175-552: John Meares (c. 1756 – 1809) was an English navigator, explorer, and maritime fur trader , best known for his role in the Nootka Crisis , which brought Britain and Spain to the brink of war. Meares' father was Charles Meares, "formerly an attorney of great eminence, and for several years pursuivant of his Majesty's Court of Exchequer in Dublin ". In 1771, Meares joined the Royal Navy as
350-526: A pidgin trade-language which remains a distinctive aspect of Pacific Northwest culture, was developed by speakers of indigenous, Russian, French and English languages during this era. Native Hawaiian society was similarly affected by the sudden influx of Western wealth and technology, as well as by epidemic diseases. In the Southern Hemisphere, the maritime fur trade era proved brief but intense. Expeditions of sealers (and then of whalers ) led to
525-474: A series of mission stations along the coast. Spanish exploration voyages to the far north were launched in 1774, 1775, and 1779. In 1784, the center of Russian activity shifted east to Kodiak Island and hunting operations were extended into Cook Inlet . The two empires seemed destined to clash, but before direct Russian-Spanish contact was made new powers appeared on the Northwest Coast—Britain and
700-541: A Hawaiian chief or "prince of Attooi" (Kauai) by the name of Tianna ( Kaʻiana – also spelled Tyaana & Tyanna), whom he took aboard his ship. He took Tianna to Guangzhou (Canton), China, where Meares found a Hawaiian woman by the name of Wynee , who had been left there by captain Charles William Barkley of the Imperial Eagle . Eventually, Meares returned Tianna to his homeland but Wynee died of illness on
875-705: A captain's servant and was commissioned a lieutenant in 1778. In 1783 he joined the merchant service and in 1785, based in India , formed the Northwest America Company for collecting sea otter furs by trade with the indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast and selling them in China . The East India Company held a monopoly on British trade in the Pacific and required all British traders to be licensed with
1050-556: A coasting voyage before departing. The first London ship to do this was the schooner Cadboro , in 1827. However, its voyage did not get beyond the Strait of Georgia and only 2 sea otter and 28 land otter and beaver skins were acquired. In 1828 the HBC decided to deploy three ships for the coast trade, but setbacks caused delays. The William and Ann was lost in 1829, and the Isabella in 1830, both at
1225-522: A dispute arose between Colnett and Martínez, leading to the seizure of several British ships and the arrest of their crews. This incident led to the Nootka Crisis, an international crisis between Britain and Spain. War was averted with the first Nootka Convention of 1790. American traders were largely influenced by an unauthorized report published by John Ledyard in Hartford, Connecticut, in 1783. By
1400-881: A few key ports of call and stayed longer. Eventually, acquiring enough furs for the China trade in a single year was no longer possible. Some traders wintered in Hawaii, returning to the coast in the spring, but many wintered on the North West Coast, usually in one of the key trading harbors. These harbors included "Clemencitty" on Tongass Island , today called Port Tongass; the several " Kaigani " harbors on south Dall Island north of Cape Muzon , including American Bay and Datzkoo Harbor (known as Taddiskey or Tattasco); " Nahwitti " or "Newhitty" on northern Vancouver Island ; and "Tongass" in Clarence Strait , today called Tamgas Harbor, which
1575-484: A gourmet delicacy in China. American traders began acquiring Fijian bêche-de-mer in 1804 and trepanging boomed there. Bêche-de-mer became Fiji's leading export by 1830. Depletion led to a decline and the end of the trade by 1850. Trepanging was also done from 1812 in Hawaii and from 1814 in the Marquesas. Other side trades included Chilean copper from Valparaíso , scrimshaw (whale teeth), tortoise shells and meat from
1750-592: A great undersea mountain range known as the Hawaiian–Emperor seamount chain , formed by volcanic activity over a hotspot in the Earth's mantle . The islands are about 1,860 miles (3,000 km) from the nearest continent and are part of the Polynesia subregion of Oceania . The U.S. state of Hawaii occupies the archipelago almost in its entirety (including the mostly uninhabited Northwestern Hawaiian Islands ), with
1925-471: A lease of the southeastern sector of what is now the Alaska Panhandle, as far north as 56° 30' north latitude. American traders developed the "Golden Round" trade route around the world. Ships sailed from Boston to the Pacific via Cape Horn , then to the North West Coast, arriving in the spring or early summer. They would spend the summer and early autumn fur trading on the coast, mainly between Sitka and
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#17328439965862100-491: A major challenge even after they became experienced with the coast's geography and indigenous peoples. The American system not only raised the price of furs but also lowered the value of trade goods. Furthermore, the indigenous people knew that increased competition served their interests and gave them bargaining power. They had no desire to see the Americans abandon the coast trade. Therefore, the HBC had to not just match but exceed
2275-554: A permanent fur-trading post at Nootka Sound. However, Spain had also decided to permanently occupy Nootka Sound and assert sovereignty on the North West Coast. The decision was mostly due to Russian activity in Alaska and Russia's threat to occupy Nootka Sound themselves. Spanish naval officer Esteban José Martínez arrived at Nootka in May 1789 and built Fort San Miguel . When the Argonaut arrived,
2450-705: A profitable beaver fur trade with China. Due to the East India Company's (EIC) control over British trading in Canton the NWC turned to American shipping companies. Starting in 1792 the NWC had beaver furs shipped to China by American firms. After the acquisition of Fort George (Astoria) in 1815 the NWC began to supply the Columbia District by sea through the Boston-based firm of Perkins and Company. After arriving at Fort George
2625-507: A role in entrepreneurs hunting the species to the point of disappearance. A " COSEWIC reassessment in May 2022 resulted in a conservation status of Special Concern" for sea otters in Canada. Sea otter distribution extends from the north of Japan all the way to the vicinity of Cedros Island, Mexico. The species stayed approximately within the arc of the Northern Pacific until pressure from
2800-621: A total land area of 6,423.4 square miles (16,636.5 km ). Except for Midway, which is an unincorporated territory of the United States, these islands and islets are administered as Hawaii —the 50th state of the United States. The eight major islands of Hawaii (Windward Islands) are listed above. All except Kaho'olawe are inhabited. The state of Hawaii counts 137 "islands" in the Hawaiian chain. This number includes all minor islands (small islands), islets (even smaller islands) offshore of
2975-619: A very high profit." He concluded that the American traders made more money from selling slaves, rum, and gunpowder than they did from fur trading. The Chinese sought this mammal's fur due to its great commercial value and its 'prime coat' all year long. The pelt was used by the wealthy Chinese as clothing decoration (robe trimming) and the Russians used it as an ornamental piece. The other furs that were sent to Europe and America were changed to 'coat collars or hats'. Due to this great demand and worth of
3150-683: Is known of Meares' life after the settlement of the Nootka controversy. So far as is known he received none of the Spanish indemnity money. He was rewarded for his role by promotion to the rank of commander on 26 February 1795. The marriage of "John Meares Esq. of Frome, [Cornwall], to Miss Mary Anne Guilleband, at the Abbey church, Bath" was noted in The Whitehall Evening Post of 9 July 1796. Meares apparently considered Bath his home after his retirement from
3325-649: Is no doubt that Meares' men, and a group of Chinese workers they brought, built the sloop North West America . It was launched in September 1788, the first non-Indigenous vessel built in the Pacific Northwest. In September Meares left, sailing the Felice Adventurero to China. The Iphigenia Nubiana and North West America wintered in the Hawaiian Islands . While on the island of Kauai , Meares picked up
3500-492: Is no doubt, however, that Meares had the sloop North West America built in Nootka Sound, the first nonindigenous vessel built in the Pacific Northwest. Meares and others organized another expedition the following year. A number of vessels sailed to Nootka Sound, including Argonaut under James Colnett , Princess Royal , under Thomas Hudson, and Iphigenia Nubiana and North West America . Colnett intended to establish
3675-522: Is relatively fluid compared with magmas typically involved in more explosive eruptions, such as the andesitic magmas that produce some of the spectacular and dangerous eruptions around the margins of the Pacific basin. Hawaiʻi island (the Big Island) is the biggest and youngest island in the chain, built from five volcanoes. Mauna Loa , taking up over half of the Big Island, is the largest shield volcano on
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#17328439965863850-491: Is very complex — a "labyrinth of waters", according to George Simpson — with thousands of islands, numerous straits and fjords , and a mountainous, rocky, and often very steep shoreline. Navigational hazards included persistent rain, high winds, thick fogs , strong currents , and tides , and hidden rocks. Wind patterns were often contrary, variable, and baffling, especially within the coastal straits and archipelagoes , which makes sailing dangerous. Early explorations before
4025-481: The Lady Washington , under John Kendrick and Robert Gray , which had wintered at Nootka Sound. Over the summer a number of other ships arrived. The vessels of Meares' company were all seized on the grounds of violating Spanish rights of trade and navigation on the coast. The North West America was renamed Santa Saturnina and used by José María Narváez to explore the Strait of Georgia in 1791. When news of
4200-557: The 51st parallel , the Russian colonies in America were forced to ignore the ban and engage in smuggling. On the Northwest Coast itself the fur trade was supplemented with slave trading . The pre-existing indigenous slave trade was enlarged and expanded upon by fur traders, especially the American traders. While working the coast for furs, traders would purchase slaves around the mouth of
4375-568: The Aleutian (1740s onwards following the Bering expedition of 1741) island chains, reaching the Alaska Peninsula by the 1760s. In 1774, the Spanish followed the Russian fur traders. British crews started trading in the furs of the north-eastern Pacific in 1778, and American traders arrived in the area in 1788, focusing on the coast of present-day British Columbia . The trade boomed around
4550-434: The Aleutian chain . By the 1760s, they were regularly sailing to Kodiak Island. Notable Russian traders in the early years of the trade include Nikifor Trapeznikov (who financed and participated in 10 voyages between 1743 and 1768), Maksimovich Solov'ev, Stepan Glotov, and Grigory Shelikhov . As traders sailed farther east, the voyages became longer and more expensive. Smaller enterprises were merged into larger ones. During
4725-566: The Columbia Bar . The HBC's shipping was inadequate for the coast trade until the middle 1830s. In 1835 two ships were added to the HBC's coast fleet. One of them, the Beaver , was a steamship , and it proved extremely useful in the variable winds, strong currents, and long narrow inlets. To strengthen its coast trade the Hudson's Bay Company built a series of fortified trading posts, the first of which
4900-772: The Columbia District . Starting in 1811 the American Pacific Fur Company (PFC) challenged the NWC in the Pacific Northwest, but during the War of 1812 the PFC, at risk of being captured by the British Navy, sold its entire operation to the NWC. The PFC had built Fort Astoria at the mouth of the Columbia River. Under the NWC it was renamed Fort George, and became the Columbia District's Pacific seaport. The NWC sought to establish
5075-550: The Columbia River and in the Strait of Juan de Fuca , then sell or trade them on the northern coast. Few traders admitted to slaving, although some wrote about it in detail. Further information comes from sources such as reports by HBC officers. Aemelius Simpson of the Hudson's Bay Company wrote in 1828 that American traders on coast trafficked in slaves, "purchasing them at a cheap rate from one tribe and disposing of them to others at
5250-556: The Columbia River at Cape Disappointment . On board Felice Adventurero for the 1788 voyage from China to Nootka Sound was Comekela , younger brother of Maquinna, chief of the Mowachaht Nuu-chah-nulth people of the Nootka Sound area. Comekela had sailed from Nootka Sound to China in 1786-87 with James Hanna . Meares later claimed that Maquinna , a chief of the Nuu-chah-nulth (Nootka) people, sold him some land on
5425-487: The Columbia River by Robert Gray . George Dixon explored the Dixon Entrance and was the first to realize that Haida Gwaii was not part of the mainland. Russian maritime fur trading in the northern Pacific began after the exploration voyages of Vitus Bering and Aleksei Chirikov in 1741 and 1742. Their voyages demonstrated that Asia and North America were not connected but that sea voyages were feasible, and that
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5600-638: The French Revolutionary Wars diminished Britain's available manpower and investment capital. The country also concentrated its foreign trade activities in India. British maritime fur traders were hindered by the East India Company (EIC) and South Sea Company (SSC). Although the SSC was moribund by the late 18th century, it had been granted the exclusive right to British trade on the entire western coast of
5775-589: The Galápagos Islands , sugar from Manila , and, from Java , areca nuts (so-called betel nuts) and coffee beans . Sealing boomed in the Juan Fernández Islands and the Juan Fernández fur seal was rapidly exploited to near-extinction. The northern fur seal rookeries were controlled by Russia, so Americans acquired northern fur seal skins through trade rather than sealing. Another side trade
5950-517: The Hawaiian Volcano Observatory run by the USGS . Hawaii accounted for 7.3% of the United States' reported earthquakes with a magnitude 3.5 or greater from 1974 to 2003, with a total 1533 earthquakes. Hawaii ranked as the state with the third most earthquakes over this time period, after Alaska and California . On October 15, 2006, there was an earthquake with a magnitude of 6.7 off
6125-522: The Iphigenia Nubiana , under William Douglas . The names are spelled in various ways, such as Feliz Aventureira and Efigenia Nubiana . They sailed from China on 22 January 1788 and arrived at Nootka Sound , on Vancouver Island in May. Using Nootka Sound as a base of operations he spent the summer trading for furs along the coasts of present-day British Columbia and Washington down to after having sailed as far south as Cape Lookout , having missed
6300-686: The North American continental fur trade since the 17th century, entered the Pacific coast trade in the 1820s with the intention of outcompeting the Americans - a goal accomplished by about 1840. In its late period, after about 1840, the maritime fur trade in the northern Pacific was largely conducted by the British Hudson's Bay Company and by the Russian-American Company (the RAC, which operated from 1799 to 1867). The trade in fur-seal skins from
6475-598: The North Pacific Ocean , extending some 1,500 miles (2,400 kilometers) from the island of Hawaiʻi in the south to northernmost Kure Atoll . Formerly called the Sandwich Islands by Europeans (not by Kānaka Maoli , the people native to the islands), the present name for the archipelago is derived from the name of its largest island, Hawaiʻi. The archipelago sits on the Pacific plate . The islands are exposed peaks of
6650-504: The Panic of 1825 . Tea prices plummeted and the China trade's volume collapsed by about a third. By this time, the old maritime fur trade on the Northwest Coast and the Old China Trade itself were dying. The final blow came with the depression of 1841–43, following the Panic of 1837 . Over time, the maritime fur traders concentrated on different parts of the North West Coast. In the 1790s,
6825-463: The Russo-American Treaty of 1824 , resulted in the HBC's decision to enter the coast maritime fur trade and drive out the Americans. By the early 1820s American traders were taking 3,000 to 5,000 beaver skins, mostly from New Caledonia, to Canton every year. By the early 1830s the number had reached 10,000 annually, which was as many as the HBC itself was acquiring from New Caledonia and half of
7000-466: The Sandwich Islands . Showing no gratitude to Dixon, Meares proceeded to sue him for allegedly overcharging him for the supplies that saved his life. In 1788, and in total violation of what he had told Dixon, Meares started a new expedition with two vessels and more false papers. The ships sailed under the Portuguese flag and were given Portuguese names: the Felice Adventurero , captained by Meares, and
7175-578: The Society Islands around 1025 to 1120 C.E., and in the Marquesas Islands sometime between 1100 and 1200 C.E. Polynesians arrived sometime between 940 and 1200 AD. Kamehameha I , the ruler of the island of Hawaii, conquered and unified the islands for the first time, establishing the Kingdom of Hawaii in 1795. The kingdom became prosperous and important for its agriculture and strategic location in
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7350-491: The Ukase of 1821 which announced Russian hegemony over the Northwest Coast from 45°50′ north latitude onwards in a northern direction. The only Russian attempt to enforce the ukase of 1821 was the seizure of the US brig Pearl by the Russian sloop Apollon , in 1822. The Pearl , a maritime fur trading vessel, was sailing from Boston to Sitka. On a protest from the US government, the vessel
7525-462: The War of 1812 , but after 1815, Americans were able to resume and expand the maritime fur trade, and continued to dominate. The Russian entry to the Northwest Coast, beyond Prince William Sound, was slow because of a shortage of ships and sailors. Yakutat Bay was reached in 1794 and the settlement of Slavorossiya , originally intended to be the colonial capital, was built there in 1795. Reconnaissance of
7700-413: The indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast and natives of Alaska . Entrepreneurs also exploited fur-bearing skins from the wider Pacific (from, for example, the Juan Fernández fur seal ) and from the Southern Ocean . The trade mostly serviced the market in Qing China , which imported furs and exported tea, silks, porcelain, and other Chinese goods, which were then sold in Europe and in
7875-433: The list of extinct animals of the Hawaiian Islands . As of 2009 , many of the remaining endemic species are considered endangered . On June 15, 2006, President George W. Bush issued a public proclamation creating Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument under the Antiquities Act of 1906. The Monument encompasses the northwestern Hawaiian Islands and surrounding waters, forming the largest marine wildlife reserve in
8050-510: The trade winds on their north and east flanks (the windward side) as a result of orographic precipitation . Coastal areas in general and especially the south and west flanks, or leeward sides, tend to be drier. In general, the lowlands of Hawaiian Islands receive most of their precipitation during the winter months (October to April). Drier conditions generally prevail from May to September. The tropical storms , and occasional hurricanes , tend to occur from July through November. During
8225-430: The "golden round": The Americans had a perfect golden round of profits: first, the profit on the original cargo of trading goods when exchanged for furs; second, the profit when the furs were transmuted into Chinese goods; and, third, the profit on those goods when they reached America. In the later years of the North West Trade the pattern became more complex as additional markets and side voyages were incorporated. As
8400-399: The 1780s, Grigory Shelikhov began to stand out as one of the most important traders through the Shelikhov-Golikov Company . In 1784, Shelikhov founded the first permanent Russian settlement in North America, at Three Saints Bay on Kodiak Island. Shelikhov envisioned a continual extension of the Russian maritime fur trade, with trading posts being set up farther and farther along the coast all
8575-438: The 1789 fur trading season was over, Gray sailed the Columbia to China via Hawaii, then to Boston via the Cape of Good Hope . The arrival of the Columbia at Boston was celebrated for being the first American circumnavigation of the world. However, the venture was not a commercial success. The ship's owners financed a second attempt and Gray sailed the Columbia from Boston only six weeks after arriving. Gray's second voyage
8750-451: The 1790s, American traders were outcompeting the British and soon came to dominate the maritime fur trade south of Russian America. The opening of the trade came at a good time for New England's merchants. It provided a way to escape the depression that had followed the American Revolutionary War . It presented new trading opportunities that more than made up for the closure of British home and colonial ports to US imports. First Nations along
8925-467: The 1820s based on a census conducted by American missionaries, 82,203 in the 1850 Hawaiian Kingdom census, 40,622 in the final Hawaiian Kingdom census of 1890, 39,504 in the sole census by the Republic of Hawaii in 1896, and 37,656 in the first census conducted by the United States in 1900. Thereafter the Native Hawaiian population in Hawaii increased with every census, reaching 680,442 in 2020 (including people of mixed heritage). In 1893 Queen Liliʻuokalani
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#17328439965869100-399: The 1830s, however, the missions of Alta California had been secularized by Mexican authorities and deserted by Indian labourers. The trade slid into unprofitability. The decline of the American trade with Alta California left just one significant alternative to the ever-dwindling sea otter trade—the provisioning of the settlements of Russian America, which lasted until the Americans abandoned
9275-411: The American ship took a cargo of NWC beaver furs to Canton, exchanged them for China goods and conveyed them to Boston for sale. Even though Perkins and Company took 25% of the proceeds the arrangement was still about 50% more profitable than using British ships and selling furs in Canton through the EIC for bills payable on London and returning from China with no cargo. In 1821, after tensions between
9450-410: The Americas from Cape Horn to Bering Strait and for 300 leagues (around 900 mi (1,400 km)) out into the Pacific Ocean. This, coupled with the EIC monopoly on British trade in China, meant sea otter skins were procurable only in the preserve of one monopoly and disposable only in that of the other. To operate legally, British maritime fur traders had to obtain licenses from both companies, which
9625-471: The Barkleys hired a native Hawaiian named Wynee as a maidservant. Wynee was the first native Hawaiian to visit the Pacific Northwest—the first of many Kanakas . Barkley explored the coast south of Nootka Sound, discovering the Strait of Juan de Fuca in the process. He was the first trader to visit Neah Bay , a Makah settlement that later became an important port of call for maritime fur traders. John Meares , who had also served under Cook, sailed to
9800-489: The Big Island. The volcanoes on the remaining islands are extinct as they are no longer over the Hawaii hotspot. The Kamaʻehuakanaloa Seamount is an active submarine volcano that is expected to become the newest Hawaiian island when it rises above the ocean's surface in 10,000–100,000 years. Hazards from these volcanoes include lava flows that can destroy and bury the surrounding surface, volcanic gas emissions, earthquakes and tsunamis listed above, submarine eruptions affecting
9975-478: The British and American system, where the natives hunted sea otters and prepared the furs on their own, and were essentially independent agents of the fur trade. The Russians did not trade freely with the native Alaskans; rather, they imposed a fur tribute known as yasak . The yasak system, which was widely used in Siberia, essentially enslaved the natives. In 1788, it was banned in Russian America, only to be replaced by compulsory labor . The British entry into
10150-435: The British fur traders were getting organized, the Spanish were continuing their effort to secure the Pacific Northwest. At first the Spanish were responding mainly to Russian activity in Alaska. On a 1788 voyage to Alaska, Esteban José Martínez had learned that the Russians were intending to establish a fortified outpost at Nootka Sound. This, in addition to the increasing use of Nootka Sound by British fur traders, resulted in
10325-476: The Chinese port of Guangzhou (Canton), where they worked within the established Canton system . Furs from Russian America were mostly sold to China via the Mongolian trading town of Kyakhta , which had been opened to Russian trade by the 1727 Treaty of Kyakhta . Large-scale economic issues played a role in the decline of the maritime fur trade and the China trade in general. Before the 19th century, Chinese demand for Western raw materials or manufactured goods
10500-467: The Columbia River. In late autumn they sailed to the Hawaiian Islands, where they typically spent the winter, then from Hawaii to Macau on the Pearl River Delta , arriving in autumn. Trading in Canton did not begin until November, when tea shipments were ready. The Americans had to hire pilots to take their ships up the Pearl River to Canton's "out port" of Whampoa . Foreign ships were not allowed in Canton itself. Trading took weeks or months, after which
10675-445: The EIC and HBC. It was also hoped that the company would be able to conduct maritime trade with China and Japan, although this goal was not realized. In 1818 the Russian government took control of the RAC from the merchants who held the charter. The explorer and naval officer Ferdinand Petrovich von Wrangel was the first president of the company during the government period. In 1867, the Alaska Purchase transferred control of Alaska to
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#173284399658610850-443: The EIC, instead trying to conceal the illegal activity by using the flag of Portugal. They arrived at Nootka Sound in May 1788. Meares later claimed that Chief Maquinna sold him some land and on it Meares had a building erected. These claims later became a point of dispute during the Nootka Crisis . Spain, which sought control of Nootka Sound, rejected both claims; the true facts of the matter have never been fully established. There
11025-414: The EIC. In 1824 and 1825 the HBC sold 20,000 beaver and 7,000 land-otter skins in China through the EIC, but the arrangement did not prove advantageous for either firm. In the wake of the NWC's forced merger into the HBC, George Simpson reorganized operations in New Caledonia and the Columbia Department . His efforts and keen fiscal sense, combined with a resurgence of American traders on the coast after
11200-573: The Earth. The measurement from sea level to summit is more than 2.5 miles (4 km), from sea level to sea floor about 3.1 miles (5 km). The Hawaiian Islands have many earthquakes , generally triggered by and related to volcanic activity. Seismic activity, as a result, is currently highest in the southern part of the chain. Both historical and modern earthquake databases have correlated higher magnitude earthquakes with flanks of active volcanoes, such as Mauna Loa and Kilauea. The combination of erosional forces, which cause slumping and landslides, with
11375-413: The HBC to gain this level of experience, but the Americans still had several advantages. For a number of reasons they were willing and able to pay high prices for furs—much higher than the HBC could match without taking large financial losses. The American ventures were global in scope. They tapped multiple markets of which the North West Coast was but one. By the 1820s American ships routinely spent years in
11550-484: The Hawaiian Islands is a topic of continuing debate. Archaeological evidence seems to indicate a settlement as early as 124 AD. Captain James Cook , RN , visited the islands on January 18, 1778, and named them the "Sandwich Islands" in honor of The 4th Earl of Sandwich , who as the First Lord of the Admiralty was one of his sponsors. This name was in use until the 1840s, when the local name "Hawaii" gradually began to take precedence. The Hawaiian Islands have
11725-419: The Hawaiian Islands. Explosive volcanic activity can cause tsunamis. The island of Molokaʻi had a catastrophic collapse or debris avalanche over a million years ago; this underwater landslide likely caused tsunamis. The Hilina Slump on the island of Hawaiʻi is another potential place for a large landslide and resulting tsunami. The city of Hilo on the Big Island has been most affected by tsunamis, where
11900-431: The NWC and HBC had erupted into violence the NWC was forced to merge into the HBC. As a result, the HBC acquired the Columbia District and its trade with China. At first the system of shipping furs via the American Perkins and Company was continued, but in 1822 the United States Customs Service imposed a heavy ad valorem duty on the proceeds. The HBC stopped using American middlemen and instead tried selling furs through
12075-416: The Navy, and according to his "last will and testament" he owned property in Jamaica . The death of John Meares, "a Commander in his Majesty’s Navy", at Bath on 29 January 1809, was noted in a newspaper advertisement by his solicitors inviting his creditors to a meeting at the George and Vulture Tavern, Cornhill, London , to take consideration of the state of his affairs. The value of his estate when probated
12250-418: The North West Coast altogether in the early 1840s. From the first decade of the 19th century until 1841 American ships visited Sitka regularly, trading provisions, textiles, and liquor for fur seal skins, timber, and fish. This trade was usually highly profitable for the Americans and the Russian settlements depended on it. Thus when Tsar Nicholas I issued the ukase of 1821, banning foreign trade north of
12425-427: The North West Coast in 1786. He spent the winter in Prince William Sound , his ship trapped by ice and his men dying of scurvy . He was rescued by the timely arrival of Dixon and Portlock. Meares organized a second expedition of two ships, the Felice Adventurero and Iphigenia Nubiana . Meares was captain of the Felice and William Douglas was captain of the Iphigenia . Meares decided not to license his ships with
12600-412: The North West Coast of America in 1790. It gained widespread attention, especially in light of the developing Nootka Crisis . Meares not only described his voyages to the northwest coast, but put forward a grand vision of a new economic network based in the Pacific, joining in trade widely separated regions such as the Pacific Northwest, China, Japan, Hawaii, and England. His vision required a loosening of
12775-463: The North West trade developed it became riskier to depend solely upon acquiring sea otter furs through trade with the indigenous people of the coast. Diversification began in the first decade of the 19th century if not earlier, and increased over time. Maritime fur trading voyages were no longer solely about taking sea otter furs from the North West Coast to Canton. Other commodities and markets throughout
12950-512: The Northwest Coast in 1785, at which time it was mostly unexplored. Although noncommercial exploration voyages continued, especially by the Spanish Navy, the maritime fur traders made a number of significant discoveries. Notable examples include the Strait of Juan de Fuca , Clayoquot Sound , and Barkley Sound , all found by Charles William Barkley , Queen Charlotte Strait by James Strange , Fitz Hugh Sound by James Hanna , Grays Harbor and
13125-474: The Northwest Coast natives, along with increased warfare, potlatching , slaving , and depopulation due to epidemic disease. However, the indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast were not overwhelmed by rapid change, and some cultural practices flourished. For instance, the importance of totems and traditional nobility crests increased, and the Chinook Jargon ( Chinook jargon : Chinuk wawa ),
13300-430: The Pacific coastal regions of northern North America - including otters , fish , and bears - the water, soil, ecosystems and resources were devastated by the maritime fur trade. The Pacific Northwest was one of the last significant nonpolar regions in the world to be explored by Europeans. Centuries of reconnaissance and conquest had brought the rest of North America within the claims of imperial powers. During
13475-412: The Pacific were added to the system. Sandalwood , mainly from Hawaii, became an important item of the China trade. Just as the sea otter trade was waning the sandalwood trade boomed, peaking in 1821, then declined. Hawaiian sandalwood was depleted by 1830. Fiji and the Marquesas Islands were the other principal sources of sandalwood. Most had been cut by 1820. Fiji was also a source of bêche-de-mer ,
13650-506: The Pacific, making several voyages between various places such as California, Hawaii, the Philippines, and Canton. American ships were usually stocked with a surplus of trade goods intended for trade on the North West Coast. It was always best to get rid of any extra trade goods on the North West Coast, "dumping" them at any price, before leaving. They would use up stowage space that could be used more profitably elsewhere. The HBC therefore faced
13825-625: The Pacific. Kamehameha was aided by European military technology that became available once an expedition led by British explorer James Cook reached the islands in 1778, the first sustained contact with Europeans. American immigration, led by Protestant missionaries , and Native Hawaiian emigration, mostly on whaling ships but also in high numbers as indentured servants and as forced labour, began almost immediately after Cook's arrival. Americans established plantations to grow crops for export. Their farming methods required substantial labor. Waves of permanent immigrants came from Japan , China , and
14000-552: The Philippines to work in the cane and pineapple fields. The government of Japan organized and gave special protection to its people, who comprised about 25 percent of the Hawaiian population by 1896. The Hawaiian monarchy encouraged this multi-ethnic society, initially establishing a constitutional monarchy in 1840 that promised equal voting rights regardless of race, gender, or wealth. The population of Native Hawaiians declined precipitously from an unknown number prior to 1778 (estimated to be around 300,000). It fell to around 142,000 in
14175-570: The Russians, the population of Russian America peaked at 10,313 in 1838. An additional 12,500 people were known local residents not included in the colonial register. An estimated 17,000 more local residents were present but unknown to the Russians. Thus, the total population of the Russian–occupied parts of Russian America was approximately 40,000. Colony Ross, known as Fort Ross today, was built in California just north of San Francisco Bay . It
14350-603: The Southern Ocean peaked in the 1810s and had become unprofitable due to over-exploitation of the source resources by 1863. The term "maritime fur trade" has been used by historians from the 1880s onwards to distinguish the coastal ship-based fur trade from the continental land-based fur trade of, for example, the North West Company (1779–1821) of Montreal and the American Fur Company (1808–1847). Historically,
14525-533: The Spanish decision to assert sovereignty on the northwest coast once and for all. Plans were laid for Nootka Sound to be colonized. Spain hoped to establish and maintain sovereignty on the entire coast as far north as the Russia posts in Prince William Sound . The Viceroy of New Spain , Manuel Antonio Flórez , instructed Martínez to occupy Nootka Sound, build some kind of structure, and to make it clear that Spain
14700-555: The Tlingit abandoned their fort and left the area. Tlingit accounts of the battle refuse to admit defeat or give the Russians credit for taking the Tlingit fort. The Russians destroyed the abandoned Tlingit fort and named the new Russian fort Novo-Arkhangelsk (New Archangel), also known as Fort Archangel Michael and Fort Saint Michael. The confrontations at Sitka in 1802 and 1804 played a significant role in subsequent Tlingit-Russian relations for generations. Novo-Arkhangelsk soon became
14875-539: The United States and the commercial interests of the Russian American Company were sold to Hutchinson, Kohl & Company of San Francisco , who then merged with several other groups to form the Alaska Commercial Company . The Russian population in America never surpassed 1,000—the peak was 823 in 1839. However, the RAC employed and fed thousands of natives. According to official census counts by
15050-566: The United States. The maritime fur trade was pioneered by the Russians, veterans of the Eurasian fur trade . Against the background of the Siberian fur trade , Russians reached the Pacific coast of Asia, and first encountered the valuable sea-otter resources of the northern Pacific Ocean in the 17th century. The promyshlenniki then worked their way eastwards from Kamchatka along the Commander and
15225-654: The United States. When the clash came, at Nootka Sound in 1789, it was not between Spain and Russia but between Spain and Britain. The British first reached the region by sea in 1778, during James Cook 's third voyage, and by land in 1793, when Alexander Mackenzie's transcontinental explorations reached the Pacific. The first British maritime fur trader, James Hanna , arrived on the Northwest Coast in 1785. The first American traders, John Kendrick and Robert Gray , arrived by sea in 1788. The Lewis and Clark Expedition arrived overland in 1805. The early maritime fur traders were explorers, as well as traders. The Northwest Coast
15400-414: The absence of such predators. The growing population of humans, especially through European and American colonisation and development, has also led to deforestation , forest degradation , treeless grasslands, and environmental degradation . As a result, many species which depended on forest habitats and food became extinct—with many current species facing extinction. As humans cleared land for farming with
15575-421: The beginning of the 19th century. A long period of decline began in the 1810s. As the sea-otter population became depleted over time, the maritime fur trade diversified and transformed, tapping new commodities, while continuing to focus on the Northwest Coast of North America and on markets in China. It lasted until the middle- to late-19th century. Russians controlled most of the coast of present-day Alaska during
15750-526: The bulk exploitation of these mammals range from 150,000 to 300,000. Sea otters are "slow breeders, only one sometimes two pups being born at a time" each year, which makes the population vulnerable in conditions of intensive hunting. While Russians developed the maritime fur-trade based on sea-otter pelts, societies from eastern North America gradually moved their largely beaver -based fur-harvesting enterprises further and further westward. Eventually, rather than sending all their furs to Atlantic markets,
15925-592: The coast as far as Haida Gwaii was carried out by James Shields, a British employee of the Golikov-Shelikhov Company. In 1795, Alexandr Baranov sailed into Sitka Sound , claiming it for Russia. Hunting parties arrived in the following years. By 1800, three-quarters of the Russian-American Company's sea otter skins came from the Sitka Sound area, amounting to several thousand per year. Sitka Sound
16100-607: The coast of Alaska . He spent the winter of 1786–1787 in Prince William Sound with poor provisions; his men suffered from the weather and scurvy . Twenty-three of his men died of scurvy and the remaining ten were saved only by the timely arrival of Captain George Dixon , a British trader with proper licences, in the Queen Charlotte . Meares gave Dixon his bond never to trade in the Northwest again, and returned to China by way of
16275-530: The coast referred to American traders in the Chinook jargon as Boston or Boston-men – after their main port in New England. One of the first and most notable American maritime fur traders was Robert Gray . Gray made two trading voyages, the first from 1787 to 1790 and the second from 1790 to 1793. The first voyage was conducted with John Kendrick and the vessels Columbia Rediviva and Lady Washington . After
16450-497: The coast trade to drive away the American traders. This goal was achieved during the 1830s. By 1841, the American traders had abandoned the North West Coast. For a time, the North West Coast trade was controlled by the HBC and the RAC. Following the 1846 resolution of the Oregon Territory controversy between the United States and England, and the American purchase of Alaska in 1867, American hunters returned to hunting sea otters in
16625-541: The company and pay duties. Meares did not license his ships with the East India Company and instead tried to conceal the illegal activity by using the flag of Portugal . Meares registered his ships in Macau , a Portuguese colony in China. Non-British ships were not required to have licences from the East India Company. He sailed from Calcutta on 12 March 1786, in the Nootka , a vessel of 200 tons ( bm ), with which he explored part of
16800-595: The company for the maritime fur trade. The EIC usually allowed British vessels to import furs into Canton, but required the furs to be sold via EIC agents, and the company took a percentage of the returns. Worse, the EIC did not allow the British fur traders to export Chinese goods to Great Britain. Thus, the last and most profitable leg of the maritime fur trade system—carrying Chinese goods to Europe and America—was denied to British traders. The first trading vessel dispatched solely for
16975-565: The company monopolistic control over trade in the Aleutian Islands and the North America mainland, south to 55° north latitude (approximating the present border on coast between British Columbia and Alaska). The RAC was modeled on Britain's East India Company (EIC) and Hudson's Bay Company (HBC). Russian officials intended the company to operate both as a business enterprise and a state organization for extending imperial influence, similar to
17150-671: The continental fur-industry began to tap into the trans-Pacific market in China from 1792 onwards. The fur trade's killing of beavers proved devastating for the North American beaver population. The natural ecosystems that came to rely on the beavers for dams , water and other vital needs were also devastated leading to ecological destruction , environmental change, and drought in certain areas. Following this beaver populations in North America would take centuries to recover in some areas, while others would never recover. The killing of beavers had catastrophic effects for many species living in
17325-766: The early 1760s. Stepan Glotov encountered Kodiak Island in 1763. In 1768, an expedition was carried out by the Russian Navy, under Pyotr Krenitsyn and Mikhail Levashev . Two ships sailed from Kamchatka to the Alaska Peninsula for the purpose of assessing the existing Russian activity and the possibilities of future development. Reports about the voyage, meant to be kept secret, spread through Europe and caused alarm in Spain. The Spanish government, already concerned about Russian activity in Alaska, decided to colonize Alta California and sent exploratory voyages to Alaska to assess
17500-527: The early part of this era, the ships would typically stop at the Commander Islands to slaughter and preserve the meat of Steller's sea cows , a defenseless sea mammal whose range was limited to those islands. They were hunted not only for food, but also for their skins, used to make boats, and their subcutaneous fat, used for oil lamps . By 1768, Steller's sea cow was extinct. As furs were depleted on nearby islands, Russian traders sailed farther east along
17675-463: The entire maritime fur trade era. The North American coast further south saw fierce competition between, and among, trading vessels from Great Britain and from the United States . The British were the first to operate in the southern sector, but were unable to compete against the Americans, who dominated from the 1790s to the 1830s. The British Hudson's Bay Company (HBC), which had had experience in
17850-664: The especially unpredictable nature of the forces that trigger earthquakes, and partially because these events occur at relatively shallow depths. Flank earthquakes typically occur at depths ranging from 5 to 20 km, increasing the hazard to local infrastructure and communities. Earthquakes and landslides on the island chain have also been known to cause tsunamis . Most of the early earthquake monitoring took place in Hilo , by missionaries Titus Coan and Sarah J. Lyman and her family. Between 1833 and 1896, approximately 4 or 5 earthquakes were reported per year. Today, earthquakes are monitored by
18025-456: The expedition visited Canton and were surprised by how much money the Chinese were willing to pay for the furs. A profit of 1,800% was made. James King , one of the commanders after Cook's death, wrote, "the advantages that might be derived from a voyage to that part of the American coast, undertaken with commercial views, appear to me of a degree of importance sufficient to call for the attention of
18200-639: The first European settlements in Tasmania ( Van Diemen's Land ) and New Zealand - lands which Europeans had known but largely ignored since the 17th century. Settler colonialism in the South Pacific resulted during the course of the 19th century in genocides (in fur-sources like Tasmania and the Chatham Islands ) and in cultural disruption and temporary numerical decline for the indigenous Māori people of New Zealand. The trade's effect on China and on Europe
18375-422: The first decade of the 19th century. Returns of 2,200% or higher were common, although when taking into account the cost of buying and outfitting vessels, the 2,200% return would be closer to 525%. The trade's boom years ended around 1810, after which a long decline was marked by increasing economic diversification. By 1810, the supply of sea otter pelts had fallen due to overhunting. American trade declined during
18550-403: The first in a series of economic booms and busts, while boosting convict capitalism. In economic terms, the most profitable furs came from the pelts of the sea otter ( Enhydra lutris ), especially from those of the northern sea otter ( Enhydra lutris kenyoni ), which inhabited the Pacific coastal waters of North America between the Columbia River in the south and the Aleutian Islands in
18725-549: The fur trading companies of Meares and the Etches ( King George's Sound Company ) resulted in James Colnett being given the overall command. Meares instructed Colnett to establish a permanent fur trading post at Nootka Sound based on the foothold accomplished by Meares the year before. The Iphigenia Nubiana and North West America were to join the Argonaut and Princess Royal at Nootka Sound. Meares himself remained in China. While
18900-468: The importation of industrialized farming practices through European and American encroachment, monocultural crop production replaced multi-species systems . The arrival of the Europeans had a more significant impact, with the promotion of large-scale single-species export agriculture and livestock grazing. This led to increased clearing of forests, and the development of towns, adding many more species to
19075-453: The in-rushing water is accentuated by the shape of Hilo Bay . Coastal cities have tsunami warning sirens. A tsunami resulting from an earthquake in Chile hit the islands on February 27, 2010. It was relatively minor, but local emergency management officials utilized the latest technology and ordered evacuations in preparation for a possible major event. The Governor declared it a "good drill" for
19250-521: The interior to the coast via indigenous trade networks from New Caledonia—today the Omineca and Nechako districts of the Central Interior of British Columbia . During the 1820s, the British Hudson's Bay Company (HBC), which considered the interior fur trade to be its domain, began to experience significant losses as a result of this diversion of furs to the coast. To protect its interests, the HBC entered
19425-600: The issue was taken up in the House of Commons as the Royal Navy began to make preparations for hostilities. An ultimatum was delivered to Spain, who without the support of France, capitulated to British terms. The subsequent Nootka Convention led to George Vancouver 's historic voyage in HMS ; Discovery . In 1790, Meares published Voyages Made in the Years 1788 and 1789, from China to
19600-459: The late 18th and early 19th centuries, a number of empires and commercial systems converged upon the Northwest Coast, by sea as well as by land across the continent. The Russian and Spanish empires were extended into the region simultaneously, from opposite directions. Russian fur companies expanded into North America along the Aleutian Islands, reaching the Fox Islands and the Alaska Peninsula in
19775-549: The latter to publish a pamphlet about Meares' self-aggrandizement and false claims of discoveries made by others. Meares' claim that Captain Robert Gray had circumnavigated Vancouver island was disclaimed by Gray himself. The explorations of Captain George Vancouver disproved a number of Meares' other claims. Nonetheless, Meares' claims formed a basis for negotiation of British title to Oregon and British Columbia . Not much
19950-534: The major islands (listed above), and individual islets in each atoll. These are just a few: Partial islands, atolls, reefs—those west of Niʻihau are uninhabited except Midway Atoll—form the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands (Leeward Islands): This chain of islands, or archipelago , developed as the Pacific plate slowly moved northwestward over a hotspot in the Earth's mantle at a rate of approximately 32 miles (51 km) per million years. Thus,
20125-634: The maritime fur trade dates to 1778 and the third voyage of Captain James Cook. While sailing north to search for the fabled Northwest Passage , Cook discovered the Hawaiian Islands . On the Northwest Coast, he spent a month in Nootka Sound , during which he and his crew traded with the Nuu-chah-nulth from the village of Yuquot . They ended up with over 300 furs, mostly sea otter, but thought them of no great value. Later, after Cook had been killed in Hawaii,
20300-505: The maritime fur trade era—by Juan Pérez , Bruno de Heceta , Bogeda y Quadra , and James Cook —produced only rough surveys of the coast's general features. Detailed surveys were undertaken in only a few relatively small areas, such as Nootka Sound , Bucareli Bay , and Cook Inlet . Russian exploration before 1785 had produced mainly rough surveys, largely restricted to the Aleutian Islands and mainland Alaska west of Cape Saint Elias . British and American maritime fur traders began visiting
20475-495: The maritime fur trade was not known by that name and was rather usually called the "North West Coast trade" or the "North West Trade". The term "North West" was rarely spelled as the single word "Northwest", as is common today. The maritime fur trade brought the Pacific Northwest coast into a vast, new network of international trade , centered on the north Pacific Ocean, global in scope, and based on capitalism but not (for
20650-412: The maritime fur trade, the Russians had spent over 40 years establishing and expanding their maritime operations in North America. A number of colonies were being established over a large region stretching from the Aleutian Islands to Cook Inlet and Prince William Sound . Many ships sailed from Kamchatka to Alaska each year. The Russians not only had an early start, but they also controlled the habitats of
20825-459: The maritime fur trade. They sailed from England on the King George and Queen Charlotte and spent 1786 and 1787 exploring and trading on the North West Coast. They spent the winters in Hawaii, where they were among the first visitors after Cook. Charles William Barkley , another early British trader, sailed the Imperial Eagle from England to the North West Coast via Hawaii, 1786–1788. He
21000-462: The maritime fur-trade forced it to move north. The start of the decline in sea-otter numbers began with the first Russian expeditions in this region. Aleut hunters supplied sea-otter skins as tribute or as ransom to the Russians, and the Aleut people became "the main purveyor of prime otter skins to Russian traders and American adventurers". Retrospective estimates of worldwide sea-otter numbers before
21175-518: The monopolistic power of the East India Company and the South Sea Company , which between them controlled all British trade in the Pacific. Meares argued strongly for loosening their power. His vision eventually came to pass, in its general form, but not before the long struggle of the Napoleonic Wars was over. Meares' Voyages also caused a controversy; Meares' criticisms of George Dixon led
21350-609: The most part) on colonialism . A sort of triangular trade network emerged linking the Pacific Northwest coast, China, the Hawaiian Islands (first generally known to the Western world following James Cook's visit in 1778 ), Britain, and the United States (especially New England ). The trade had a major effect on the indigenous people of the Pacific Northwest coast, especially the Aleut , Sugpiaq , Tlingit , Haida , Nuu-chah-nulth , and Chinook peoples . A rapid increase of wealth occurred among
21525-518: The most successful American firms involved in the Northwest Trade was Perkins and Company . The maritime fur trade was dominated by American traders from the 1790s to the 1820s. Between 1788 and 1826, American merchant ships made at least 127 voyages between the United States and China, via the Northwest Coast. The returns were lucrative. During the late 1810s, the return on investment ranged from about 300% to 500%. Even higher profits were common in
21700-401: The most valuable sea otters. The Kurilian, Kamchatkan, and Aleutian sea otters' fur was thicker, glossier, and blacker than those on the Northwest Coast and California. The four grades of fur were based on colour, texture, and thickness. The most prized furs were those of Kurilian and Kamchatkan sea otters, Aleutian furs were second-grade, those of the Northwest Coast third, and the poorest grade
21875-631: The mountains near the coast until it reached 141° west longitude , after which the boundary ran north along that line of longitude to the Arctic Ocean. Aside from boundary adjustments to the Alaska Panhandle , stemming from the Alaska boundary dispute of the late 19th century, this is the current boundary of the state of Alaska. In 1839 the RAC-HBC Agreement was signed, giving the Hudson's Bay Company
22050-482: The next major event. A tsunami resulting from an earthquake in Japan hit the islands on March 11, 2011. It was relatively minor, but local officials ordered evacuations in preparation for a possible major event. The tsunami caused about $ 30.1 million in damages. Only the two Hawaiian islands furthest to the southeast have active volcanoes: Haleakalā on Maui, and Mauna Loa , Mauna Kea , Kilauea , and Hualalai , all on
22225-471: The north and west. Sea otters possess a thicker fur than any other mammal, and the sea otter's habit of coat-grooming prevents molting. The "dark [thick] and silver tipped fur" accounts for sea otters' exploitation during a time when their pelts became fashionable in Imperial Chinese high society. Fashionable popularity fed the market demand for sea-otter pelts in China, Europe and America, and played
22400-440: The northern coast could unload furs and take on trade goods without having to navigate the Columbia River and its hazardous bar. Later coastal posts included Fort Stikine (1840), Fort Durham (1840), and Fort Victoria (1843). It was not easy for the HBC to drive the Americans away from the North West Coast. The Americans had decades of experience and knew the coast's complex physical and human geography. It took until 1835 for
22575-602: The northwest coast of the island of Hawaii, near the Kona area. The initial earthquake was followed approximately five minutes later by a magnitude 5.7 aftershock . Minor to moderate damage was reported on most of the Big Island. Several major roadways became impassable from rock slides, and effects were felt as far away as Honolulu , Oahu, nearly 150 miles (240 km) from the epicenter . Power outages lasted for several hours to days. Several water mains ruptured. No deaths or life-threatening injuries were reported. On May 4, 2018, there
22750-532: The ocean, and the possibility of an explosive eruption. There is no definitive date for the Polynesian discovery of Hawaii . However, high-precision radiocarbon dating in Hawaii using chronometric hygiene analysis, and taxonomic identification selection of samples, puts the initial such settlement of the Hawaiian Islands sometime between 940-1250 C.E., originating from earlier settlements first established in
22925-587: The person he thus pilfered." During the winter of 1788–89 Meares was in Guangzhou (Canton), China, where he and others formed a partnership called the Associated Merchants Trading to the Northwest Coast of America. Plans were made for more ships to sail to the Pacific Northwest in 1789, including the Princess Royal , under Thomas Hudson, and the Argonaut under James Colnett . The consolidation of
23100-626: The point of armed battles such as the 1816 Battle of Seven Oaks , was mostly over control of Rupert's Land, east of the Continental Divide. Around the turn of the 19th century the NWC expanded its operations westward, across the Rocky Mountains into the mostly unexplored Pacific Northwest. By the 1810s the NWC had established new fur trading operations west of the Rockies, in New Caledonia and
23275-402: The pressure exerted by rising magma put a great amount of stress on the volcanic flanks. The stress is released when the slope fails, or slips, causing an earthquake. This type of seismicity is unique because the forces driving the system are not always consistent over time, since rates of volcanic activity fluctuate. Seismic hazard near active, seaward volcanic flanks is high, partially because of
23450-483: The prices paid by Americans if they hoped to drive the Americans away. Beaver fur prices on the coast could be many times what the HBC was paying in the interior. There was no hope of making a profit. In order to compete on the coast the HBC had to take large, long-term financial losses. Hawaiian Islands The Hawaiian Islands ( Hawaiian : Mokupuni Hawaiʻi ) are an archipelago of eight major volcanic islands , several atolls , and numerous smaller islets in
23625-465: The primary settlement and colonial capital of Russian America. After the Alaska Purchase , it was renamed Sitka, and became the first capital of Alaska Territory . The Russian-American Company (RAC) was incorporated in 1799, putting an end to the promyshlenniki period and beginning an era of centralized monopoly. Its charter was laid out in a 1799 ukase by the new Tsar Paul , which granted
23800-525: The principal investors. An early trader, Emilian Basov, traded at Bering Island in 1743, collecting a large number of sea otter, fur seal , and blue Arctic fox furs. Basov made four trips to Bering Island and nearby Medny Island and made a fortune, inspiring many other traders. From 1743 to the founding of the Russian-American Company in 1799, over 100 private fur-trading and hunting voyages sailed from Kamchatka to North America. In total, these voyages garnered over eight million silver rubles . During
23975-503: The public." The crews of the two ships were so eager to return to Nootka Sound and acquire more furs, they were "not far short of mutiny". Nevertheless, they sailed for England, arriving there in October 1780. Accounts of Cook's voyage and the sea otter trade were published in the 1780s, triggering a rush of entrepreneurial voyages to the Northwest Coast. British interest in the maritime fur trade peaked between 1785 and 1794, then declined as
24150-533: The purpose of the fur trade was the British Sea Otter commanded by James Hanna in 1785. In his brief visit to the coast, he obtained 560 pelts, which fetched a profit of $ 20,000 in Canton. The promise of such profits encouraged other traders. George Dixon and Nathaniel Portlock , former members of Cook's crew, became partners in the King George's Sound Company , formed in 1785 for the purpose of developing
24325-527: The region was rich in furs. Private fur traders, mostly promyshlenniki , launched fur trading expeditions from Kamchatka , at first focusing on nearby islands such as the Commander Islands . Unlike fur trading ventures in Siberia, these maritime expeditions required more capital than most promyshlenniki could obtain. Merchants from cities such as Irkutsk , Tobolsk , and others in European Russia , became
24500-636: The region, both from land and sea. Hunting throughout the Aleutian and Kuril Islands by American commercial outfits also contributed to the near-extinction of the species by the late 1800s. From 1779 to 1821 two British fur trading companies, the Montreal-based North West Company (NWC) and the London-based Hudson's Bay Company, competed for control of the fur trade of what later became Western Canada. The struggle, which eventually reached
24675-613: The sea otters pelt, the Russian-America Company (RAC) annual expenses was around 1000,000 rubles each year and profited over 500,000 rubles per year. The fur of the Californian southern sea otter, E. l. nereis , was less highly prized and thus less profitable. After the northern sea otter was hunted to local extinction , maritime fur traders shifted to California until the southern sea otter was likewise nearly extinct. The British and American maritime fur traders took their furs to
24850-545: The seizures reached Meares in China he sailed to England. He arrived in April 1790, confirmed various rumors, claimed to have bought land and built a settlement at Nootka before Martínez, and generally fanned the flames of anti-Spanish feelings. He submitted a report to the Home secretary William Wyndham Grenville , in which he exaggerated the permanence of his settlement in Nootka Sound and the financial losses sustained by his company. In May
25025-727: The ships were loaded with Chinese goods such as teas, silks, porcelains, sugar, cassia , and curios . They left in the winter and used the northeasterly monsoon winds of the South China Sea to reach the Sunda Strait and then used the southeasterly trade winds to cross the Indian Ocean to the Cape of Good Hope. From there the ships sailed to Boston, where they traditionally docked at the India Wharf . Frederic William Howay described that as
25200-451: The shore of Friendly Cove in Nootka Sound, in exchange for some pistols and trade goods, and that on this land some kind of building was erected. These claims would become a key point in Britain's position during the Nootka Crisis. Spain strongly disputed both claims, and the true facts of the matter have never been fully established. Maquinna himself later called Meares a liar and denied selling him any land. The land and building aside, there
25375-415: The sole exception of Midway Atoll (a United States Minor Outlying Island ). Hawaii is the only U.S. state that is situated entirely on an archipelago, and the only state not geographically connected with North America . The Northwestern islands (sometimes called the Leeward Islands) and surrounding seas are protected as a National Monument and World Heritage Site . The date of the first settlements of
25550-413: The southeast island is volcanically active, whereas the islands on the northwest end of the archipelago are older and typically smaller, due to longer exposure to erosion . The age of the archipelago has been estimated using potassium-argon dating methods. From this study and others, it is estimated that the northwesternmost island, Kure Atoll , is the oldest at approximately 28 million years (Ma); while
25725-406: The southeasternmost island, Hawaiʻi , is approximately 0.4 Ma (400,000 years). The only active volcanism in the last 200 years has been on the southeastern island, Hawaiʻi, and on the submerged but growing volcano to the extreme southeast, Kamaʻehuakanaloa (formerly Loʻihi). The Hawaiian Volcano Observatory of the USGS documents recent volcanic activity and provides images and interpretations of
25900-659: The southern part of the North West Coast, including the Columbia River . Although the mouth of the river had been spotted by the Spanish explorer Bruno de Heceta in 1775, no other explorer or fur trader had been able to find it and enter the river. Gray was the first to do so. He named the river after his ship. The event was later used by the United States in support of their claims to the Pacific Northwest. Other notable American maritime fur traders include William F. Sturgis , Joseph Ingraham , Simon Metcalfe and his son Thomas Humphrey Metcalfe , Daniel Cross, John Boit , James Magee , and John DeWolf , among many others. One of
26075-407: The threat and strengthen Spanish claims of sovereignty on coast north of Mexico. The province of Alta California was established by José de Gálvez in 1769, just as the Krenitsyn-Levashev expedition was concluding. Five separate expeditions were dispatched to Alta California in 1769. By 1782, presidios had been established at San Diego , Monterey , San Francisco and Santa Barbara , linked by
26250-519: The total output of the entire Columbia Department. In addition, the Americans were paying higher prices for the furs, which forced the HBC to do the same. The HBC effort to gain control of the coastal fur trade began in the late 1820s. It took some time for the HBC to acquire the necessary ships, skilled seamen, trade goods, and intelligence about the coast trade. Simpson decided that the "London ships", which brought goods to Fort Vancouver and returned to England with furs, should arrive early enough to make
26425-473: The volcanism. Kīlauea had been erupting nearly continuously since 1983 when it stopped August 2018. Almost all of the magma of the hotspot has the composition of basalt , and so the Hawaiian volcanoes are composed almost entirely of this igneous rock. There is very little coarser-grained gabbro and diabase . Nephelinite is exposed on the islands but is extremely rare. The majority of eruptions in Hawaiʻi are Hawaiian-type eruptions because basaltic magma
26600-413: The voyage home. Wynee and Tianna are considered the first two Hawaiians to have traveled abroad. Later, Meares gained possession of Barkley's nautical gear and his journal. Barkley's wife, Frances Barkley , later wrote that Meares, "with the greatest effrontery, published and claimed the merit of my husband's discoveries therein contained, besides inventing lies of the most revolting nature tending to vilify
26775-408: The way to California. He sought exclusive control of the trade, and in 1788 Empress Catherine II decided to grant his company a monopoly only over the area it already occupied. Other traders were free to compete elsewhere. Catherine's decision was issued as the imperial ukase (proclamation) of 28 September 1788. By the time of Catherine's ukase of 1788, just as other nations were entering
26950-583: The west coast of Vancouver Island, especially Nootka Sound, was frequently visited. By the 1810s, the locus had shifted to the Queen Charlotte Islands and Alexander Archipelago , and in the 1820s, farther north to areas near Sitka Sound . After about 1830, it shifted south to the area from Dixon Entrance to Queen Charlotte Sound . During the early years, ships tended to cruise the coast, seeking trading opportunities whenever they arose. Later, ships spent more time in specific harbors. As fur resources dwindled and prices rose, ship captains increasingly concentrated on
27125-420: The world. In August 2010, UNESCO 's World Heritage Committee added Papahānaumokuākea to its list of World Heritage Sites . On August 26, 2016, former President Barack Obama greatly expanded Papahānaumokuākea, quadrupling it from its original size. The Hawaiian Islands are tropical but experience many different climates, depending on altitude and surroundings. The islands receive most rainfall from
27300-492: Was Fort Langley , established in 1827 on the Fraser River about 50 km (31 mi) from the river's mouth. The next was Fort Simpson , founded in 1831 at the mouth of the Nass River , and moved in 1834 several miles to the present Port Simpson . In 1833 Fort McLoughlin was established on an island in Milbanke Sound and Fort Nisqually was built at the southern end of Puget Sound . An overland trail linked Fort Nisqually and Fort Vancouver, so HBC vessels trading along
27475-522: Was a 6.9 earthquake in the zone of volcanic activity from Kīlauea . Earthquakes are monitored by the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory run by the USGS . The Hawaiian Islands are subject to tsunamis , great waves that strike the shore. Tsunamis are most often caused by earthquakes somewhere in the Pacific. The waves produced by the earthquakes travel at speeds of 400–500 miles per hour (600–800 km/h) and can affect coastal regions thousands of miles (kilometers) away. Tsunamis may also originate from
27650-474: Was accompanied by his wife, Frances Barkley , who became the first European woman to visit the Hawaiian Islands and the first woman to sail around the world without deception. Only two women are known to have sailed around the world before Frances: Jeanne Baré , disguised as a man, and Rose de Freycinet, wife of Louis de Freycinet , as a stowaway. Barkley chose to sail under the flag of Austria to evade paying for EIC and SSC licences. During their stop in Hawaii,
27825-521: Was also where serious competition between the Russians, British, and Americans first arose. In July 1799, Baranov returned to Sitka Sound on the brig Oryol and established the settlement of Arkhangelsk, also known as Fort Archangel Gabriel. In June 1802, Tlingit warriors attacked the settlement and killed or captured most of the 150 Russians and Aleuts living there. Baranov led an armed expedition to retake Sitka by force in June 1804. The Russian warship Neva joined Baranov at Sitka. A new Russian fort
28000-412: Was difficult and expensive. Some traders obtained a license from the EIC only, figuring the SSC was unable to enforce its monopoly. Others obtained only the SSC license and took their furs to England, where they were trans-shipped to China. Some traders tried to evade the licenses by sailing their ships under foreign flags. The EIC's primary focus in China was the tea trade, with never much interest within
28175-404: Was established while the Tlingit prepared to defend themselves with a well-armed fort of their own. Tension rapidly escalated into skirmishes and negotiations broke down. In early October, the Russians attacked the Tlingit fort with cannon from the Neva and from a land party. The Tlingit responded with powerful gun and cannon fire of their own. The Battle of Sitka continued for several days until
28350-455: Was estimated to be under £7,500. His will listed no spouse or child, but a brother and sister were among the beneficiaries. Perhaps his wife, the former Mary Ann Guilliband, whom he married in 1796, was already deceased. A number of places in the Pacific Northwest bear the name of Meares: Maritime fur trade The maritime fur trade , a ship-based fur trade system, focused largely on acquiring furs of sea otters and other animals from
28525-626: Was illegally deposed and placed under house arrest by businessmen (who included members of the Dole family ) with help from the U.S. Marines . The Republic of Hawaii governed for a short time until Hawaii was annexed by the United States in 1898 as the Territory of Hawaii . In 1959, the islands became the 50th American state . The islands are home to a multitude of endemic species. Since human settlement, first by Polynesians , non native trees, plants, and animals were introduced. These included species such as rats and pigs, that have preyed on native birds and invertebrates that initially evolved in
28700-524: Was located on the Farallon Islands . Three ranches were established: the Kostromitinov Ranch on the Russian River near the mouth of Willow Creek, the Khlebnikov Ranch in the Salmon Creek valley about a mile (1.6 km) north of the present day Bodega , and the Chernykh Ranch near present-day Graton . Fort Ross employed native Alaskans to hunt seals and sea otters on the California coast. By 1840, California's sea otter population had been severely depleted. The Russian Emperor Alexander I issued
28875-429: Was minimal, but for New England, the maritime fur trade and the significant profits that it made helped revitalize the region by contributing to its transformation from an agrarian to an industrial society. The wealth generated by the maritime fur trade was invested in industrial development, especially textile manufacturing . In Britain's Australian colonies, furs became the earliest international export items and fuelled
29050-404: Was notable in several ways. After spending the summer trading on the Northwest Coast, Gray wintered on the coast. In Clayoquot Sound , Gray's crew built a house, dubbed Fort Defiance , and had the sloop Adventure built, the first American vessel built on the Northwest Coast. It was launched in March 1792 under the command of Robert Haswell . During the 1792 trading season, Gray concentrated on
29225-431: Was outlawed but smuggled into China on a large and increasing scale. Before long, China was being drained of specie and saturated with Western goods. At the same time, intense speculation in the China trade by American and British merchant companies began. By the 1820s, too many firms were competing for an overstocked market, resulting in bankruptcies and consolidation. The inevitable commercial crisis struck in 1826–27, after
29400-412: Was perennially short of foods supplies. After Mexico gained independence in 1821 the American trade with Alta California continued in a slightly modified form. American traders brought mostly clothing, cottons, silks, lace, cutlery, alcohol, and sugar, which were traded for hides and tallow at a profit generally between 200% and 300%. The California Hide Trade became a major industry in its own right. By
29575-440: Was released and compensation paid. Britain and the United States protested the ukase and negotiations ultimately resulted in the Russo-American Treaty of 1824 and the Anglo-Russian Convention of 1825 . These treaties established 54°40′ as the southern boundary of exclusively Russian territory. The Anglo-Russian treaty delineated the boundary of Russian America fully. The border began on the coast at 54°40′, then ran north along
29750-473: Was said to be the most popular wintering place for American ships in the 1830s. Many significant trading sites were on the Queen Charlotte Islands, including Cloak Bay , Masset , Skidegate, Cumshewa , Skedans , and Houston Stewart Channel , known as "Coyah's Harbor", after Chief Koyah . As marine furs became depleted in the early 19th century, American ship captains began to accept increasing numbers of land furs such as beaver , which were brought from
29925-419: Was setting up a formal establishment. Martínez arrived at Nootka Sound on 5 May 1789. He found three ships already there. One was Meares' Iphigenia Nubiana . Martínez seized the ship and arrested its captain, William Douglas. After a few days Martínez released Douglas and his ship and ordered him to leave and not return. Douglas heeded the warning. The other two ships were American, the Columbia Rediviva and
30100-485: Was small, but bullion (also known as specie) was accepted, resulting in a general drain of precious metals from the West to China. The situation reversed in the early 19th century for a variety of reasons. Western demand for Chinese goods declined relative to new options (for example, coffee from the West Indies began to replace tea in the United States), while Chinese demand for Western items increased, such as for English manufactures, American cotton goods, and opium which
30275-519: Was smuggling along the Pacific coast of the Spanish Empire , where foreign trade was prohibited by Spanish law. This trade peaked in the 1810s, then faded in the 1820s. Traders concentrated on Alta California , which produced a surplus of grain, beef, tallow , and hides , but was chronically short of manufactured goods. American ships brought goods to the missions of Alta California in exchange for grain, beef, and Californian sea otter skins. The grain, beef, and other provisions were taken to Sitka, which
30450-448: Was the RAC's southernmost outpost and operated from 1812 to 1841, and was established as an agricultural base for supplying the northern settlements with food as well as for conducting trade with Alta California . The Ross Colony included a number of settlements spread out over an area stretching from Point Arena to Tomales Bay . The administrative center was Port Rumianstev at Bodega Harbor , off Bodega Bay . An artel hunting camp
30625-631: Was those of Californian sea otters. Russia also controlled the sources of sable furs, the most valuable fur-bearing land mammal. The Russian system differed from the British and American systems in its relationship with indigenous peoples. Using the same method they had used in Siberia, the Russians employed or enserfed Aleut and Alutiiq people, the latter being a subgroup of the Yupik Eskimo people. The Aleut and Alutiiq people were expert sea otter hunters, noted for their use of kayaks and baidarkas . Russian ships were mainly used for transporting and assisting native hunting parties. This differed from
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