Free Canada Under Attack by Jennifer Crump Page B

gathered a fleet of ships under the command of James Colnett and instructed him to establish a permanent fur trading post at Nootka Sound. The ships in their fleet included the North West America , the Princess Royal , and the Argonaut . Also in 1789, still worried about the Russians, the Spanish laid plans to send Esteban José Martínez to establish some semblance of a permanent settlement at Nootka Sound. Martínez was given two ships to secure the coast: a warship, the Princessa , and a supply ship, the San Carlos . When Martínez arrived in Nootka Sound on May 5, 1789, he encountered two American ships. The captains quickly informed him of Meares’s activities and of the presence of another ship, the Iphigenia , flying a Portuguese flag but manned by an entirely English crew. Martínez tracked down the Iphigenia , captured her, and arrested her crew and captain, William Douglas. After a few days Martínez released the ships and its crew, instructing them never to return to the area. They complied but more British ships were already on the way.
    On June 8, the North West America sailed smoothly into Nootka Sound, completely oblivious to the events that had occurred just over a month before. Martínez seized that ship too, on the pretext that he was owed money by Meares’ company for the supplies he had given to the Iphigenia before he had sent it on its way. The North West American , renamed the Santa Gertrudis la Magna , was refitted and its command was given to one of Martínez’s subordinates, who promptly sailed his prize south to Mexico. A few weeks later, Martínez performed an elaborate ceremony staking Spain’s claim to the region and forced the British and Americans to participate. On July 2, two more of Meares’ company ships arrived. The first, the Princess Royal , was ordered to turn back to China and never return. The second, the Argonaut , was seized by Martínez after its captain shouted insults at the Spanish. Its crew and the Chinese workers on board were all arrested. Maquinna and another Nootka chief named Callicum arrived in his war canoe to protest Martínez’s treatment of the British, with whom Callicum and the Nootka had enjoyed lucrative trade. Martínez fired his pistol to warn off the chief. One of the Spaniards, who believed his leader had missed, fired and killed Callicum. Maquinna and the remainder of his tribe fled to the other side of the island.

    The Spanish Insult to the British Flag at Nootka Sound.
    When Martínez discovered thae Argonaut also carried the equipment and materials needed to establish a permanent British trading post on the island, he was furious. This was, in his estimation, a direct violation of Spanish sovereignty. Martínez decided to use the supplies and workers brought by the Argonaut. He had the Chinese workers construct Fort San Miguel on Hog Island to guard the mouth of Nootka Sound. On July 4, the American ships fired two salvos in recognition of their independence from Britain and the Spanish returned their salute from the fort.
    The Princess Royal defied Martínez’ instructions and returned to Nootka Sound on July 12. The ship’s captain, Thomas Hudson, had not intended to enter the Sound but his ship was becalmed and the Spaniards quickly boarded and took control of the ship.
    Despite the friendly relationship between the Spanish and early American arrivals in the Sound, two ships that arrived late in the summer were attacked. The Fair American was boarded and captured, the Eleanora barely escaped. Then, just as suddenly as he had been ordered to occupy the Nootka Sound, Martínez was ordered to leave and return to Mexico, abandoning all of his fortifications. Martínez found himself out of favour with the new Spanish military command in the Pacific, and when a new expedition, the largest ever mustered by the Spanish in the northwest, arrived in Nootka Sound in the spring of 1790, he was not