Santa Cruz de Nuca (or Nutca) was a Spanish colonial fort and settlement and the first European colony in what is now known as British Columbia. The settlement was founded on Vancouver Island in 1789 and abandoned in 1795, with its far northerly position making it the "high-water mark" of verified northerly Spanish settlement along the North American west coast. The colony was established with the Spanish aim of securing the entire west coast of the continent from Alaska southwards, for the Spanish crown.
Due to the presence and activities of several British maritime fur trading ships in the same region, and the Russian colonization of Alaska further north, this Spanish attempt at making such a substantial claim for possession and conquest along the North American west coast failed. The colony was briefly abandoned between October 1789 and April 1790. In 1795 the colony was permanently abandoned following the settlement and signing of the Nootka Convention. This final Spanish abandonment of the area left the Spanish missions in the San Francisco Bay area as the most northerly permanent Spanish settlements in western North America.
The Nootka Convention resolved the earlier armed international struggles which had surrounded the colony, including the Nootka Crisis, which had almost led to war between Britain and Spain. The colony had been protected by the adjacent Fort San Miguel. Santa Cruz de Nuca was the only verified Spanish settlement in what is now Canada. Some early Spanish maps had claimed the existence of additional Spanish settlements in the area. However, these other unverified local ghost-Spanish-settlements appear to have most probably been merely a "political fiction", created by Spanish cartographers with the aim of dissuading other nations from attempting to expand in the area.
Early history (until 1778) Yuquot (meaning "Wind comes from all directions") was the summer home of Chief Maquinna and the Mowachaht/Muchalaht (Nuu-chah-nulth) people for generations, housing approximately 1,500 natives in 20 traditional wooden longhouses. Captain James Cook's visit to Nootka Sound in 1778 was the second known European sighting of Yuquot after Juan José Pérez Hernández in 1774.Official State of Washington history of Pérez
Early European explorations and settlement (1778–1800s) New Spain claimed the entire west coast of North America and therefore considered the Russian American fur trading activity in Alaska, which began in the middle to late 18th century, an encroachment and threat. Likewise, the exploration of the northwest coast by James Cook of the British Navy and the subsequent fur trading activities by British ships was considered an invasion of Spanish territory. To protect and strengthen its claim, New Spain sent a number of expeditions to the Pacific Northwest between 1774 and 1793.
In 1789 the Viceroy of New Spain, Manuel Antonio Flórez, instructed Esteban José Martínez to occupy Nootka Sound, on Vancouver Island in present-day British Columbia, build a settlement and fort, and to make it clear that Spain was setting up a formal establishment. The Russians were threatening to take the sound, and in May 1788 the British fur trader John Meares had used Nootka Sound as a base of operations and claimed purchase of land there from the indigenous Nuu-chah-nulth people. In 1788, John Meares, an English navigator and explorer sailing under falsified papers, sailed from China and explored Nootka Sound and the neighbouring coasts.Meares, John, Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online He, among other claims subsequently discredited by George Vancouver in 1792, claimed to have bought some land from a local chief named Maquinna and built a trading post there.
First establishment of Santa Cruz de Nuca and Fort San Miguel
In 1789, the Spanish commander Esteban José Martínez led an expedition that arrived at Nootka Sound on May 5, 1789. This territory was already considered as part of New Spain by the Spanish due to the previous explorations of the region. On May 15, 1789, Martínez chose the location of his fortification and settlement at the entrance of Friendly Cove (Yuquot) on Hog Island. Work progressed so that on May 26 they were able to place their artillery followed by the construction of barracks and a powder storeroom. The new Santa Cruz de Nuca settlement included houses and a hospital.
During the summer of 1789, a number of fur trading vessels, British and American, arrived at Nootka. The American captains heeded warnings and left. On June 24, 1789 a salvo was fired from the new fort and the Spanish ships in what Martínez considered an official act of possession of Nootka Harbour. On July 4, the American vessels and their captains Robert Gray and John Kendrick (who had arrived in the harbour 7 months earlier than Martínez) fired salvos and fireworks in recognition of their recent independence from Britain accompanied by a further salvo from the Spanish fort.
On July 29, 1789, new orders arrived from Viceroy Flores directing Martínez to abandon Fort San Miguel and return to San Blas. The artillery from the fort was loaded back aboard Princesa Real and he left Friendly Cove on October 30, 1789. The fort was dismantled, but anticipating a reoccupation, Martínez buried crates of bricks and lime.
Nootka Crisis
Martínez arrived at Nootka Sound on May 5, 1789. He found three ships already there. Two were American, the Columbia Rediviva and the Lady Washington, which had wintered at Nootka Sound. The British ship was the Iphigenia. It was seized and its captain, William Douglas, arrested. After a few days Martínez released Douglas and his ship and ordered him to leave and not return. Douglas heeded the warning.Frost, Alan (1 October 1999). The Voyage of the Endeavour: Captain Cook and the Discovery of the Pacific. Allen & Unwin. pp. 133–134, 138. .
On June 8, the North West America, under Robert Funter, arrived at Nootka Sound and was seized by Martínez. The sloop was renamed Santa Gertrudis la Magna and used for exploring the region.Fryer, Mary Beacock (1 October 1986). Battlefields of Canada. Dundurn Press. pp. 131–140. . José María Narváez was given command and sailed far into the Strait of Juan de Fuca. Martínez later claimed that Funter had abandoned the vessel. Martínez had given supplies to the Iphigenia and claimed his seizure of the North West America was for the purpose of holding the vessel as a security for the money owed by Meares's company for the supplies. online at Google Books
On June 24, in front of the British and Americans present at Nootka Sound, Martínez performed a formal act of sovereignty, taking possession of the entire northwest coast for Spain.
On July 2, the British ships Princess Royal and Argonaut arrived. The Princess Royal was first, and Martínez ordered its captain, Thomas Hudson, to abandon the area and return to China, based on Spain's territorial and navigation rights. Later in the day the Argonaut arrived, and Martínez seized the ship and arrested Colnett, his crew, and the Chinese workers Colnett had brought. In addition to the Chinese workers, the Argonaut carried a considerable amount of equipment. Colnett said that he was intending to build a settlement at Nootka Sound, which was considered a violation of Spanish sovereignty. After a hot-tempered argument Martínez arrested Colnett., Canadian Military Heritage
Later, Martínez used the Chinese workforce to build Fort San Miguel and otherwise improve the Spanish post. The Argonaut also carried materials for the construction of a new ship. After Narváez returned in the Santa Gertrudis la Magna (the seized and renamed North West America), the materials from the Argonaut were used to improve the vessel. By the end of 1789 the Santa Gertrudis la Magna was in San Blas, where it was dismantled. The pieces were taken back to Nootka Sound in 1790 by Francisco de Eliza and used to build a schooner, christened Santa Saturnina. This vessel, the third incarnation of the North West America, was used by Narváez during his 1791 exploration of the Strait of Georgia.
On July 12, Hudson returned to Nootka Sound with the Princess Royal. He did not intend to enter but was becalmed. This was seen as a provocation and he was seized by the Spanish.
The Nuu-chah-nulth, indigenous to Nootka Sound, observed but did not understand the disputes between the Spanish and British. On July 13, one of the Nuu-chah-nulth leaders, Callicum, the son of Maquinna, went to meet with Martínez, who was on board the newly captured Princess Royal. Callicum's attitude and angry calls alarmed the Spanish and somehow Callicum ended up shot dead. Sources differ over exactly how this happened. Some say that Martínez fired a warning shot and a nearby Spanish sailor, thinking Martínez meant to kill and missed, fired as well and killed Callicum. Another source says that Martínez aimed to hit Callicum but his musket misfired and another sailor fired his musket and killed Callicum. Sources also differ over what Callicum was angry about, whether it was the seizing of ships, or something else. In any case the event caused a rift between the Spanish and the Nuu-chah-nulth. Maquinna, in fear of his life, fled to Clayoquot Sound and moved with his people from Yuquot to Aoxsha. online at Google Books
On July 14 the Argonaut set sail for San Blas, with a Spanish crew and Colnett and his crew as prisoners. Two weeks later the Princess Royal followed, with the San Carlos (el Filipino) as an escort.
The American ships Columbia Rediviva and Lady Washington, also fur trading, were in the area all summer, sometimes anchored in Friendly Cove. Martínez left them alone even though his instructions were to prevent ships of any nation from trading at Nootka Sound. The captured crew of the North West America was sent to the Columbia before the Americans set sail for China.
Two other American ships arrived at Nootka Sound late in the season. The , under Thomas Humphrey Metcalfe, was captured by Martínez upon arrival. Its sister ship, the Eleanora, under Humphrey's father, Simon Metcalfe, was nearly captured but escaped.
On July 29, 1789 the Spanish supply ship Aranzazu arrived from San Blas with orders from Viceroy Flores to evacuate Nootka Sound by the end of the year.Fryer, Mary Beacock (1 October 1986). Battlefields of Canada. Dundurn Press. pp. 131–140. . By the end of October the Spanish had completely abandoned Nootka Sound. They returned to San Blas with the Princess Royal and the Argonaut, with their captains and crews as prisoners, as well as the Fair American. The captured North West America, renamed Santa Gertrudis la Magna, returned to San Blas separately. The Fair American was released in early 1790 without much notice. The Nootka Incident did not spark a crisis in the relationship of the United States and Spain.
Second establishment of Santa Cruz de Nuca and Fort San Miguel By late 1789 Viceroy Flórez had already been replaced with a new viceroy, Juan Vicente de Güemes, 2nd Count of Revillagigedo, who was determined to continue defending the Spanish rights to the area, including settling Nootka Sound and the Pacific Northwest coast in general. Martínez, who had enjoyed the favor of Flórez, became a scapegoat under the new regime. Martínez lost favor due to his actions in the incident, and with the appointment of the new Viceroy, Juan Vicente de Güemes.