Early History of the US Pacific Northwest Quiz

Answer: Searching for the Northwest Passage

The Northwest Passage was thought to be a passage through North America to the Pacific, a shortcut to Asia. The early explorers heard of the unknown route, and wanted to find it for their own countries.
At first they searched from the Atlantic coast, looking for the passage, then the Pacific coast.
In 1577, Queen Elizabeth sent Sir Francis Drake on a secret expedition to sail the western coast of North America, to look for the passage as well as to assess the area for possible English settlement. We know that he may have sailed as far north as Oregon, but he had to turn back and put into San Francisco Bay for repairs to his ship.
To bring Christianity to the natives became a goal much later.

Answer: The mouth of the Columbia River is one of the rainiest and foggiest places on earth

Actually the navigators knew the river must be near where they found fresh river water in the Pacific Ocean. However, they were unable to see the mouth due to the weather and the shifting sand bars.

Answer: American Capt. Robert Gray

The other three choices were important explorers of the Pacific Coast, but in 1792, Capt. Gray sailed into the Columbia river, establishing a strong claim to the area for the United States.

This occurred shortly after meeting Capt. George Vancouver, who had been exploring along the coast and had concluded there was no great river there. He so advised Capt. Gray, who did not give up, and discovered the truth.

Gray named the river Columbia's River, after his ship, Columbia Rediviva (Columbus lives again).

Answer: The Louisiana Purchase

Although Thomas Jefferson faced opposition from some factions in government,
the purchase doubled the size of the United States at that time, and guaranteed the future power of the new country. If you look at a map of the United States of today, you will see that the purchase turned out to be approximately l/3 of the area in the middle of the continental U.S. today.

Answer: Lewis and Clark

Meriwether Lewis had been a secretary to Jefferson. He outranked William Clark in the military, but it was decided for purposes of leadership of the Corps of Discovery, they would both have the rank of Captain. Both, although well-educated for the time, were very poor at spelling, so their diaries of the trek can make challenging reading.

Answer: York, Seaman, Sacajawea

York was William Clark's black slave. He was of great interest to Indian tribes they met along the way, as they had never seen a black person before.
Of great physical strength, he provided much help along the way.

Seaman was Meriwether Lewis' black Newfoundland dog which traveled with the expedition. We don't know his fate, they stopped writing about him after they crossed Lolo Pass, along the Idaho/Montana border. It was so snowy and stormy that they made little moccasins to protect his feet. This dog has been known by other names throughout history, such as Scannon or Scammon. This has been due to poor spelling and handwriting. Scholars now call him Seaman.

Sacajawea was a young Shoshone girl who had been kidnapped from her tribe years before. Although she was thought by some to be a guide, actually the only time she recognized landmarks was when they got near her old home near
the Rocky Mountains. Her main contribution was that she provided a signal to Indian tribes that it was a peaceful expedition. After all, a war party wouldn't have included a woman.

In a strange moment in history, when they met a party of Indians, she was able to talk to them. They were from her old tribe and the chief was her brother!
The tribe provided horses and a guide to help them over the treacherous Rocky Mountains.

Answer: David Thompson

David Thompson was a great explorer for the Hudson's Bay Company, who established many posts in Canada and the U.S. The main reason was, of course, furs, the first great industry in the Pacific Northwest.
As often happens in history, he achieved greatness, but died in poverty.

Answer: Americans had built a fort there for fur trading

After the Lewis and Clark expedition, an American, John Jacob Astor sent two
parties to the mouth of the Columbia to establish a fur trading post. One overland, and one by sea. Although the sea expedition was ultimately successful, they suffered from cruel Captain Thorn, who lost men with his bad judgements. The overland party was a disaster, with some getting lost, others turning back and one going insane. John Day was tortured by Indians and lost his mind. A few were able to straggle into Fort Astoria months later after many hardships.
Fort Astoria gave the US a strong claim to the area.

Answer: The British

At last! The British and the Hudson's Bay Company got their hands on the strategic location at the mouth of the Columbia River. This meant being able to ship their furs by sea, instead of the hard overland journey.

The British remained in control of the Pacific Northwest for many years, establishing an even better fur-trading post upriver, Fort Vancouver.

Answer: Men's beaver hats

One may think of beaver fur as long and unsuitable for a top hat. But the fur used for the hats was a short, silky undercoat. If you ever see one in a museum, it's hard to tell it isn't a silk hat. If you ever go on a tour of the Pacific Northwest, you can see one at the house of John McLaughlin, head of Fort Vancouver for many years. His house, now a museum, is in Oregon City, Oregon.