“The little ship ‘Columbia’ of Boston, only eighty-three feet long, was the first American vessel to circumnavigate the globe, and a few years later was also the first to visit our Northwest Coast.”
“This last voyage was perhaps the most famous one ever undertaken by an American merchant ship, and its consequences were everlasting. A young American seaman first called attention to the importance of the fur trade of the Northwest.”
“The two vessels sailed from Boston on September 30, 1787 … When the expedition arrived on the northwest coast, … Capt. Robert Gray then took command of the Columbia”. (Niles National Register, November 25, 1837)
“The cargo of hardware, tools, toys, beads, etc, brought from Boston was gradually exchanged during the long winter for furs, which were taken to Canton, the two captains then exchanging commands. The proceeds of the skins were used to purchase tea, which was brought back to Boston.” (Old Shipping Days in Boston, 1918)
“On his return (Gray) called at the different clusters of islands in the South seas, and among the rest at the Sandwich, where, as well as in other places, he met with the most friendly attentions from the natives, go at Owyhee, where their king resided.” (Niles National Register, November 25, 1837)
“The ‘Columbia’ … spent three weeks at the Hawaiian Islands, laying in a store of fruits, yams, potatoes, and hogs. They were kindly received there”. (Porter)
“Such was the confidence placed in captain Gray, both by king and people, that they permitted him to bring away with him to Boston their crown prince (Attoo), fully relying on his promise to return him to them.” (Niles National Register, November 25, 1837)
They secured a cargo of furs from the northwest “and, in pursuance of the owners’ plan, was carried to Canton for sale. … From China the ship, loaded with teas, sailed for home by way of the Cape of Good Hope. In August of 1790 she dropped anchor in Boston harbor, the first American vessel to circumnavigate the earth.” (Howe; The Atlantic Monthly, 1903)
“(The) second voyage, on which she sailed September 28, 1790, was destined to write the good ship’s name on the map of the country.”
“It was nearly two years later when, having taken Attoo back to Hawaii in the humble capacity of cabin boy, and having spent a winter on the coast, Captain Gray, cruising to the southward, saw what he took to be the mouth of amighty river.”
“There were breakers to warn him against entering it. To this forbidding aspect of things we may owe the entry in Vancouver’s journal at the same point …”
“‘Not considering this opening worthy of more attention, I continued our pursuit to the northwest.’ For Captain Gray the breakers were an obstacle only to be overcome.”
“After several efforts he drove the ship through them, and found himself in a noble stream of fresh water. Up this river he sailed some twenty-four miles, and having assured himself that he might continue farther if he chose, returned to the sea.”
“The headlands at the mouth of the river he named, like a true son of Boston, Cape Hancock and Point Adams. He raised the American flag, buried some coins of his young country, and named the river after his vessel, the Columbia.”
“Upon this discovery and the explorations of Lewis and Clark in the next decade, the American government based its successful claim to the Oregon country.”
“Yet for the Boston merchants whose enterprise wrought such momentous results, the second voyage, like the first, was but a small success.”
“In spite of the abundant salutes and cheers which greeted the Columbia when she sailed into Boston harbor in July of 1793, the ship and her inventory were sold at once by auction at a Charlestown wharf.”
“It was hers, however, to open the way to an important commerce.”
“In the years immediately following, a lucrative trade, largely in the hands of Boston merchants, was carried on in direct pursuance of the Columbia’s example, even in the matter of circumnavigation with stops at the Sandwich Islands and China.”
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