OAKLEY, ERIC ODELL, Ph.D. Columbia at Sea: America Enters the Pacific, 1787- 1793 (2017). Directed by Dr. Phyllis Whitman Hunter. 494pp. This dissertation evaluates the earliest phase of American engagement in the Pacific Ocean through a close examination of the fur-trading ship Columbia during the years 1787-93. I argue that Columbia established the dominant pattern of American commerce in the Pacific and, in doing so, played a significant role in the integration of disparate shores into a single Pacific World. This study also reconstructs her pioneering, yet understudied voyages in order to challenge a historiographical neglect of the eighteenth-century foundations of American empire in the Pacific. My research unfolds on three scales. First, Columbia reveals a series of interconnected local histories that hinge upon individuals in Boston, on the Northwest Coast of America, and in Canton. Second, her expeditions show how American merchants and sea captains leveraged transnational variations in trade to reorient the United States toward the commerce of the Pacific Ocean. Third, Columbia demonstrates how entrepreneurs of the Early Republic established a global trade circuit integrating the markets of the United States, the Pacific World, and China. This study also stresses the experimental nature of the Columbia expeditions. By reconstructing the financial outcomes of her voyages, I emphasize improvisation and adaptation as vital strategies in the development of a successful enterprise in the ocean hemisphere. Columbia’s success inspired a new generation of investors, imitators, and innovators to pursue similar profits in the Pacific World. COLUMBIA AT SEA: AMERICA ENTERS THE PACIFIC, 1787-1793 by Eric Odell Oakley A Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of The Graduate School at The University of North Carolina at Greensboro in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy Greensboro 2017 Approved by _______________________________ Committee Chair © 2017 Eric Odell Oakley APPROVAL PAGE This dissertation written by ERIC ODELL OAKLEY has been approved by the following committee of the Faculty of The Graduate School at The University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Committee Chair ______________________________ Committee Members ______________________________ ______________________________ ______________________________ ____________________________ Date of Acceptance by Committee _________________________ Date of Final Oral Examination ii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page LIST OF TABLES……………………………………………………………………......iv LIST OF FIGURES………………………………………………………………………..v CHAPTER I. THE COLUMBIA VOYAGES………………...………………………………1 II. “ADVENTURE TO THE PACIFIC”……………………..……….…….……80 III. “IRON BOUND COAST”……………………………..……….…………...168 IV. “ALL THINGS IN ABUNDANCE”..…………………………………….....253 V. “THE TERRAQUEOUS GLOBE”…………………………...……………..335 VI. “MAR COLUMBIANA”……………………………………………..……..396 BIBLIOGRAPHY………………………………………………………………………422 APPENDIX A. ESTIMATE OF PORT FEES FOR SHIP COLUMBIA REDIVIVA……………………….…...…………..…473 APPENDIX B. ESTIMATED SPECIFICATIONS AND HYPOTHETICAL PORT FEES FOR SLOOP LADY WASHINGTON……..…..........479 APPENDIX C. MAPS…………………………………………………………………..484 iii LIST OF TABLES Page Table 1. Local, Transnational, and Global Dimensions of the Columbia Expeditions……………………………………………..….…9 Table 2. Copper Traded during the Second Columbia Expedition……………………194 Table 3. Notable Fur-Trading Anchorages on the Northwest Coast…………………..223 Table 4. Expected Prices for Selected Provisions in 1789 and 1792, Canton…………………………………………………………….276 Table 5. Ship Columbia Estimated Expenses at Canton, 1789-90……………………279 Table 6. Projected Value of Furs aboard Sloop Lady Washington, 1790…………….282 Table 7. Estimated Port Fees Assessed on Ship Columbia, 1789…………………….478 Table 8. Hypothetical Port Fees for Sloop Lady Washington, 1790……………….…483 iv LIST OF FIGURES Page Figure 1. Paul Revere, A View of Part of the Town of Boston in New England and British Ships of War Landing their Troops 1768, engraving, color on sheet, 23 x 39.5 cm., Chicago: Alfred L. Sewell, 1868…………………………………….………….26 Figure 2. John Meares, A Chart of the Interior Part of North America Demonstrating the Very Great Possibility of an Inland Navigation to the West Coast, 1790, engraving, 45.72 x 25.4 cm., London: Logographic Press, 1790..…………………………...37 Figure 3. Johannes Vingboons, View of the City of Canton, with Mountains in the Background, watercolor on paper, 44 x 65.5 cm., 1665. Nationaal Archief, The Hague…………………...49 Figure 4. Abraham Ortelius, “Maris Pacifici quod vulgo Mar del Zur,” copper engraving with color, 34 x 49.5 cm., as reproduced in Theatrum Orbis Terrarum, Antwerp: Gilles Coppens de Diest, 1590.............................................................................63 Figure 5. Joseph Barrell and Joseph Callender. The Columbia and Washington Medal, 1787, obverse and reverse in silver, ex Appleton, 42 mm., Massachusetts Historical Society, Boston…………..82 Figure 6. John Singleton Copley, Portrait of Joseph Barrell, c.1767, pastel on cream laid paper, 59.4 x 47 cm., Worcester Art Museum, Worcester, MA.……………………………………………….89 Figure 7. John Green, A Chart of North and South America including the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, with the Nearest Coasts of Europe, Africa and Asia, chart map, 127 x 114 cm. London: Thomas Jefferys, 1753. David Rumsey Map Collection………………………………………………………….….131 Figure 8. Mather Brown, Charles Bulfinch, 1786, oil on canvas, 74.9 x 62.9 cm, Harvard University Portrait Collection, Cambridge, MA …………………………………………………...148 Figure 9. Model of Columbia Rediviva, n.d., photograph, Oregon Historical Society, Portland....................................................166 v Figure 10. Robert Haswell, Title image (Detail of Columbia and Washington at Anchor on the Northwest Coast), c. 1788, ink on paper, as reproduced in Robert Haswell, “A Voyage Round the World Onboard the Ship Columbia Rediviva and Sloop Washington,” Massachusetts Historical Society, Boston……….….172 Figure 11. John Webber, A View of the Habitations in Nootka Sound, 1778, watercolor on paper, 38 x 23 cm., State Library of New South Wales, Sydney…………………………………………...……182 Figure 12. S. Smith after John Webber, “A Sea Otter,” engraving, image cropped, colors, and tone slightly adjusted, as reproduced in James Cook, A Voyage to the Pacific Ocean . Performed under the Direction of Captains Cook, Clerke, and Gore . 1776, 1777, 1778, 1779, and 1780, London: W. Strahan, 1780. Library of Congress.…………………………………….….....206 Figure 13. George Davidson, Winter Quarters, 1793, watercolor on paper, 26.5 x 35.4 cm., Oregon Historical Society, Portland…..…….….232 Figure 14. John Webber, A Man of Nootka Sound, c.1778, black and red chalk with pencil, gray wash and pen and black ink on laid paper, 27.9 x 40.6 cm., Library and Archives Canada, Ottawa…….….236 Figure 15. View of Canton, c.1800, watercolor and gouache of paper, 71.2 x 128.5 cm., Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, MA..……………….…..255 Figure 16. Thomas Allom, “Whampoa, from Dane's Island,” 1800, engraving, as reproduced in Thomas Allom, China, in a Series of Views, Displaying the Scenery, Architecture, and Social Habits of that Ancient Empire, Vol. 1, London: Fischer, Son, & Co., 1800, 80…………………………………………271 Figure 17. Giuseppe Castiglione, The Qianlong Emperor in Court Dress, 1736, colored inks on silk, 238.5 x 179.2 cm., Palace Museum, Beijing..…………………………………………………….…………297 Figure 18. William Daniell. View of the Canton Factories at Canton, 1805-06, oil on canvas, 94 x 182 cm., National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London.……………………….……………….308 Figure 19. Portrait of Puankhequa II, early nineteenth century, oil on canvas, 46 x 35.5 cm., Hong Kong Museum of Art, Hong Kong..………………………….……………………………….325 vi Figure 20. Detail of “Boston, Wednesday, Aug. 11—The Columbia,” Columbian Centinel (Boston, Massachusetts), 11 August 1790….…….336 Figure 21. Gilbert Stuart, Portrait of Prominent Boston Merchant and Privateer Joseph Barrell, 1790, oil on canvas, 66 x 53.3 cm., Private Collection…………………………………………………….346 Figure 22. Gaspard Duche de Vancy, engraved by Joseph Louis Masquelier. Vue de Macao en Chine (View of Macao in China), 1787, copper engraving, later color, 25 x 40 cm., as reproduced in Atlas du Voyage de la Perouse, no. 40 (Paris, L’Imprimerie de la Republique, An v, 1787), Wallis Fine Art, Hong Kong…...................................................................359 Figure 23. Charles Bulfinch, East Elevation of the Seat of Joseph Barrell Esq. 3 miles from Boston, c.1792, pen and ink wash, 5.4 x 9.8 cm., Boston Athenaeum, Boston……………………………….…..376 Figure 24. Charles Bulfinch, engraving by Samuel Hill, “Plan of Elevation of the Tontine Crescent now erecting in Boston,” in Massachusetts Magazine 6 (February 1794), page facing p. 67.……….388 Figure 25. William Beechey, Portrait of John Meares, as reproduced in John Meares, Voyages Made in the Years 1788 and 1789, from China to the North-West Coast of America (London: Logographic Press, 1790)………………………………………….…..403 Figure 26. David Porter, “Madisonville,” ink on paper, as reproduced in David Porter, Journal of a Cruise Made to the Pacific Ocean (1815), ed. R.D. Madison (Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 1986), 400..……………………………………………………..….…..408 Figure 27. Attributed to Lamqua, View of Foreign Factories, Canton, oil on canvas, 57.2 x 81.2 cm., 1825-1835, Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, MA.…………………………………………….…..418 vii CHAPTER I THE COLUMBIA VOYAGES In September of 1787, Joseph Barrell, a Bostonian merchant