Editing Pacific Northwest (section)

===Initial European exploration===
{{main|History of the west coast of North America}}
	
Sailing for the Spanish Crown,  
Portuguese navigator [[Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo]] became in 1542 the first European to explore the west coast of today's United States and reached as far as Punta del Año Nuevo, north of [[Monterey, California|Monterrey]]. [[Bartolomé Ferrer]] continued on and may have reached as far north as the [[Rogue River (Oregon)|Rogue River]] on the Oregon coast.<ref>[http://www.nps.gov/archive/cabr/juan.html U.S. National Park Service Juan Cabrillo website]</ref><ref>[http://www.nps.gov/cabr/historyculture/juan-rodriguez-cabrillo.htm U.S. National Park Service Juan Cabrillo website]</ref>

By 1579, English captain and erstwhile [[privateer]] [[Francis Drake]] sailed up the west coast of North America during the course of his [[Francis Drake's circumnavigation|circumnavigation]] undertaking. Drake may have reached as far North as 48N and may have conducted some preliminary assessments of the western entry channels to the [[Northwest Passage]] under royal secrecy order. He then headed back south to land, to careen the ship, to rest and to continue on the undertaking. Drake and his crew eventually found a protected cove where they landed, in either the Pacific Northwest or Northern California. Contacts with a local indigenous population were established over the course of several weeks. While ashore, Drake claimed the area for Queen Elizabeth I as Nova Albion or [[New Albion]].<ref>{{cite book  | last = Sugden  | first = John  | year = 2006  | title = Sir Francis Drake  | publisher = Pimlico  | location = London  | isbn = 978-1-844-13762-6| page=136,137}}</ref> Various theories regarding the landing location of New Albion in the northern Pacific have been proposed, including those recognized by the United States National Historic Landmark and California Historical Landmarks at [[Point Reyes National Seashore]].

By 1589, [[Abraham Ortelius|Ortelius]] was publishing the [[Maris Pacifici]] first ever Pacific map featuring on the west coast of North-America a first ever representation of two major coastline features: the mouth of the [[Columbia River]] identified as <i>"Rio Grande"</i> and the delta of the Fraser River labeled <i>"Baia de las isleas"</i>.

[[Juan de Fuca]], a [[Greece|Greek]] captain sailing for the [[Crown of Spain]], supposedly found the [[Strait of Juan de Fuca]] around 1592. The strait was named for him, but whether he discovered it or not has long been questioned.<ref>{{cite book|last=Hayes|first=Derek|title=Historical atlas of the Pacific Northwest: maps of exploration and discovery : British Columbia, Washington, Oregon, Alaska, Yukon|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sl57oHrVXGoC&pg=PA16|access-date=July 12, 2011|year=1999|publisher=Sasquatch Books|isbn=978-1-57061-215-2|page=16}}</ref> 

During the early 1740s, [[Imperial Russia]] sent the Danish-born Russian [[Vitus Bering]] to the region.<ref>{{cite book|url=http://www.bookrags.com/Vitus_Bering |title=Vitus Bering Biography Summary |via=BookRags.com |access-date=August 18, 2010}}</ref> By the late 18th&nbsp;century and into the mid-19th&nbsp;century, Russian settlers had established several posts and communities on the northwest Pacific coast, eventually reaching as far south as [[Fort Ross, California]]. The [[Russian River (California)|Russian River]] was named after this local presence and three ranch outposts located alongside.

In 1774, the viceroy of [[New Spain]] sent Spanish navigator [[Juan José Pérez Hernández|Juan Pérez]] in the ship ''Santiago'' to the Pacific Northwest. Peréz made landfall on [[Haida Gwaii]] (Queen Charlotte Islands) on July&nbsp;18, 1774. The northernmost latitude he reached was [[Parallel 54°40′ north|54°40′ N]].<ref name="ubcic.bc.ca">{{cite web |url=http://www.ubcic.bc.ca/Resources/timeline.htm |title=Historical Timeline |work=Ubcic.bc.ca |date=September 13, 2007 |access-date=August 18, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100808111534/http://www.ubcic.bc.ca/Resources/timeline.htm |archive-date=August 8, 2010 }}</ref> This was followed, in 1775, by another Spanish expedition, under the command of [[Bruno de Heceta]] and including Juan Peréz and [[Juan Francisco de la Bodega y Quadra]] as officers. On July&nbsp;14, 1775, they landed on the [[Olympic Peninsula]] near the mouth of the [[Quinault River]]. On August&nbsp;17, 1775, Heceta, returning south, sighted the mouth of the [[Columbia River]] and named it ''Bahia de la Asunción''. While Heceta sailed south, Quadra continued north in the expedition's second ship, ''Sonora'', reaching [[Alaska]], at [[59th parallel north|59° N]].<ref name="hayes">{{cite book |last= Hayes |first= Derek |title= Historical Atlas of the Pacific Northwest: Maps of exploration and Discovery |year= 1999 |publisher= Sasquatch Books |isbn= 1-57061-215-3}}</ref> In 1778 English mariner [[Captain James Cook]] visited [[Nootka Sound]] on Vancouver Island and also voyaged as far as [[Prince William Sound]].

In 1779, a third Spanish expedition, under the command of [[Ignacio de Arteaga y Bazán|Ignacio de Artega]] in the ship ''Princesa'', and with Quadra as captain of the ship ''Favorite'', sailed from Mexico to the coast of Alaska, reaching [[61st parallel north|61° N]]. Two further Spanish expeditions, in 1788 and 1789, both under [[Esteban José Martínez Fernández y Martínez de la Sierra|Esteban Jose Martínez]] and [[Gonzalo López de Haro]], sailed to the Pacific Northwest. During the second expedition, they met the American captain [[Robert Gray (sea-captain)|Robert Gray]] near [[Nootka Sound]]. Upon entering Nootka Sound, they found [[William Douglas (sea captain)|William Douglas]] and his ship ''Iphigenia''. Conflict led to the [[Nootka Crisis]], which was resolved by agreements known as the [[Nootka Convention]]. In 1790, the Spanish sent three ships to Nootka Sound, under the command of [[Francisco de Eliza]]. After establishing a base at Nootka, Eliza sent out several exploration parties. [[Salvador Fidalgo]] was sent north to the Alaska coast. [[Manuel Quimper]], with Gonzalo López de Haro as pilot, explored the Strait of Juan de Fuca, discovering the [[San Juan Islands]] and [[Admiralty Inlet]] in the process. Francisco de Eliza himself took the ship ''San Carlos'' into the Strait of Juan de Fuca. From a base at [[Port Discovery, Washington|Port Discovery]], his ''pilotos'' ([[Master (naval)|masters]]) [[José María Narváez]] and [[Juan Carrasco (explorer)|Juan Carrasco]] explored the [[San Juan Islands]], [[Haro Strait]], [[Rosario Strait]], and [[Bellingham Bay]]. In the process, they discovered the [[Strait of Georgia]] and explored it as far north as [[Texada Island]]. The expedition returned to Nootka Sound by August 1791. [[Alessandro Malaspina]], sailing for Spain, explored and mapped the coast from [[Yakutat Bay]] to Prince William Sound in 1791, then sailed to Nootka Sound. Performing a scientific expedition in the manner of James Cook, Malaspina's scientists studied the [[Tlingit people|Tlingit]] and [[Nuu-chah-nulth people|Nuu-chah-nulth]] peoples before returning to Mexico. Another Spanish explorer, [[Jacinto Caamaño]], sailed the ship ''Aranzazu'' to Nootka Sound in May 1792. There he met Quadra, who was in command of the Spanish settlement and [[Fort San Miguel]]. Quadra sent Caamaño north, to carefully explore the coast between Vancouver Island and [[Bucareli Bay]], Alaska. Various Spanish maps, including Caamaño's, were given to George Vancouver in 1792, as the Spanish and British worked together to chart the complex coastline.<ref name="hayes"/>
[[File:HMS Discovery 1789 Vancouver.jpg|thumb|{{HMS|Discovery|1789|6}} was the lead ship used by [[George Vancouver]]]]
From 1792 to 1794, [[George Vancouver]] charted the Pacific Northwest on behalf of Great Britain, including the Strait of Georgia, the bays and inlets of [[Puget Sound]], and the [[Johnstone Strait]]–[[Queen Charlotte Strait]] and much of the rest of the [[British Columbia Coast]] and southeast Alaska shorelines.<ref name="ubcic.bc.ca"/> For him the city of [[Vancouver]] and Vancouver Island are named, as well as [[Vancouver, Washington]]. From Mexico, Malaspina dispatched the last Spanish exploration expedition in the Pacific Northwest, under [[Dionisio Alcalá Galiano]] and [[Cayetano Valdés y Flores|Cayentano Valdes]] aboard the schooners ''[[Sutil (ship)|Sutil]]'' and ''[[Mexicana (ship)|Mexicana]]''.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.mala.bc.ca/www/discover/capt/capt.htm |title= Captain Alexandro Malaspina |access-date= February 5, 2008 |publisher= Malaspina University-College |archive-date= February 6, 2012 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120206212620/http://www.mala.bc.ca/www/discover/capt/capt.htm |url-status= dead }}</ref> They met Vancouver in the Strait of Georgia on June&nbsp;21, 1792. Vancouver had explored Puget Sound just previously. The Spanish explorers knew of Admiralty Inlet and the unexplored region to the south, but they decided to sail north. They discovered and entered the [[Fraser River]] shortly before meeting Vancouver. After sharing maps and agreeing to cooperate, Galiano, Valdés, and Vancouver sailed north to [[Desolation Sound]] and the [[Discovery Islands]], charting the coastline together. They passed through Johnstone Strait and [[Cordero Channel]] and returned to Nootka Sound. As a result, the Spanish explorers, who had set out from Nootka, became the first Europeans to circumnavigate Vancouver Island. Vancouver himself had entered the Strait of Juan de Fuca directly without going to Nootka first, so had not sailed completely around the island.<ref name="hayes"/>

In 1786, [[Jean-François de Galaup, comte de La Pérouse|Jean-François de La Pérouse]], representing France, sailed to Haida Gwaii after visiting Nootka Sound, but any possible French claims to this region were lost when La Pérouse and his men and journals were lost in a shipwreck near Australia. Upon encountering the Salish coastal tribes, either Pérouse or someone in his crew remarked, "What must astonish most is to see painting everywhere, everywhere sculpture, among a nation of hunters".<ref>Boyer, Paul S. ''The Enduring Vision: A History of the American People''. (Lexington MA 1996), p. 6</ref> [[Maritime fur trade]]r [[Charles William Barkley]] also visited the area in [[Imperial Eagle (ship)|''Imperial Eagle'']], a British ship falsely flying the flag of the [[Austrian Empire]]. American merchant sea-captain [[Robert Gray (sea-captain)|Robert Gray]] traded along the coast, and discovered the mouth of the [[Columbia River]].