expedition (along with Lopez de Haro) in 1788, confirming Russian intentions to occupy the Northwest. This led to Spanish settlement in 1789 to officially mark Spanish sovereignty on the west coast of North America. |
| Juan Perez(no portrait known) | Sailing in the Santiago, Perez reached Oregon in 1774 but did not go ashore. He was in contact with First Nations people from north of the Queen Charlotte Islands to south at Estevan Point where he traded with the Hesquiat people. |
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Quadra sailed north from Mexico and into Northwest waters in 1775 and 1779. As Governor of Nootka he was present in 1792 to negotiate the terms of the 'Nootka Convention' with Vancouver. Soon after, Spain ceded the Northwest to Great Britain and the Spanish garrison at Nootka was withdrawn in 1795. The amiable relationship between Quadra and Vancouver is well known and was demonstrated by Vancouver's choice in originally naming Vancouver Island 'The Island of Quadra and Vancouver' |
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In 1790 Quimper sailed north to Alaska, and, in a recently seized British ship (owned by Meares and renamed the Princesa Real), explored as far north as the Strait of Juan de Fuca upon the order of Martinez. |
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Valdes accompanied Galiano in 1792 in a Spanish expedition to the northwest coast. They sailed in the Sutil and Mexicana, met with Vancouver in the Point Grey/Burrard Inlet area, and then, in a cooperative venture, charted the body of water between Vancouver Island and mainland British Columbia. |