Humboldt County
History
History of Humboldt County California - Historic Record Co., Los Angeles, 1915
CHAPTER III
The Discovery of Humboldt Bay
Although the general public seems to know little concerning the history of the early navigators who first discovered the splendid body of water afterwards called Humboldt bay, there is authentic information on this phase of history, and the elements of romantic adventure and dangerous encounter with unfriendly Indians enter into the story. The late Prof. George Davidson, for many years in charge of the Geodetic and Coast Survey office at San Francisco, a learned geographer as well, made a careful investigation of these voyages. Being a true scientist, he verified every fact as far as possible before he published anything concerning the matter under discussion.
In order to appreciate the perils and difficulties of early Pacific coast explorations, as well as to understand the lure of gold, the spell wrought by strange lands and peoples, one should grasp the main points concerning early adventures on the Pacific . First, then, let it be borne in mind that the first explorers along the Pacific coast of the United States were Cabrillo and Ferrelo. The fact that Ferrelo was Cabrillo's second in command, and later his successor, gave him the advantage of Cabrillo's experience.
In November, 1542, Cabrillo, so the old Spanish records say, was driven from sight of the wooded and high shoulder of land behind Fort Ross, in latitude 38° 30' north, by a heavy and characteristic southeaster. It is probable that he caught a fading glimpse, through mists and clouds, of the heavily timbered Coast
Range, some twenty-two hundred feet altitude, to the northward. There is nothing in the records to indicate that he saw or suspected the existence of Point Arena, latitude of 38° 57' north. When the storm had abated he directed his course to the eastward until he had made the same "landfall," after which he continued southward to his winter anchorage, the historic el Puerto de la Poseion, now Cuyler's harbor. This is merely a slight indentation in the northern shore of San Miguel Island, the westernmost of the Santa Barbara Islands. It was here that the bold navigator passed away.
The fate of Cabrillo's party was thereafter in the hands, to a great extent, of Ferrelo, who sailed in January, 1543, to the north, where he made what is now known as the Fort Ross anchorage. He saw Point Arena, but was driven off shore by a terrific gale from the southeast. He was driven south again, but finally got as far north, it is believed, as latitude 44°. Cabrillo probably got no farther north than latitude 421/2 degrees.
Sir Francis Drake, the famous English navigator, figures conspicuously in voyages affecting the Pacific coast. On June 5, 1579, he reached the Oregon coast in the vicinity of Rogue river, in latitude 42° 30' north. Drake had a leaking ship, which, with heavy winds and annoying fogs, caused him much delay and annoyance. He patrolled the coast from Oregon to Crescent City's latitude 41° 50'. He also reconnoitered in the vicinity of Cape Mendocino and was also near Trinidad head in latitude 41° 03'. He was attracted close to the shore here, and Professor Davidson finds some evidence that he saw Humboldt bay from the masthead, looking over the low, narrow sand dunes at its entrance, especially on a favorable day with a good glass. Davidson says, however : "In the stretch between Trinidad head and Cape Mendocino, the discolored waters passing through the clear ocean depths would indicate the existence of rivers or bays ; but Mad river, north of the bay, and Eel river, to the south of it, do not offer any well defined marks to betray their entrance to the navigator."
Nobody will ever know just what Drake discovered in the vicinity of Humboldt bay, for there are no definite manuscripts on the subject. It should be remembered, however, that Francis Fletcher, his chaplain, left an account of the voyaging. It is far from satisfactory in its handling of the Humboldt situation. The conclusion is inevitable that Drake's search of three hundred miles for a safe harbor brought him no adequate reward.
Robert Dudley, who was known in Italy as the Duke of Northumberland, lays down Drake's course as ranging from the Rogue river to latitude 38°. Nothing in either Fletcher's manuscripts or Dudley's maps and speculations can be strained, says Davidson, into evidence that Sir Francis Drake discovered the land-locked waters of Humboldt bay. Similarly, Professor Davidson, after examining records in the State Department at Washington, ignores the old story that Vizcaino could have seen Humboldt bay, although he navigated in the vicinity in 1603. And after the voyages of Vizcaino the work of Spanish explorers was practically in abeyance for one hundred and sixty-six years. Bodega discovered Trinidad bay, and Portola (or Portala) discovered San Francisco bay, but Humboldt bay was not seen, nor was its presence positively even suspected by the Spaniards.
In April, 1792, Vancouver followed the California coast line northward from latitude 38° 15', but strangely he never suspected the existence of Humboldt bay. He seemed to think that the coast was all mountainous, without place for protection in the way of even a slight harbor. He was anchored for a time at Trinidad bay, which he calls a nook.
The discovery of Humboldt bay by water was the result of the activities of the Russians between 1803 and 1806. The discovery was actually made by Capt. Jonathan Winship, an American, in an American vessel, with an American crew—but all were temporarily in the service of the Russian American Company. In an explanatory volume and atlas compiled by Tebenkof, a Russian, in 1848, an account of the bay is submitted, credit being given to Winship. It is described as eight and a half miles from the port of Trinidad, lying to the southward from that port. It was known as the Bay of Indians, because of the great number of hostile Indians adjacent to it. "This bay has not been surveyed," says the narrator, "but it is known to be of considerable size, and somewhat resembles the Bay of San Francisco, except that the entrance to it for vessels of large class is not convenient, and with strong southwest winds it is even impassable for vessels of any kind. The depth of water on the bar at the entrance is two fathoms, and then the ocean swell breaks on the bar."
Winship had charge of a sea-otter party for the Russians. The bay was for a time called the entrance of Resanof. The direction of the channel, as shown by the charts, is that which prevails at the present time. The soundings, however, showed two and a half fathoms at the entrance. Professor Davidson speaks as follows of the chart and description : "The location of the Indian villages is the same as we found them thirty-nine years ago (about 1851) ; and the soundings up the bay to the northward, to the location of Eureka, with Indian Island directly abreast of it, show nearly the direction of the present main channel. There is a small stream which enters the northeast part of the upper bay that may be intended for Eureka slough. The vessel anchored in the main channel abreast the southern end of Indian Island. The southern area of the bay is shown, and the relations of both parts of the bay and the shores of Red Bluff to the entrance are plain and satisfactory. Trinidad head is well represented, and so is Little river. The distance of this head from the entrance to the bay is eight and a half miles by the given scale ; but it is seventeen and a half miles on the chart of the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey. Notwithstanding the error of distance, the bay is at once recognized as that of Humboldt, when errors are taken into consideration."
It has always been more or less of a wonder how it chanced that the bay was not discovered earlier by the seafaring expeditions that so often came close to it. It is indisputable that Cabrillo and Ferrelo failed to see the land as far north as Cape Mendocino ; that Vizcaino, or his second in command, placed a great bay just north of Cape Mendocino, without the peculiar land-locked characteristics of Humboldt bay ; that Bodega, who surveyed Trinidad bay in 1775, and who there discovered the peculiar type of our tides, and who also had much intercourse with the natives, failed to see or learn of its existence ; that Vancouver twice passed it by without a sign that he recognized it ; and that it was left to Captain Winship to make the discovery in 1806.
Professor Davidson has made interesting researches into the history of subsequent explorations. He concludes that after the discovery of Winship, especially after the decrease of the sea-otter catch, in 1812, there was no voyage of exploration along the Oregon and California coast for a long period of years. But in October, 1837, Capt. Sir Edward Belcher, R. N., when leaving Nootka sound, proposed to enter the Columbia river, and then coast southward to San
Francisco. Rough weather, however, compelled him to keep his offing and make the best of his way to San Francisco.
In the fall of 1841, Capt. Charles Wilkes, U. S. Navy, commanding the United States Exploring Expedition, 1838-1841, voyaged along the coast in the vicinity of Humboldt bay, but did not enter it.
In September, 1846, Capt. Henry Kellett, R. N., in the Herald, left the Strait of Fuca, and approached the land near Cape Mendocino. In March, 1850, several vessels left San Francisco for the mouth of the Trinity river, where mining operations were rather active. On the 26th the lookout on the schooner Laura Virginia, under Captain Ottinger of the U. S. Revenue Cutter Service, discovered from the masthead the waters and mouth of Eel river, and the waters also, but not the entrance of Humboldt bay. Dr. Josiah Gregg's land party had previously made the same discovery, plus the entrance, but this was not known to the Laura Virginia party.
The Laura Virginia continued her cruise along shore to the northward, believing that there was no entrance to the bay. At that time the wind and sea were high and the breakers terrified the navigators. They found Mad and Little rivers, and afterwards anchored in Trinidad bay for some days. They also examined the Klamath river, after which they returned to Trinidad bay and anchored there for some days. The party searched by land for an entrance to the bay and finally found it at the north point. Some days thereafter the schooner anchored off the south breakers, abreast of the southern point.
On April 8, Capt. H. Buhne, whose name afterwards figured in the history of the county, and whose descendants are prominent today, attempted a passage through the breakers. He was second officer of the Laura Virginia, and his boat was almost swamped several times in the south breakers. A party of Indians signaled to the party to make the north passage, but he finally reached the Siwash channel through the southern entrance, and through that reached the main channel and entered the bay. Buhne then ascended Red Bluff and clearly saw the direction of the channel between the two lines of breakers, and a smooth bar outside.
The schooner again went northward and remained there for about five days. On her return Buhne went out to her through the channel, sounding in almost four fathoms of water on the bar. He piloted the schooner into the harbor and to an anchorage off Humboldt point. It was the Laura Virginia party that gave the bay its name in honor of Alexander von Humboldt, though there were many who wanted to name it for Mr. Buhne. These facts were obtained from Captain Buhne by Professor Davidson in 1890, when Buhne was still piloting on the bay.
D. L. Thornbury, former superintendent of public schools at Eureka, made a careful study of the ocean voyages in and around the bay. In a paper summarizing his conclusions, he says in part :
"There is no doubt that Capt. Jonathan Winship made the first authentic discovery of Humboldt bay, in 1806, while commanding a ship named Ocean. The ship was under the control of and working for the Russian American Company, chiefly engaged in the fur trade, the sea-otter being the main purpose of its voyages. The ship sailed down the coast to Trinidad, which headland had been known to the Russians for several years. With the party were a hundred or more Alute Indians, with fifty-two small boats, and as they were spread out over the country in search of game, the bay was sighted by the Indians and news of the fact reported to Winship. He set out and eighteen miles to the south discovered the entrance of what he called the Bay of the Indians. He sounded at the entrance, which he named Resanof, and found a depth of fifteen feet, which was enough to float his ship. He crossed the bar and came up the channel, which was about the same as at the present time. He anchored the Ocean at the southern end of what is now known as Gunther's Island, half way between the island and the Samoa peninsula.
"His Indian's spread out over the bay and neighboring rivers and discovered four Indian villages, one on the north peninsula, the second close to Brainard's point, a third a short distance south of Bucksport, and the last on the end of the south spit. The Indians did not welcome the newcomers because they were destroying the sea-otters, which abounded in the bay, disturbing geese and ducks, and annoying the clam diggers. Several conflicts occurred, and the Indians refused to trade with the Russians. Captain Winship took observations of the position of the bay, and his figures were not far wrong, as will be seen. Correct
latitude, 40° 45' ; correct longitude, 124° 14'. Winship's latitude, 40° 59' ; Winship's longitude, 124° 08'. He also made a map of the surrounding country, which is remarkably correct. The soundings show almost the present channel. with three islands. The small stream may be intended for Jacoby creek."
Transcribed by Kathy Sedler.