The Discovery Of Humboldt Bay California

Excerpt from The Discovery of Humboldt Bay, California Bay. To the north of Red Bluff there is a comparatively broad, low valley, extending eastward and northeastward from the low shores of the upper area of the bay. Through this valley ow Little River and Mad River; which latter in its passage to the ocean skirts the northern reach of the low, marshy arm of the upper bay, and at one time emptied into Humboldt Bay, where it now has connection therewith by Mad River slough. To the north of Mad River, and be hind Trinidad Head and the rough shore to Rocky Point, the mountains rise to 3010 feet (trinity) at seven and a half miles, and to 4050 feet (hoopah) at sixteen miles from the sea. These are some of the prominent physical features as we see them today. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works."

Typewritten text of presentations by George Davidson before the Geographical Society of the Pacific and the California Historical Society on March 4, 1890 and March 10, 1891 respectively, outling the discovery, exploration, and mapping of Humboldt Bay on the Pacific Coast of California between 1542 and 1850. Although the earliest explorers--Cabrillo, Ferrelo, and Drake, and Vizcaíno--explored the coast in the vicinity of the bay, none of them was able to discover its land-locked waters. Navigators in the 1770s and 1780s such as Juan Perez, Bruno Hezeta, Juan de la Bodega, Fidalgo, and de Haro--even Vancouver on his 1792 voyage--failed to report the existence of the Bay. It was an American, Capt. Jonathan Winship, who first discovered the Bay in 1806, while temporarily in the service of the Russian American Company. The Bay remained virtually unknown until Nov. 1849, when Dr. Josiah Gregg and a party of miners rediscovered it by land; and March 1850 when Capt. Ottinger and second officer H. Buhne located the entrance to the Bay aboard the schooner Laura Virginia.

Typescript of a personal account written in 1872 by L.K. Wood of the 1849 expedition led by Capt. Josiah Gregg which discovered Humboldt Bay on Dec. 20, 1849. Wishing to ascertain whether the large and beautiful bay described by Indians really did exist, a group of eight men, led by Dr. Josiah Gregg, left Rich Bar on the Trinity River on Nov. 5, 1849. After enduring mountainous and dangerous terrain, lack of food, the death of many of their mules, and the constant presence of Indians who were sometimes hostile, the group eventually reached the Pacific Ocean. They explored the coastline north and south of San Francisco, until one of the men, David A. Buck of New York, discovered the bay on Dec. 20, 1849. When a controversy arose regarding the route home, Wood and three other men headed off on their own. Wood was severely wounded by a grizzly bear, but his companions refused to abandon him, and they reached Sonoma on Feb. 17, 1850. Of the remaining four men, three survived, reaching the Sacramento Valley a short time later. Capt. Gregg, however, died of starvation en route.