NAME OF THE OREGON COUNTRY 335
Spanish manufacture.* By determining accurately the princi- pal points on the Coasts of Asia and America he made it pos- sible for the first time to ascertain the actual extent of these continents and the degree of their proximity to each other All subsequent voyages, as far at least as the subject that is before us, need not concern us ; and, whether we recognize or reject the validity of the Papal concession of May 4th, 1493, as a legitimate basis for Spanish claims to sovereignty 7 , we can not deny that the Spaniards were the first discoverers' and settlers of the West Coasts of America, at least as far North as the 56th parallel of latitude. It nevertheless led to the first controversy and to subsequent contests between Great Britain and Spain respecting the Northwest Coasts of America in 1790, and in which contests British perseverance finally won over Spanish clericalized rule.
In addition to the above documentary evidence of the voy- ages of discovery and settlement, the following recorded inci- dents of later travelers are of unusual interest and impor- tance and show the unmistakable presence of Spaniards in the Oregon Country. Under date of January 1st, 1806, there is recorded in the journal of Lewis and Clark's Expedition 8 a visit from the Clatsops; and that "Among this nation (the Clatsops) we have observed a man about twenty-five years old, of much lighter complexion than the Indians generally; his face was even freckled, and his hair long and of a color inclined to red. He was in habits and manners perfectly Indian; but, though he did not speak a word of English, he seemed to understand more than the others of his party; and, as we could obtain no account of his origin, we concluded that
6 Captain Cook's Explorations extended as far as Icy Cape in latitude 70 degrees 29 minutes; thence, repassing Bering Strait, he left on October 27, for the Sandwich Islands, where this gallant English voyager was murdered by the natives on February 14, 1779. Captain Charles Clarke succeeded him, but he died near Petropaylovsk on August 22; John Gore next assumed command of the expedition, sailed around the Cape of Good Hope, returning to England in Octo- ber, 1780.
7 "From the time of the emperor Constantine various grants, endowments, and donations of extensive territories were conferred by different princes on the bishops of Rome . . . That many of these are supposititious is generally ac- knowledged, whilst the validity of others, which are admitted to have existed, frequently rests merely on the temporary right of some intruder whose title was his sword, and who in many instances, gave the pontiff what he could no longer retain himself." Wm. Roscoe, the Life and Pontificate of Lea the Tenth (in 2 Vols.) Vol. I, p. 5, London, Henry G. Bohn, 1846.
& History of the Expedition of Captains Lewis and Clark in 1804-5-6. Re- printed from the Edition of 1814, with an Introduction and Index by James K. Hosmer, LLD., in two volumes, (Vol. II, p. 110, A. C. McClurg, Chicago, 1903.
