Samuel Crowell was a ship-captain and fur trader in the late 18th Century on 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...

 Coast

British Columbia Coast

The British Columbia Coast or BC Coast is Canada's western continental coastline on the Pacific Ocean. The usage is synonymous with the term West Coast of Canada....

. Crowell was master of the Hancock, a brig

Brig

A brig is a sailing vessel with two square-rigged masts. During the Age of Sail, brigs were seen as fast and manoeuvrable and were used as both naval warships and merchant vessels. They were especially popular in the 18th and early 19th centuries...

 owned by Messrs. Crowell and Creeighton of Boston

Boston

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...

, Massachusetts

Massachusetts

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...

, which left Boston in November 1790 and arrived on the Northwest Coast in July of the following year, spending a good time of the season trading in the area of the Queen Charlotte Islands

Queen Charlotte Islands

Haida Gwaii , formerly the Queen Charlotte Islands, is an archipelago on the North Coast of British Columbia, Canada. Haida Gwaii consists of two main islands: Graham Island in the north, and Moresby Island in the south, along with approximately 150 smaller islands with a total landmass of...

. Crowell and his men built the first European-type vessel to be constructed on the Charlottes, a tender for the Hancock, doing so on Maast Island which lies off the native village of Masset

Masset, British Columbia

Masset , formerly Massett, is a village in Haida Gwaii in British Columbia, Canada. It is located on the northern coast of Graham Island, the largest island in the archipelago, and is approximately west of mainland British Columbia. It is the western terminus of the Yellowhead Highway...

. Crowell and his vessel are believd to have been the first non-indigenous vessel to penetrate Masset Sound

Masset Sound

Masset Sound is a saltwater inlet on Graham Island, the largest and northernmost of the Haida Gwaii islands of the North Coast of British Columbia, Canada, connecting Masset Inlet in the island's interior with the open sea via Masset Harbour and McIntyre Bay to the Dixon Entrance. It averages in...

. Crowell and the Hancock sailed to China in the fall of 1791 and, after selling her cargo of furs there, returned twice more to the Islands, in 1792 and 1793.

Crowell Rock, near Moresby Island

Moresby Island

Moresby Island is a large island that forms part of the Haida Gwaii archipelago in British Columbia, Canada, located at . Gwaii Haanas National Park Reserve and Haida Heritage Site includes Moresby and other islands...

in the southern Queen Charlottes, and Crowell Point, near Masset, are named after him. Hancock Point, also on southern Moresby, was named for his ship.