Document Record

Title

Journal of Esteban José Martinez

Identifier

MIKAN: 105666
Reels/Bobines: C-11778
Archival Reference/Référence Archivistique: MG 23 J 12
oocihm.lac_mikan_105666
lac_mikan_105666

Document source

Library and Archives Canada/Bibliothèque et Archives Canada

Notes

1789-1789
Copyright Not Evaluated/Droit d'auteur non évalué
https://rightsstatements.org/vocab/CNE/1.0/

Language

Spanish

Description

Item is "Diario de la Navegacion que hizo al Puerto de Sn. Lorenzo de Nutca en 1789 D. Estevan José Martinez", copied in 1789 from the original text and certified by Martinez as commander of the Princesa (frigate) and its sister-ship the San Carlos. The text which includes Martinez's instructions from the Viceroy, pages 1-12; extensive commentary on the flora and fauna, the geography and minerals, the natives and their customs, and the trade of the Nootka Sound area, with a Nootka-Castillian vocabulary based on the work of Joseph Ingraham, pages 224-256 and 258-266; and a Hawaiian-Castillian vocabulary pages 306-315. The original logbook was lost when Princesa sank, but several copies are known to have been prepared for presentation by Martinez to the Viceroy of Mexico and authorities in Spain. The text in the Museo Naval in Madrid (MS 732) was the basis for the published version in the Collection de Diarios y Relaciones para la Historia de los Viajes y Descubrimientos (vol. VI; Madrid, Instituto Historico de Marina, 1964), edited by Roberto Barreiro-Meiro.
Volumes: 44928
Esteban José Martinez de la Sierra (1742-1798) began his naval career at the age of 13. In 1773 he was attached to the naval department at San Blas, Mexico and the next year participated in the expedition of Juan Joseph Pérez Hernandez along the Pacific coast as far as the Queen Charlotte Islands. When concern arose in 1788 about Russian activity in the Pacific Northwest, Martinez was sent north, and reached the 61st parallel of latitude. The next year he volunteered for the mission to establish a Spanish post at Nootka Sound. His actions in seizing the British trading vessels the Argonaut and the Princess Royal at Nootka precipitated a diplomatic crisis. After a brief recall to Spain, Martinez spent his last years at San Blas and on voyages along the Pacific coast.

Persistent URL

https://n2t.net/ark:/69429/s0q814m92j06