Diplomacy Averts War over Nootka Sound in 1790 by Thornton Thomas
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n 1789, ar N oorka Sound, on whar is now rh e wes r coas r of Vancouver Island, Brirish Columbia, Canada, rhe Spanish commandam seized former Royal Navy officer John M eares' s merchanr ships and parcel of land. W ar fever gripped England, and rhe Brirish lion roared defi ance ove r rhe Spanish acrion in rhe wilds of rhe Pacific N onhwest. Aggrieved shipowner Cap t. John M eares presem ed a memorial to Parliamenr asking compensation . Reaction was immediate- the Lion's hackles had been raised. In the sm all hours of 5 M ay 1790 , Brirish impressmem squads descended upon pubs, rooming houses and brothels securing able-bodied men as crew for the Royal Navy. Sixty warships were mobilized to face what was call ed "the Spanish Armamem. " T hirty-year-old Prime Minisrer William Pitt supported M eares's claim and sent a message ro Parliament, with King George's approval, demanding acrion againsr Spain . Pin sought to weaken Spain 's cl ajm to the Pacific Ocean, which the Spanish co nsidered their private lake and from which rhey forcibly cried to exclude ships of all narions. Boch Brirain and Spain worked to line up allies for naval acrio n. T he Ne rherlands sem rheir fl eer fo r joint maneuve rs wirh rhe Royal N avy, while Pruss ia approved rhe Brirish stand and pondered rheir own ro le.
Spain was less for run are in linin g up rheir poss ib le alli es. U nder rhe terms of the Family Co mpacr of rhe Royal H ouse of Bourbon, rhey requesred aid from France. The rwo fl eers had wo rked togerher mosr rece ndy againsr rhe Brirish during rhe Ameri can Revolurion, bur rimes were now different. Ki ng Louis XVI's throne was on extremely shaky ground, and France's new N arional Asse mbly vo red "No!" to war. Britain 's superi or milirary posirion having been esrablished , borh nations resoned to diplomacy, sending ambassadors to wo rk our a sertlemem fo r rhe Noo rka Sound Incident. U lrimarely rhree Noorka Sound sertlemem s were execured berween 1790 and 1795. Brirish Ambassador Lord St. H elens dealr from srrength, while Spain's Coum Florablanca tried valiantly to rerain Carlos IV's exclusive possession of land and sea co mmerce in rhe vase Paci fie O cean. T he yea r 1790 marked the Spanish Empire's fl ood tide in history and N oorka marked rhe high warer mark. After rhe rhird senl emem agreemem ofl 795, rhe ebb ride set in fo r Spain . Spain and Britain Face Off Jusr how did Noorka Sound in the "terra incognita" wilderness of N orth Ameri ca cause such a co nfrom arion? The Royal Navy's Capt. Jam es Co ok discove red N oorka Sound in 1778 and srayed there a
"The inside of a house in Nootka Sound, "engraved after john Webber RA (J 778) by W Sharp,from ] ames Cook 's A Voyage to rhe Pacific Ocean, Vo l. II, Pl. XL!! (London, 1784)
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momh repairing his ships. Brirain 's fin esr explorer was searching for rhe No rthwesr Passage, a waterway so desirable char Parliamem offered a ÂŁ40,000 awa rd fo r irs discovery. Cook and his men fo und rhe Nootka narives fri endly-nor always rhe case in his rhree worldwide explorarions-and rhus his anchorage was named Friendly C ove. Cook's sailors bartered with the natives for sea otter pelrs, giving rrinkers in return . Afrer rheir voyages in the So urh Seas, they were cold and wee in rh e No rth Pacific, and the 1500 pelrs they acquired kept them warm . On their homeward voyage, rhe ships stopped in China where the sailors learned the high value of these pelts. T hey sold chem for enormous sums, and rhe sailors wanted to return to Noo tka fo r more pelts. Cook reported the find in the published acco unt of his thi rd voyage. N ews of sea otter pelts at Nootka Sound spread rapidly; British and Ameri can merchant sea captains started outfittin g their ships to participate in this lucrative trade. Capt. John Meares decided to cash in on the industry. His British merchant ships flew Portuguese fl ags-of-co nve nience and listed M acau, the Portuguese toehold in C hina, as their home port. W hen Capt. M eares visited Friendly Cove in Apri l 1788, he fo und the anchorage deserted. Fro m the Noo tka local chief, M eares acquired a parcel of land on the waterfrom where he co uld build a small schoo ner and erect a building. The purchase pri ce: rwo flintlock pisrols. M eares put half his crew to work bui lding the schooner N orth West A merica, rhe first ship builr in rhe Pacific N orthwest. T he res r of the crew manned his sh ips as they voyaged in search of sea otter pelrs . T he firsr American merchamman ar N ootka, Capt. Roben Gray in command of rhe Lady Washington our of Boston, arrived in rime to warch rhe launching of the N orth West America. Both Lady Washington and irs command ship Colum bia were the first United Stares vessels to engage in the sea oner trade. T he fo llowing year Lady Washington and Columbia were at anchor at Fri endly C ove when the Noorka Sound incidem took place.
SEA HISTORY 88, SPRING 1999