Lecture: Columbia’s River: The Story of Robert Gray

The river we know today as the Columbia is the great waterway of the Pacific Northwest. Although native tribes have lived along its banks for thousands of years, it remained a mystery to Euro-American explorers. Spanish and British sea captains – Heceta, Vancouver, and Meares — sought it unsuccessfully, hoping to lay claim to its ownership and to unlock its trade potential. Robert Gray, a young American sea captain, succeeded where others had failed. Relying on his instincts, seamanship, and hints from Native Americans, he discovered the river’s mouth on May 11, 1792 and boldly sailed his small vessel over its dangerous bars and into the river itself. He named the river for his ship – “Columbia’s River” – and that name endures today.