Editing History of the Marshall Islands (section)

==European exploration==
{{see also|Exploration of the Pacific}}

===Spanish exploration===
[[File:Reception of the Manila Galleon by the Chamorro in the Ladrones Islands, ca. 1590.jpg|thumb|400px|[[Manila galleon|Manila Galleon]] in the [[Mariana Islands|Marianas]] and [[Caroline Islands|Carolinas]], c. 1590 [[Boxer Codex]]]]

Spanish explorer [[Alonso de Salazar]] led the first European expedition to see the Marshall Islands on August 21, 1526. While commanding the ''Santa Maria de la Victoria'', the only surviving vessel of the [[Loaísa Expedition]], his crew sighted an atoll with a green lagoon, which may have been [[Bokak Atoll|Taongi]]. The crew could not land on the island, because of strong currents and water too deep for the ship's anchor. Salazar named the island "San Bartolomé," and the ship sailed for [[Guam]] on August 23.<ref>{{harvnb|Sharp|1960|pp=11–13}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Hezel|1983|p=13}}</ref>

In late December 1527, the Spanish ship ''Florida'' arrived in Marshall Islands as the expedition of [[Álvaro de Saavedra Cerón]] crossed the Pacific from Mexico to the [[Maluku Islands]]. The expedition probably saw the [[Utirik Atoll|Utirik]], [[Toke Atoll|Toke]], [[Rongelap Atoll|Rongelap]], and [[Ailinginae Atoll|Ailinginae]] atolls,<ref>{{harvnb|Sharp|1960|pp=17–18}}</ref> though Francis Hezel suggests the islands could have also been [[Fais Island|Fais]] and [[Yap]] in the [[Caroline Islands]].<ref>{{harvnb|Hezel|1983|p=15}}</ref> Saavedra named the island grouping "''Islas de los Reyes''" ({{langx|en|Islands of the Kings}}) due to the proximity of the Christian feast of the [[Epiphany (holiday)|Epiphany]]. Canoes from the islands approached the ship but did not make contact with the Europeans. On January 2, 1528, the expedition landed on an uninhabited island in Ailinginae Atoll, where they resupplied and stayed for six days. Natives from a neighboring island briefly met the Spanish before fleeing. Saavedra's expedition sailed toward the Philippines on January 8.<ref>{{harvnb|Sharp|1960|pp=16–18}}</ref> Saavedra made two unsuccessful attempts to recross the Pacific and return to Mexico. On September 21, 1529, on the second recrossing attempt, the expedition may have passed [[Ujelang Atoll]], and on October 1, the ship anchored at [[Enewetak Atoll]] where the crew went ashore for eight days, exchanged gifts with the indigenous inhabitants and resupplied.<ref>{{harvnb|Sharp|1960|pp=19–23}}</ref> Saavedra named the atoll "''[[Los Jardines]]''" ({{langx|en|The Gardens}}).<ref>Wright 1951: 109–10</ref>

On December 26, 1542, a fleet of six Spanish ships commanded by [[Ruy López de Villalobos]] sighted an island in the Marshalls while sailing from Mexico to the Philippines. They landed and named the island "Santisteban" in honor of [[Saint Stephen's Day]]. The island was inhabited, though many of the people fled the Spanish landing. The Spaniards found some women and children hiding in the island's vegetation and gave them gifts. Before leaving the islands on January 6, 1543, Villalobos sighted islands that may have included [[Wotje Atoll|Wotje]], [[Erikub Atoll|Erikub]], [[Maloelap Atoll|Maloelap]], [[Likiep Atoll|Likiep]], [[Kwajalein Atoll|Kwajalein]], [[Lae Atoll|Lae]], [[Ujae Atoll|Ujae]], [[Wotho Atoll|Wotho]] or Ujelang.<ref>{{harvnb|Sharp|1960|pp=26–29}}</ref>

[[Miguel López de Legazpi]] commanded a fleet of four Spanish ships that sailed from Mexico in November 1564 en route to the Philippines. The ''San Lucas'' under the command of [[Alonso de Arellano]] broke away from the others, possibly because pilot [[Lope Martín]] and other crew members intended to engage in piracy in the East Indies, and sailed into the Marshall Islands in their attempt to avoid the fleet's other ships. The ship passed Likiep on January 5, 1565; Kwajalein on January 7, where they met two Native families; and [[Lib Island]] on January 8. Lib was heavily inhabited, and Arellano described the Natives as warlike and expert at throwing stones with [[Sling (weapon)|slings]], so the ship sailed on without landing.<ref>{{harvnb|Sharp|1960|pp=32–34}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Hezel|1983|pp=21–23}}</ref> Meanwhile, Legazpi's other three ships arrived at [[Mejit Island|Mejit]] on January 9, 1565. On the island, they found a settlement of one-hundred people who subsisted by fishing, farming root vegetables and millet-like grains, and raising poultry. Most of the inhabitants had fled into the interior, but the Spaniards had peaceful relations with an elderly couple and a woman who stayed behind.<ref>{{harvnb|Reséndez|2021|pp=102–104}}</ref> Legazpi named the island "''Los Barbudos''" ({{langx|en|The Bearded Ones}}), because of the inhabitants' facial hair. On January 10, the Spaniards sighted [[Ailuk Atoll]] and [[Jemo Island]], which they named "''Los Placeres''" ({{langx|en|The Banks}}) and "''Los Pajaros''" ({{langx|en|The Birds}}). On January 12, they sighted Wotho Atoll, and on January 15, Ujelang, before sailing to the Philippines.<ref>{{harvnb|Sharp|1960|pp=36–39}}</ref>

The ''San Lucas'' returned to Mexico on July 17, 1565,<ref>{{harvnb|Sharp|1960|p=36}}</ref> and one of Legazpi's other ships returned from the Philippines on September 18.<ref name="Sharp 1960 39">{{harvnb|Sharp|1960|p=39}}</ref> On May 1, 1566, the ''San Jeronimo'' sailed from [[Acapulco]] to resupply Legazpi in the Philippines. Lope Martín, who had returned to Mexico on the ''San Lucas'', served as pilot of the ''San Jeronimo'' and led a mutiny and executed the captain. While sailing through the Marshalls, the ''San Jeronimo'' nearly wrecked at Ujelang before anchoring in the atoll's lagoon on July 6.<ref>{{harvnb|Sharp|1960|pp=40–41}}</ref> The mutineers spent several days resupplying on an island, which was inhabited though the residents had fled in canoes.<ref name="Hezel3031"/> On July 16, four loyalist crew members snuck back to the ship and took control from the mutineers aboard. Lope Martín had taken the ships instruments and sails ashore. Unable to take back the ship, he negotiated to return of the ship's instruments in exchange for food and supplies.<ref>{{harvnb|Reséndez|2021|pp=181–187}}</ref> After regaining the sails, the loyalist crew members marooned Lope Martín and twenty-six other mutineers on the island before sailing for Guam on July 21.<ref name="Hezel3031">{{harvnb|Hezel|1983|pp=30–31}}</ref>

By the late 16th century, Spanish galleons sailing between the Americas and the Philippines kept to a sea lane [[13th parallel north|thirteen degrees north]] and provisioned at Guam, avoiding the Marshalls, which Spanish sailors saw as unprofitable islands amid hazardous waters.<ref name="Sharp 1960 39"/><ref>{{harvnb|Hezel|1983|p=34}}</ref> One of the last known Spanish expeditions occurred when [[Álvaro de Mendaña de Neira]]'s ships ''Los Reyes'' and ''Todos los Santos'' arrived at [[Namu Atoll]] on September 18, 1568, while searching for ''[[Terra Australis]]''. Mendaña named the atoll "San Mateo" shoals. They found many houses as well as a chisel made from a nail and pieces of rope, which may have been left behind by Villalobos or Lope Martín. On October 20, the ships arrived at [[Wake Island]], which Mendaña named "San Francisco."<ref>{{harvnb|Sharp|1960|p=47}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Hezel|1983|p=33}}</ref>

===Later European exploration===
The British ships ''[[Charlotte (1784 ship)|Charlotte]]'' and ''[[Scarborough (1782 ship)|Scarborough]]'' visited the islands in 1788 under the commands of captains [[Thomas Gilbert (sea captain)|Thomas Gilbert]] and [[John Marshall (Royal Navy officer, born 1748)|John Marshall]], respectively.<ref>{{harvnb|Sharp|1960|p=152}}</ref> The vessels had been part of the [[First Fleet]] taking convicts from England to [[Botany Bay]] in [[New South Wales]], and were en route to [[Guangzhou]] when they passed through the [[Gilbert Islands]] and Marshall Islands.<ref>{{harvnb|Hezel|1983|pp=63–64}}</ref> On June 25, 1788, the British ships traded with islanders at [[Mili Atoll]]; their meeting may have been the first contact between Europeans and Marshallese in over 200 years.<ref>{{harvnb|Hezel|1983|pp=64–65}}</ref><ref name="Fortune287"/> Gilbert and Marshall also sighted [[Arno Atoll|Arno]], [[Majuro]], [[Aur Atoll|Aur]], Maloelap, Wotje, and Ailuk atolls in late June, but made no further landings.<ref>{{harvnb|Sharp|1960|pp=154–155}}</ref> Subsequent navigational charts and maps named the islands for John Marshall.<ref>{{harvnb|Hezel|1983|p=64}}</ref>

[[File:Inside of A house in the Radack Islands (cropped).jpg|thumb|Interior of a house in the [[Ratak|Ratak Chain]], {{circa|1821}}, from the first English edition of [[Otto von Kotzebue]]'s account of his 1815–1818 voyage]]

Beginning in the 1790s, British [[East Indiaman|East Indiamen]] began passing through the Marshall Islands en route to China and charted the islands they encountered.<ref>{{harvnb|Hezel|1983|p=82}}</ref> Most of the islands and atolls had been sighted and plotted on navigation charts by 1815, with the exception of a few northern islands.<ref>{{harvnb|Hezel|1983|p=86}}</ref>

Russian explorer [[Otto von Kotzebue]] spent three months exploring the [[Ratak|Ratak Chain]] in early 1817, and returned to explore the islands on two occasions in 1824 and 1825.<ref>{{harvnb|Sharp|1960|pp=193–194}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Hezel|1983|pp=88–90}}</ref> According to Kotzebue's account, the Marshallese people showed few signs of western influence on his first visit in 1817. He gifted the islanders metal knives and hatchets and set up a temporary forge to craft fishhooks and harpoons. He also introduced new crops, including yams, as well as livestock, including pigs, goats, dogs, and cats. Kotzebue also noted that in 1817, Lamari, the [[Iroijlaplap|iroij]] of [[Aur Atoll]], had successfully conquered the other atolls of northern Ratak Chain and was preparing to go to war with Majuro Atoll.<ref name="Hezel9294" /> On his return trips in the 1820s, Kotzebue found that the Marshallese were still tending to crops that he had given them, but that the livestock and metal tools were concentrated among the island chieftains. He also found that the metal hatchets had played a decisive role in Lamari's victory over the people of Majuro; by the time of Kotzebue's second visit, Lamari was planning to further expand his power and begin making incursions into the [[Ralik|Ralik Chain]].<ref>{{harvnb|Hezel|1983|p=94}}</ref>