Jacinto Caamaño
Encyclopedia
Jacinto Caamaño Moraleja (1759-1825?) was the leader of the last great Spanish
Spanish Empire
The Spanish Empire comprised territories and colonies administered directly by Spain in Europe, in America, Africa, Asia and Oceania. It originated during the Age of Exploration and was therefore one of the first global empires. At the time of Habsburgs, Spain reached the peak of its world power....

 exploration of Alaska
Alaska
Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...

 (then Russian America) and the Coast of British Columbia. He was a Knight of the Military Order of Calatrava. Born in Madrid
Madrid
Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...

, he came from an aristocratic Galician family, whose homestead was near Santiago de Compostela
Santiago de Compostela
Santiago de Compostela is the capital of the autonomous community of Galicia, Spain.The city's Cathedral is the destination today, as it has been throughout history, of the important 9th century medieval pilgrimage route, the Way of St. James...

. His father was Juan Fernández de Caamaño, and his mother, Mariana Moraleja Alocen. He entered the Spanish Navy
Spanish Navy
The Spanish Navy is the maritime branch of the Spanish Armed Forces, one of the oldest active naval forces in the world. The Armada is responsible for notable achievements in world history such as the discovery of Americas, the first world circumnavigation, and the discovery of a maritime path...

 (Armada) as an adventurer at 18, and two years later he was an Ensign (Alférez de navio).

Explorations

A few years later he formed part of a politico-commercial expedition to Constantinople
Constantinople
Constantinople was the capital of the Roman, Eastern Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city.-Names:...

 to establish business relations with Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...

, Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...

, and Russia
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...

. After a quick trip to Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...

 in 1787, he was chosen by Juan Francisco de la Bodega y Quadra
Juan Francisco de la Bodega y Quadra
Juan Francisco de la Bodega y Quadra was a Spanish naval officer born in Lima, Peru. Assigned to the Pacific coast Spanish Naval Department base at San Blas, in the Viceroyalty of New Spain , this navigator explored the Northwest Coast of North America as far north as present day Alaska.Juan...

 to go to the Pacific Coast
History of the west coast of North America
The 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...

 of Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...

 and the naval base of San Blas
San Blas, Nayarit
San Blas is both a municipality and municipal seat located on the Pacific coast of Mexico in the state of Nayarit.-City:San Blas is a port and a popular tourist destination, located about 100 miles north of Puerto Vallarta, and 40 miles west of the state capital Tepic. The town has a population of...

, the headquarters for the exploration of the Pacific Northwest
Pacific Northwest
The Pacific Northwest is a region in northwestern North America, bounded by the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains on the east. Definitions of the region vary and there is no commonly agreed upon boundary, even among Pacific Northwesterners. A common concept of the...

. He was a Frigate Lieutenant (Teniente de Fragata) at the time. Alongside went his brother-in-law, Francisco de Eliza
Francisco de Eliza
Francisco de Eliza y Reventa was a Spanish naval officer, navigator, and explorer. He is remembered mainly for his work in the Pacific Northwest...

, who would distinguish himself as Governor of Fort San Miguel
Fort San Miguel
For Angola fort, see Fortaleza de São MiguelFort San Miguel was a Spanish fortification at Friendly Cove in Nootka Sound , Vancouver Island....

 on Vancouver Island's
Vancouver Island
Vancouver Island is a large island in British Columbia, Canada. It is one of several North American locations named after George Vancouver, the British Royal Navy officer who explored the Pacific Northwest coast of North America between 1791 and 1794...

 Nootka Sound
Nootka Sound
Nootka Sound is a complex inlet or sound of the Pacific Ocean on the rugged west coast of Vancouver Island, in the Canadian province of British Columbia. Historically also known as King George's Sound, as a strait it separates Vancouver Island and Nootka Island.-History:The inlet is part of the...

. On their ship to Mexico was the recently named Viceroy of New Spain
New Spain
New Spain, formally called the Viceroyalty of New Spain , was a viceroyalty of the Spanish colonial empire, comprising primarily territories in what was known then as 'América Septentrional' or North America. Its capital was Mexico City, formerly Tenochtitlan, capital of the Aztec Empire...

, Don Juan Vicente de Güemes Padilla Horcasitas y Aguayo, 2nd Count of Revillagigedo
Juan Vicente de Güemes Padilla Horcasitas y Aguayo, 2nd Count of Revillagigedo
Juan Vicente de Güemes Padilla Horcasitas y Aguayo, 2nd Count of Revillagigedo was a Spanish military officer and viceroy of New Spain from October 17, 1789 to July 11, 1794...

. On February 3, 1790, Caamaño took part on an expedition to the Pacific Northwest. He was commanding the Nuestra Señora del Rosario (also known as the La Princesa
La Princesa (1778)
La Princesa was a Spanish frigate or corvette built at the Spanish Navy base at San Blas and launched in 1778. She is sometimes called a frigate and sometimes a corvette...

), a 189-ton frigate built in San Blas for the exploration of the North. He did not go beyond Nootka on this voyage, but on his next one, in 1792, came as far as Bucareli Bay
Bucareli Bay
Bucareli Bay is a bay in the Alexander Archipelago, in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of Alaska. It is located off the western coast of Prince of Wales Island, between Baker Island and Suemez Island. To the east it connects to various waterways, such as San Alberto Bay. To the west it...

 commanding the frigate Aránzazu, a corvette
Corvette
A corvette is a small, maneuverable, lightly armed warship, originally smaller than a frigate and larger than a coastal patrol craft or fast attack craft , although many recent designs resemble frigates in size and role...

 built at Cavite
Cavite
Cavite is a province of the Philippines located on the southern shores of Manila Bay in the CALABARZON region in Luzon, just 30 kilometers south of Manila. Cavite is surrounded by Laguna to the east, Metro Manila to the northeast, and Batangas to the south...

 in the Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...

. By this time he had been promoted to Ship Lieutenant (Teniente de Navío). This expedition did a thorough study of the coast from Bucareli to Nootka, marking the map of Alaska and 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...

 with many names which are there today. Sailing from Nootka on June 13, 1792, Caamaño explored Bucareli Bay, off Prince of Wales Island, Alaska, and anchored in Dixon Entrance
Dixon Entrance
The Dixon Entrance is a strait about long and wide in the Pacific Ocean at the International Boundary between the U.S. state of Alaska and the province of British Columbia in Canada. It was named by Joseph Banks for Captain George Dixon, a Royal Navy officer, fur trader, and explorer, who...

 on July 20. Then he explored southward, passing through Principe Channel, Nepean Sound, Whale Sound, near the Estevan Group
Estevan Group
The Estevan Group, formerly the Estevan islands, is a small archipelago in the Hecate Strait region of the North Coast of British Columbia, Canada. The archipelago is located on the west side of Campania Island, which is separated from the group by Estevan Sound and is itself to the west of Gil...

 archipelago, then into Caamaño Sound
Caamaño Sound
Caamaño Sound is a sound on the coast of the Canadian province of British Columbia. It extends east from Hecate Strait. Princess Royal Island, Rennison Island, and Aristazabal Island lie to the south of the sound. Several islands lie to the north, including Campania Island and the Estevan Group of...

 and south through Laredo Channel, between Aristazabal Island
Aristazabal Island
Aristazabal Island is an island situated south west of Princess Royal Island in British Columbia, Canada. It has an area of . The island was named on August 30, 1792, by Lieutenant Commander Jacinto Caamaño of the Spanish corvette Aranzazu for the Spanish Captain Gabriel de Aristazábal, one of the...

 and Princess Royal Island
Princess Royal Island
Princess Royal Island is the largest island on the North Coast of British Columbia, Canada. It is located amongst the isolated inlets and islands east of Hecate Strait on the British Columbia Coast. At , it is the fourth largest island in British Columbia...

, returning to Nootka on September 7, 1792. He named Principe Channel, Laredo Channel, Campania Island
Campania Island
Campania Island is an island on the coast of the Canadian province of British Columbia. It is located south of Prince Rupert, east across Hecate Strait from the Queen Charlotte Islands. To the west of Campania Island, across Estevan Sound, is the Estevan Group archipelago. Banks Island lies to the...

, Campania Sound, Aristazabal Island, and Gil Island
Gil Island (Canada)
Gil Island is an island on the North Coast of British Columbia, Canada, located on the west side of Whale Channel in the entrance to Douglas Channel, one of the main coastal inlets, on the route of the Inside Passage between Pitt Island and Princess Royal Island. It is 26 km long, with a width...

. George Vancouver
George Vancouver
Captain George Vancouver RN was an English officer of the British Royal Navy, best known for his 1791-95 expedition, which explored and charted North America's northwestern Pacific Coast regions, including the coasts of contemporary Alaska, British Columbia, Washington and Oregon...

 adopted these names for his chart.

Later career and family

Having successfully completed his trip to Alaska, Caamaño was sent, after a brief stay in San Blas, across the Pacific Ocean to the Philippines. From 1794 to 1807 he served at various posts between México and Perú, having married on one of those trips the Ecuadorian, Francisca de Arteta Santistevan, who gave him eight children. In 1820 he was still living in Guayaquil, the birthplace of his youngest daughter, but nothing is known of the date and place of his death. Some of his descendants have lived in Ecuador, most notably his grandson, Jose Placido Caamaño
José Plácido Caamaño
José María Plácido Caamaño y Gómez-Cornejo was President of Ecuador 23 November 1883 to 1 July 1888....

, who became president of the Republic of Ecuador.

Legacy

Camano Island
Camano Island
Camano Island is a large island in the Possession Sound portion of Puget Sound, located in Island County, Washington, between Whidbey Island and the mainland. The body of water separating Whidbey Island and Camano Island is called Saratoga Passage. Camano Island is separated from mainland...

, an island in Puget Sound
Puget Sound
Puget Sound is a sound in the U.S. state of Washington. It is a complex estuarine system of interconnected marine waterways and basins, with one major and one minor connection to the Strait of Juan de Fuca and the Pacific Ocean — Admiralty Inlet being the major connection and...

, was named to honor Jacinto Caamaño, as was Caamaño Sound
Caamaño Sound
Caamaño Sound is a sound on the coast of the Canadian province of British Columbia. It extends east from Hecate Strait. Princess Royal Island, Rennison Island, and Aristazabal Island lie to the south of the sound. Several islands lie to the north, including Campania Island and the Estevan Group of...

, 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...

, on the northern limit of which there is also Jacinto Island. Other Spanish names in the immediate vicinity of Caamaño Sound are Campania Sound, Estevan Point and Aristazabal Island. Also named for him is Caamaño Passage
Caamaño Passage
Caamaño Passage is a strait on the North Coast of British Columbia, Canada, located between Dundas and Zayas Islands on the west side of Chatham Sound near Prince Rupert. It was named for Jacinto Caamaño, commander of the Spanish exploration ship Aranzazu which had been on this coast in 1792, by...

 northwest of Prince Rupert
Prince Rupert, British Columbia
Prince Rupert is a port city in the province of British Columbia, Canada. It is the land, air, and water transportation hub of British Columbia's North Coast, and home to some 12,815 people .-History:...

 (between Dundas
Dundas Island (British Columbia)
Dundas Island is an island on the North Coast of British Columbia, Canada, located on the west side of Chatham Sound to the northwest of Prince Rupert. It is the largest of a group of islands known as the Dundas Islands.-History:...

 and Zayas Islands).
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