During the Age of Discovery, the Spanish Empire undertook several expeditions to the Pacific Northwest of North America. Spanish claims to the region date to the papal bull of 1493, and the Treaty of Tordesillas signed in 1494. In 1513, this claim was reinforced by Spanish explorer Vasco Núñez de Balboa, the first European to sight the Pacific Ocean, when he claimed all lands adjoining this ocean for the Spanish Crown. Spain only started to colonize the claimed territory north of present-day Mexico in the 18th century, when it settled the northern coast of Las Californias.
Starting in the mid-18th century, Spain's claims in the Pacific Northwest began to be contested by the British and Russians, who established fur trading posts and other settlements in the region. King Charles III of Spain and his successors sent several expeditions from New Spain to present-day Canada and Alaska between 1774 and 1793 to strengthen the Spanish claims. These efforts would eventually come to naught when Spanish claims in the region were ceded to the American government in the 1819 Adams–Onís Treaty.
1774 voyage of Pérez
The first voyage was that of Juan José Pérez Hernández of the frigate Santiago (alias Nueva Galicia). Although intending to reach Alaska, the expedition turned back at Haida Gwaii. Pérez and his crew of 86 were the first known Europeans to visit the Pacific Northwest.
1775 voyage of Heceta and Bodega y Quadra
In 1775 a second voyage of ninety men led by Lieutenant Bruno de Heceta aboard the Santiago, set sail from San Blas, Nayarit on March 16, 1775 with orders to make clear Spanish claims for the entire Northwestern Pacific Coast. Accompanying Heceta was the schooner Sonora, alias Felicidad, (also known as the Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe), initially under the command of Juan Manuel de Ayala. The long Sonora and its crew complement of 16 were to perform coastal reconnaissance and mapping, and could make landfall in places the larger Santiago was unable to approach on its previous voyage; in this way, the expedition could officially reassert Spanish claims to the lands north of New Spain it visited. Ayala took command of the packet boat San Carlos, alias Toysón de Oro, also sailing with the expedition, after its initial commander, Miguel Manrique, took ill soon after leaving San Blas. Heceta then gave Bodega y Quadra command of the Sonora. Francisco Antonio Mourelle served as Bodega y Quadra's pilot and the two forged a strong and enduring friendship.
The three vessels sailed together as far as Monterey Bay in Alta California. Ayala's mission was to explore the Golden Gate strait while Heceta and Bodega y Quadra continued north. Ayala and the crew of the San Carlos became the first Europeans known to enter San Francisco Bay. The Santiago and Sonora continued sailing north together as far as Point Grenville, named Punta de Los Martires (English: "Point of the Martyrs") by Heceta in response to an attack by the local Quinault Indians. The vessels parted company on the evening of July 29, 1775. Scurvy had so weakened the crew of the Santiago that Heceta decided to return to San Blas. On the way south he discovered the mouth of the Columbia River between present-day Oregon and Washington. Juan Pérez, who was serving as Heceta's pilot, died during the voyage south.
Bodega y Quadra, in the Sonora, moved up the coast according to the expedition's orders, ultimately reaching the latitude 59° north on August 15, and entering Sitka Sound near the present-day town of Sitka, Alaska. During the return voyage south Bodega y Quadra discovered, named, and explored a portion of Bucareli Bay on the west side of Prince of Wales Island.
During Bodega y Quadra's voyage numerous "acts of sovereignty" were performed. Many places were named by the Spanish, including Puerto de Bucareli (Bucareli Bay), Puerto de Los Remedios, and Mount San Jacinto, which was renamed Mount Edgecumbe by British explorer James Cook three years later.