Fort Defiance (British Columbia)
Encyclopedia
Columbia Rediviva
Columbia Rediviva was a privately owned ship under the command of John Kendrick, along with Captain Robert Gray, best known for going to the Pacific Northwest for the maritime fur trade. The "Rediviva" was added to her name upon a rebuilding in 1787...
during the winter of 1791-1792. The crew under the command of American merchant and maritime fur trade
Maritime Fur Trade
The Maritime Fur Trade was a ship-based fur trade system that focused on acquiring furs of sea otters and other animals from the indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast and natives of Alaska. The furs were mostly sold in China in exchange for tea, silks, porcelain, and other Chinese...
r Captain Robert Gray built the establishment on Meares Island
Meares Island
Meares Island is one of the many islands surrounding the Village of Tofino, British Columbia, Canada. Its name was given in 1862 by George Henry Richards, captain of HMS Hecate, in honor of John Meares...
in present day British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
.
History
In early August, 1791, John KendrickJohn Kendrick (American sea captain)
John Kendrick was an American sea captain, both during the American Revolutionary War and the exploration and maritime fur trading of the Pacific Northwest alongside his partner Robert Gray.-Early life:...
had arrived in Clayoquot Sound and bought land from Wickaninnish
Wickaninnish
Wickaninnish was a chief of the Tla-o-qui-aht people of Clayoquot Sound, Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada during the opening period of European contact with the Pacific Northwest Coast cultures in the 1780s and 1790s...
in exchange for firearms. The land purchased was near the village of Opitsaht. By the time Gray arrived in late August, Kendrick had fortified a small island and given it the name Fort Washington. Kendrick soon left for China while Gray remained for the winter. For most of the winter relations with Wickaninnish and his people were good. On Christmas Day Wickaninnish and a number of other chiefs dined aboard the Columbia, and on New Year's Day the Americans were entertained onshore by the natives.
Construction
The men of the Columbia began building their winter quarters on September 21, 1791. They were done building the main building by September 30. This main building measured 36 feet (11 m) long by 18 feet (5.5 m) wide and was two stories tall. Fort Defiance also had a brick fireplace, as the traders had brought with them 5,470 bricks from BostonBoston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
. The main building had two cannon
Cannon
A cannon is any piece of artillery that uses gunpowder or other usually explosive-based propellents to launch a projectile. Cannon vary in caliber, range, mobility, rate of fire, angle of fire, and firepower; different forms of cannon combine and balance these attributes in varying degrees,...
s mounted and musket
Musket
A musket is a muzzle-loaded, smooth bore long gun, fired from the shoulder. Muskets were designed for use by infantry. A soldier armed with a musket had the designation musketman or musketeer....
loop holes for defending against any native attacks. Additionally, other buildings constructed included a blacksmith
Blacksmith
A blacksmith is a person who creates objects from wrought iron or steel by forging the metal; that is, by using tools to hammer, bend, and cut...
shop, two sawpits for cutting logs, cabins, and a boat builder's shed. Once the fort was complete, four cannons, 40 muskets, and various other weapons were transferred from the Columbia and Robert Haswell
Robert Haswell
Robert Haswell was an early American maritime fur trader to the Pacific Northwest of North America. His journals of these voyages are the main records of Captain Robert Gray's circumnavigation of the globe...
was placed in charge of the base and ten men. At this point the focus of Fort Defiance became the construction of the ship Adventure
Adventure (ship)
The Adventure was a sloop maritime fur trade ship built by the crew of Captain Robert Gray on his second voyage to the Northwest Coast of North America. The 45-ton sloop was built to allow the trading venture to access smaller inlets the Columbia could not reach. At the end of his second voyage...
, whose skeleton had been brought aboard the Columbia.
Use
On October 3 the keel was laid for the ship. Over the winter the ship slowly began to take shape. On February 23, 1792, the ship was launched, making it the first American-built vessel in the Pacific Northwest. Once the ship then sailed in March, the fort was abandoned. However, Gray desired to leave nothing of use to the natives and had Haswell remove anything of value.Destruction of Opitsaht
When Gray left these winter quarters at Clayoquot SoundClayoquot Sound
Clayoquot Sound is located on the west coast of Vancouver Island in the Canadian province of British Columbia. It is bordered by the Esowista Peninsula to the south, and the Hesquiaht Peninsula to the North. It is a body of water with many inlets and islands. Major inlets include Sydney Inlet,...
, as revenge for a foiled attack against his men conceived by the Tla-o-qui-aht people and a Sandwich Islander
Native Hawaiians
Native Hawaiians refers to the indigenous Polynesian people of the Hawaiian Islands or their descendants. Native Hawaiians trace their ancestry back to the original Polynesian settlers of Hawaii.According to the U.S...
of his own crew, Gray ordered the destruction of 200 homes in the local village of "Opitsitah" (Opitsaht
Opitsaht
Opitsaht, spelled also as Opitsat and Opitsitah, is a community of the Tla-o-qui-aht people of the Nuu-chah-nulth nation, located at the SW end of Meares Island in Clayoquot Sound. During the era of the Maritime Fur Trade, Opitsaht was the seat of Wickaninnish, chief of the Tla-o-qui-aht, and...
), an act that the keeper of his own ship's log considered having let his passions go too far.
Location
This winter quarters for the crew was built on Disappointment Inlet (now called Lemmens Inlet) on Meares IslandMeares Island
Meares Island is one of the many islands surrounding the Village of Tofino, British Columbia, Canada. Its name was given in 1862 by George Henry Richards, captain of HMS Hecate, in honor of John Meares...
, which is in Clayoquot Sound
Clayoquot Sound
Clayoquot Sound is located on the west coast of Vancouver Island in the Canadian province of British Columbia. It is bordered by the Esowista Peninsula to the south, and the Hesquiaht Peninsula to the North. It is a body of water with many inlets and islands. Major inlets include Sydney Inlet,...
just north of Tofino. At the inlet, Fort Defiance was on the eastern side where the geography could provide natural defenses against attacks. Gray named the cove Adventure Cove. The location of the post was identified in 1966. That name was officially adopted by British Columbia in 1975. At the same time the little island in the cove, which Kendrick had fortified, was named Columbia Islet. Fort Defiance itself was on the mainland of Meares Island. Today it is a protected 135 acre (0.5463261 km²) archaeological site.
See also
- Lady WashingtonLady WashingtonLady Washington is a ship name that is shared by at least 4 different small wooden merchant sailing vessels during two different time periods. They should not be confused with USS Lady Washington. The original sailed for about 10 years in the 18th century. A somewhat updated modern replica was...
- John KendrickJohn Kendrick (American sea captain)John Kendrick was an American sea captain, both during the American Revolutionary War and the exploration and maritime fur trading of the Pacific Northwest alongside his partner Robert Gray.-Early life:...
- Gray Sails the Columbia RiverGray sails the Columbia RiverIn May of 1792, American merchant sea captain Robert Gray sailed into the Columbia River, becoming the first recorded European to navigate into it. The voyage, conducted on the Columbia Rediviva, a privately owned ship, was eventually used as a basis for the United States' claim on the Pacific...
- History of the West Coast of North AmericaHistory of the west coast of North AmericaThe human history of the west coast of North America is believed to stretch back to the arrival of the earliest people over the Bering Strait, or alternately along a now-submerged coastal plain, through the development of significant pre-Columbian cultures and population densities, to the arrival...