The last of the Spanish:

By 1801 the Spanish were all but gone from the Northwest Coast. After nearly starting a war with England over the fur trade centered at Nootka (Vancouver Island), an accord was reached in 1792 and the Spanish were required to return some seized ships and they lost control of Nootka area trading.

They still occupied a part of Nootka until 1795 and they had their fort, which they had erected after leveling with cannon some Native houses that were in the way. But they knew their stranglehold on Nootka was finished, and in 1792 they sent a ship across the Strait of Juan de Fuca to Cape Flattery, sailed into what is now Neah Bay and built a fort less than two miles from the Makah village of Neeah. Although trading prospects with these cloud ship people were enticing, the Makah, like many coastal tribes, didn't trust the Spanish. True to form, the Spanish soon committed bad acts, and, fearing retaliation, compounded their crimes by directing cannon fire at two native canoes peacefully headed to one of their clam beaches near their new fort. Reports vary, but several teenagers and at least one elderly person in the canoes were killed. This unprovoked act caused the Makah to prepare for a real retaliation, but they didn't get the chance.

In 1793 the Spanish hastily left, taking what they could load on their ship, never to return. It is believed they left someone on Waddah Island, supposedly the man responsible for raping a Makah woman. They also left some pigs that had been put there to forage for themselves. The Makah did not believe the man the Spanish left was the guilty party, and they were probably right, but he was all they had and was soon killed. It would be another 50 years before the Makah trusted anyone on a cloud ship.

How the Strait of Juan de Fuca got its name:

To understand this, you should know something of the Greeks. The most recent immigrant in my haphazard family tree to arrive in America was my grandfather, Anthony John Pappadikis, age sixteen, sailing from Greece to the city of New York and right past Elias Island and straight through immigration and into the waiting arms of his sponsor and uncle, a successful New York fur dealer.  But many years later he would mesmerize his grandchildren with tales of how he managed to stow away on the ship bound for America, and for three days had only a little bread and goat cheese he'd brought along to eat, until he was discovered and taken to the captain. Of course the captain, discovering immediately he was a clever boy and could read and write a little English, hired him on the spot as some sort of liaison between the various Greek and Italian passengers bound for America, and of course he became a hero to everyone and took his meals with the captain. My grandfather loved children and through the telling of stories he had their rapt attention. There are many stories about him, but now on to another Greek, Apostolos Valerianus, also known as Juan de Fuca.

In 1596 in Venice, Apostolos, then 61 years old, told Michael Lok, a British merchant-diplomat and promoter of exploration, that four years before he had discovered the Strait of Anian, a mythical passage connecting the Pacific to Atlantic Oceans. Apostolos said he'd sailed on Spanish ships for 40 years and they called him Juan de Fuca, as his Greek name was too hard for them to pronounce. The viceroy of Mexico had assigned him pilot when three small vessels were sent north to seek the passage through the wild continent, but the crew had mutinied and the expedition was forced to turn back. A new, smaller expedition was launched with Juan de Fuca in charge. The expedition sailed north through stormy seas and fog until they came to a broad inlet; de Fuca sailed up this channel for 20 days, he told Lok, until they entered a broad sea. Along the way he passed numerous islands and saw people clad in animal skins. This country was rich in gold, silver and pearls, he said. Not being well armed, de Fuca decided to retreat and made haste back to Mexico, where he expected to be rewarded. His efforts were praised by the viceroy but bereft of extra compensation, so he quit the Spanish and returned home to be with his family. He told Lok he would like to lead an exploration to the great channel if the Queen of England would finance such an adventure and give him his due reward. Lok tried to arrange this, but all his efforts to do so failed.

Though there has always been some doubt whether the displaced Greek, Juan de Fuca, ever actually sailed into the strait named for him, the story of his voyage remains in the minds of mariners past and present. And striking Fuca Pillar still stands like a monument on the south flank of Cape Flattery, a rock column pointing at the sky. Some of us look up and see the top of Fuca Pillar and the two Makah boys from legend, who's ghosts still fly around the rock pinnacle. But that is another story . . .

Captain Robert Gray:

Gray claimed discovery of Big River (what the natives called it) and named it after his ship, the Columbia, in the spring of 1792. Vancouver was there a few weeks ahead of Gray but failed to cross the bar at the river's mouth, which is always violent and dangerous. It is possible other ships were there before Gray, such as Russian, but no record of this has been presented. There is a record of the Spanish being at the river's mouth earlier, but they did not land. However the Natives had stories of strange white men, and also people that had to be Japanese or Chinese, who had landed along their coast before Gray made it into Big River. Some of these people were killed, others made slaves, and at least two lived among the Clatsop for a time and took wives, though this may have been a temporary arrangement at the whim of their hosts. On his first visit into Big River Gray did well in trading with the Chinook, but when he ventured into a bay a little north of the river he committed multiple murders under hazy circumstances, and further north, at famous Nootka Sound, Gray used his cannon to level nearly an entire village.