Note 1 — INTRODUCTION

Captain Robert Gray was a native of Rhode Island (born 1755), who served in the United States navy during the Revolution. He afterwards commanded merchant vessels for Boston firms, and visited the Northwest Coast of America on the expedition commanded by Captain John Kendrick (1787-90). Gray sailed home in his ship “Columbia,” by way of the Cape of Good Hope, and first carried the American flag around the world. Upon his next Northwest Coast expedition, Gray made the discovery herein cited (May 11, 1792), upon which the United States based its claims to the valley of the Columbia River. He continued in the service of the merchant marine until his death at Charleston, South Carolina, in 1806. For a brief history of the discovery of the Northwest Coast, see Thwaites, Rocky Mountain Exploration (New York, 1904), pp. 16-21.—Ed.