Robert gray ship name
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GRAY, ROBERT, merchant captain, fur trader, and explorer; b. 10 May 1755 in Tiverton, R.I., son of William and Elizabeth Gray; d. in the summer of 1806, probably at sea.
Robert Gray’s widow was to state in a memorial submitted to the United States Congress in 1846 that her husband had served in the naval forces during the Revolutionary War, but no documentary – proof has been found. He first comes to notice in 1787. Shortly before this, businessmen in New England had learned that the fur of the sea otter, plentiful on the northwest coast, had fetched high prices in China when sold there by members of James Cook*’s last expedition. Eager for Chinese goods, a group of Boston merchants headed by Joseph Barrell sent to the northwest an expedition led by John Kendrick*. It consisted of the ship Columbia Rediviva, under Kendrick, and the small sloop Lady Washington, commanded by Gray.
The ships sailed from Boston on 30 Sept. 1787, but Kendrick was a dilatory commander and they were a full year on the way to Nootka Sound (B.C.). Gray arrived on 17&nb
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Robert Gray (sea captain)
American Merchant Sea Captain (1755–1806)
For other people with the same name, see Robert Gray.
Captain Robert Gray | |
|---|---|
Captain Gray | |
| Born | (1755-05-10)May 10, 1755 Tiverton, Rhode Island |
| Died | July 1806(1806-07-00) (aged 51) Atlantic Ocean |
| Occupation(s) | Merchant Sea-Captain, Explorer |
| Spouse | Martha |
Robert Gray (May 10, 1755 – c. July 1806) was an American merchant sea captain who is known for his achievements in connection with two trading voyages to the northern Pacific coast of North America, between 1790 and 1793, which pioneered the American maritime fur trade in that region. In the course of those voyages, Gray explored portions of that coast and in the year 1790 he completed the first American circumnavigation of the world. He was also noted for coming upon and naming the Columbia River, in 1792, while on his second voyage.
Gray's earlier and later life are both comparatively obscure. He was born in Tiverton, Rhode Island, and may have served in the Continental Navy dur
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On May 11, 1792, Robert Gray, the first American to circumnavigate the world (1787-1790), sailed the Columbia Rediviva into the Columbia River, the first documented ship to anchor in the river’s broad estuary. He named the river “Columbia’s river” after his ship and drew a sketch map of the river mouth. With Gray’s entry into the river, the United States had an arguable claim to discovery in the deliberations with Great Britain that led to the Oregon Treaty of 1846. Even though Gray’s accomplishment played no material role in the consummation of the treaty, he nonetheless became among the most famous Americans to establish a national claim on Oregon Country.
Born on May 10, 1755, in Tiverton, Rhode Island, Gray apparently went to sea at a young age. His family claimed that he served in the Continental Navy, although if he did, it is undocumented. He became a successful commercial mariner during the 1780s before Boston investors chose him to captain the Lady Washington in a fur-trading voyage to the Northwest Coast in 1787. Gray returned to Boston as captain of the Washington
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