The passage of time has almost obliterated from memory the fact that on another December seventh, in 1794, an event took place in the harbor of Honolulu which had a striking resemblance and dramatic counterpart to that of December 7th, 1941, precisely one hundred and forty-seven years later, and that on the preceding day a boat expedition had fought an action in the near-by waters of Pearl Harbor, both events occurring under the American flag.
On September 30, 1787, Captain John Kendrick of Wareham, Massachusetts, near New Bedford, commanding the ship Columbia of 220 tons and Captain Gray of close-by Plymouth, a former officer of the Continental Navy, master of the sloop, sometime brigantine or snow, Lady Washington of 90 tons, sailed in company from Boston for the northwest coast of America on a trading voyage. The intention was to obtain furs, chiefly of the sea otter, in barter for “assorted articles’' brought out from New England, to carry them to China, there to exchange them for cargoes of tea, silk, porcelain, etc. and to return home. The larger vessel was to act chiefly as a carrier, and the smaller to search out and collect furs and whatever else came their way and, in general, to act as a tender, a combination which was customary in those days. The Lady Washington was to remain indefinitely on the coast and perform her duties during subsequent voyages of the Columbia. The vessels reached the coast eleven and a half months out of Boston. After remaining in the vicinity about a year, the two captains exchanged ships and Gray in the Columbia departed with her cargo for Canton via the Hawaiian Islands and thence to Boston via the Cape of Good Hope, “having carried the thirteen stars and thirteen stripes for the first time around the world.”
Captain Kendrick remained in the Pacific to gather another cargo and to await Gray’s return. While on this duty he visited the Queen Charlotte Islands, the second to arrive there, sailed the length of the Strait of Juande Fuca, explored much of what we now call Puget Sound, and cruised entirely around Vancouver Island “to its issue in the Pacific at latitude fifty one degrees,” thus ascertaining for the first time, and a year before the arrival of Captain Vancouver, that it was an island and not the mainland. The merchant company which had sent out this expedition had planned the establishment of permanent “factories” under Federal law along the lines of the British Hudson Bay Company and had instructed Captain Kendrick to purchase proper sites for the erection of warehouses. In compliance with these orders he bought from the native chiefs and obtained legal title deeds to a considerable area of land near Nootka and elsewhere.
Shortly after the departure of the Columbia Captain Kendrick in the Lady Washington sailed for the Hawaiian Islands to obtain food supplies and to see what he could pick up in the way of trade. “The Sandwich Islands proved an ideal spot to refresh a scorbutic crew and even to complete a cargo. Captain Kendrick (who plied between Canton and the Coast in the Lady Washington until his death in 1794 and frequently wintered in the Islands) discovered sandalwood, an article much in demand at Canton, growing wild on the island of Kauai.”
On his last visit to the Islands he arrived at Fairhaven, an early name for Brown’s Harbor, Hoonoonoono and so to Honolulu, on Decenber 3, 1794, and met with a very friendly reception from Captain Brown of the British schooner Jackal and from Captain Gordon of the tender Le Boo, both Englishmen and both of whom he had known before. The captains had been for some time trading in the Islands and had espoused the cause of the chief, or king, of “Whoahoo” (Oahu) in his quarrel with an invading Chief from the island of Atooi (Kauai). Captain Kendrick also “could not resist the urge to offer his assistance to the King of Oahu, which was accepted. The decisive engagement of the campaign was fought on December 6, 1794 in the vicinity of the Ewa district and was gained by the King through the assistance of his comparatively powerful allies. In the combined boat operations the Englishmen were stationed in boats along the shore inside the eastern arm of what is now called Pearl Harbor. The Americans fought both ashore and afloat and under Captain Kendrick stood off shore and supported the land forces. It was on this occasion that the stars and stripes flew for the first time over Pearl Harbor waters. Captain Kendrick later returned to the Lady Washington anchored in Honolulu Harbor.”
In the Journal of Captain John Boit, master of the sloop, Union, we may read that Kendrick immediately informed Captain Brown that on the morrow he would cause the flag of the United States to be hoisted and would fire a Federal salute, and begged that it might be answered by the two Englishmen. This was agreed upon and Captain Brown ordered three guns to be unshotted for that purpose (the return salute) and about ten o’clock next morning [December 7, 1794], the ship Jackal began to salute, “that on coming to ye third gun it was discovered not to be so [I take it that the gun misfired] and so ye apron of ye 4th gun was taken off, which was fir’d, and being shotted with round and grape shot, it pierced the side of ye Lady Washington and killed Captain Kendrick as he sat at his table. Shortly after the snow put to sea bound for Canton.”
As is often the case in recorded accounts of historical events there is some discrepancy in the details of these occurrences. The facts of the firing of a salute, its locality, and its unfortunate aftermath agree; however, certain details are variously stated. Preble writes; “Captain Kendrick was killed in exchanging salutes with a Spanish vessel at the Sandwich Islands. The wad from one of the Spaniard’s guns struck him as he stood on the deck of his vessel in his dress coat and cocked hat as the Commander of the expedition and was instantly fatal.” There is, however, no record of any Spanish vessel being in the vicinity at the time. In several accounts the Captain’s death is attributed to a round shot and by Amasa Delano, his personal friend, and others, to a gun wad. The date of his death is inferred to be that of December 7, the date of the salute, but Judge Howey, who “was the greatest authority on the maritime history of the northwest region” gives it as December 12; and furthermore refers to a letter from John Howell, who succeeded to the command of the Lady Washington, to one of the six Americans who financed the Columbia-Washington expedition, in which he gives December 11 as the correct date.
Those were primitive, savage, and bloody days in the Islands. Within a month both Captain Brown and Captain Gordon were murdered by the natives, their vessels captured, and their surviving crews made prisoners. Later, however, the crews succeeded in recovering their ships and sailed for China. Fortunately, by that time the Lady Washington and her smart Captain Howell were at sea and half way to Canton.
“The voyages of Gray and Kendrick were fraught with consequences of the greatest importance,” as Preble wrote; “Gray’s discovery of the Columbia river was the point most relied upon by our negotiators subsequently for establishing the claim of the United States to the part of the continent through which it flowed and it is in a great measure owing to that discovery that the growing State of Oregon is now a part of the American Republic.” Few men have been given the opportunity and the ability to perform the services to our country that these two exemplars of our merchant service accomplished.
The records of Captain Robert Gray and of Captain John Kendrick reveal the following “firsts.”
Captain Gray in the Columbia was the first American commander
1. To circumnavigate the globe and to carry the United States flag with thirteen stars and thirteen stripes around it.
2. To visit the Hawaiian Islands.
3. To cross the Pacific from the east.
4. To discover the Columbia River.
Captain Kendrick in the Lady Washington was the first American commander
1. To explore the entire length of the Strait of Juan de Fuca and much of the Puget Sound area.
2. To determine that Vancouver island was in fact an island and not part of the mainland.
3. To give and receive a Federal salute to the U. S. flag in Hawaiian waters.
4. To show the U. S. flag in a Japanese port.
And to both captains, in company, to command the first American vessels
1. To round Cape Horn and enter the Pacific Ocean.
2. To visit the Northwest coast of America, which “enabled the merchant adventurers of Boston to tap the vast resources of wealth in China.”
3. To be chiefly instrumental in the acquisition of our great Northwestern Commonwealth.