Fort Defiance (British Columbia)

Fort Defiance was a small outpost built by the crew of the "Columbia Rediviva" during the winter of 1791-1792. The crew under the command of American merchant Captain Robert Gray built the establishment on Meares Island in present day British Columbia, Canada.

History

In early August, 1791, John Kendrick had arrived in Clayoquot Sound and bought land from Wickaninnish in exchange for firearms. The land purchased was near the village of Opitsaht. By the time Gray arrived in late August Kendrick had fortified a small island and given it the name Fort Washington. Kendrick soon left for China while Gray remained for the winter. For most of the winter relations with Wickaninnish and his people were good. On Christmas Day Wickaninnish and a number of other chiefs dined aboard the "Columbia", and on New Year's Day the Americans were entertained onshore by the natives. [cite book |last= Pethick |first= Derek |title= The Nootka Connection: Europe and the Northwest Coast 1790-1795 |year= 1980 |publisher= Douglas & McIntyre |location= Vancouver |isbn= 0-88894-279-6 |pages= pp. 67-69]

Construction

The men of the "Columbia" began building their winter quarters on September 21 1791. [Howay. p. 247] They were done building the main building by September 30. [Howay. p. 247] This main building measured convert|36|ft|m long by convert|18|ft|m wide and was two stories tall. [Howay. p. 247] Fort Defiance also had a brick fireplace, as the traders had brought with them 5,470 bricks from Boston. [Scofield. p. 242] The main building had two cannons mounted and musket loop holes for defending against any native attacks. [Howay. p. 382] Additionally, other buildings constructed included a blacksmith shop, two sawpits for cutting logs, cabins, and a boat builder's shed. [Scofield. p. 242] [Howay. p. 305] Once the fort was complete, four cannons, 40 muskets, and various other weapons were transferred from the "Columbia" and Robert Haswell was placed in charge of the base and ten men. [Howay. p. 248, 305, 382] At this point the focus of Fort Defiance became the construction of the ship "Adventure", whose skeleton had been brought aboard the "Columbia". [Scofield, John. p. 241]

Use

On October 3 the keel was laid for the ship. [Howay. p. 248] Over the winter the ship slowly began to take shape. [Howay, Frederic W., p. 227] On February 23, 1792, the ship was launched, making it the first American built vessel in the Pacific Northwest. [Howay. p. 313-314, 276] [Carey, Charles Henry. "History of Oregon". Vol. 1: Pioneer Historical Publishing Co.:Chicago. 1922. p. 139] Once the ship then sailed in March, the fort was abandoned. [Howay, Frederic W., p. 314] However, Gray desired to leave nothing of use to the natives and had Haswell remove anything of value. [Scofield, John. p. 252.]

Destruction of Opitsaht

When Gray left these winter quarters at Clayoquot Sound, as revenge for a foiled attack against his men conceived by the Tla-o-qui-aht people and a Sandwich Islander of his own crew, Gray ordered the destruction of 200 homes in the local village of "Opitsitah" (Opitsaht), [within territory of Tla-o-qui-aht First Nations (formerly referred to as the Clayoquot), one of the Nuu-chah-nulth First Nations] an act that the keeper of his own ship's log considered having let his passions go too far.Cite book | last =Morton | first =Arthur S | coauthors = (Lewis G Thomas) | title =A History of the Canadian West to 1870-71 | place=Toronto | publisher =University of Toronto Press | year =1973 | origyear=1939 | location =Toronto | edition =2nd ed | pages =404 | isbn = 0-8020-4033-0]

Location

This winter quarters for the crew was built on Disappointment Inlet (now Lemmens Inlet) on Meares Island. [Howay, Frederic W. "Voyages of the Columbia to the Northwest Coast". Boston: The Massachusetts Historical Society (1941), p. 247] The island is in Clayoquot Sound off Vancouver Island. [ [http://www.vancouverisland.com/regions/towns/?townID=3935 Clayoquot Sound] ] At the inlet, Fort Defiance was on the eastern side where the geography could provide natural defenses against attacks. [Howay. p. 247] Gray named the cove Adventure Cove. [Scofield, John. "Hail, Columbia: Robert Gray, John Kendrick and the Pacific Fur Trade". Oregon Historical Society Press. 1993. p. 242]

See also

* "Lady Washington"
* John Kendrick
* Gray Sails the Columbia River
* History of the West Coast of North America

References