Archibald Menzies--Naturalist at Sea
Exactly one mile from our front door is the south gate of Birch Bay State Park. Since we moved to the neighborhood two years ago, this park has been our go-to destination for invigorating fitness walks. Our route is along lightly traveled county roads or the pebbly beach fronting the bay.
The simple act of walking out the door with the intention of walking for an hour or so leads to an immediate brightening of spirit.
In this frame of mind, it is not hard to do a bit of time travel in my head and place myself here in mid-June, 1792. On the 11th of June that year, Captain George Vancouver with his ships Discovery and Chatham sailed into Birch Bay. Already a year and two months into an expedition that would last four and a half years, Vancouver sought a safe anchorage to set up a base camp for two weeks from which detailed mapping of the nearby coastline would be carried out by smaller parties. Other members of the crew would be engaged in making astronomical observations (to ensure the accuracy of their map making), making beer (to prevent scurvy!), and for the expedition naturalist to carry out observations and make collections.
The naturalist was Archibald Menzies.
This voyage was his second to the Northwest Coast, having sailed with Captain James Colnett on the fur trading ship Prince of Wales in 1786-88. Colnett is famous for his role in the "Nootka Crisis." On a return visit to Nootka Sound on Vancouver Island in 1789 Colnett set up a permanent trading base in defiance of Spanish authorities. The situation escalated, ships were seized, and Colnett was arrested and taken to Mexico. As news filtered back to London and Madrid, the two nations slid toward the brink of war, until Spain backed down, realizing that it could not win without an alliance with the French (and they were preoccupied with the French Revolution).
With world peace restored, Menzies was delighted to return to the Northwest in the official capacity of Naturalist on a ship of the Royal Navy. A primary objective of Vancouver’s instructions was to receive the release of sovereignty to the region from Spain. Vancouver’s Expedition was pivotal in the history of the region as it changed from a remote fur trading outpost to a foothold of the British Empire.
It also became recognized as a turning point for Native Americans of the Salish Sea. More on that in a future post…..
Archibald made good use of his two weeks on shore at Birch Bay to further his investigations. He had received formal instructions from Sir Joseph Banks, Britain’s preeminent naturalist famed for his work with Captain Cook. Menzies was told to:
investigate the whole of the natural history of the countries visited, paying attention to the nature of the soil, and in view of the prospect of sending out settlers from England, whether grains, fruits, etc., cultivated in Europe are likely to thrive. All trees, shrubs, plants, grasses, ferns, and mosses were to be enumerated by their scientific names as well as those used in the language of the natives. He was to dry specimens of all that were worthy of being brought home and all that could be procured, either living plants or seeds, so that their names and qualities could be ascertained at His Majesty's gardens at Kew. Any curious or valuable plants that could not be propagated from seeds were to be dug up and planted in the glass frame provided for the purpose. He was also to examine beds of brooks, sides of cliffs, and other places in a search for ores or metals and mineral substances. He was also to note the sort of beasts, birds, and fishes likely to prove useful either for food or in commerce. Particular attention was to be paid to the natural history of the sea-otter and obtain information concerning the wild sheep, and note particularly all places where whales or seals are found in abundance. Inquiry was to be made into the manners, customs, language, and religion of the natives and information obtained concerning their manufactures, particularly the art of dyeing.
Hmmm….. that list sounds a lot like a Naturalist's Manifesto... the sorts of things that a person like me who self-identifies as a naturalist would spend a lifetime of walks doing (with perhaps a greater emphasis on imperialist exploitation than I have)!
Menzies' journal for the period details his daily observations. On the 11th, camp was set up in the “delightful clear & level spot cropt with Grass & wild flowers & divided from the forest by a winding stream of fresh water,” that we enjoy on our invigorating walks in the State Park. On the 12th, Vancouver and Puget set off in smaller boats to explore the bays and inlets to the northwest as Menzies noted that the weather was “serene mild & pleasant & exceeding favorable for prosecuting every pursuit both on board & on shore.” In fact, dendrochronology investigations have shown that the summer of 1792 was one of the warmest, driest summers in the last 400 years. Menzies went for a hike and noticed that there were many paper birch trees in the vicinity, and christened the locale “Birch Bay.”
On the 13th, Whidbey set out with two more boats to survey the Bellingham Bay area, but soon was surprised by the sight of two sailing ships. On the 14th they made contact with them in Boundary Bay, meeting Captain Don Dionisio Alcala Galiano of the Spanish Navy. On the 15th, an uncharacteristic rain squall kept Menzies on board ship.
On the 16th, he went for a hike on the north side of Birch Bay, collecting plants, noting a native interment in a canoe placed in a tree, and finding a freshwater spring supplied with shells for easy drinking. The 17th (Sunday), was declared a holiday and many of the crew walked the beach to Point Whitehorn to place its position accurately (they walked right by our house!).
On the 18th Menzies joined Lt Broughton and others for an overnight paddle to visit Patos, Sucia, Matia and Orcas Islands. He noted the distinction of their rocky shores with the sand and pebble beaches of Birch Bay. They camped at today’s Matia Island State Park, then visited a group of native people on Orcas Island (disparaging their accommodations and choice of porpoise for breakfast, but fascinated by their use of mountain goat fur) on the morning of the 19th before returning to Birch Bay.
Menzies served at the apex of the role of “naturalists at sea,” educated, wealthy and privileged men found aboard ships sailing out from European ports. The lure of adventure and a potential legacy of contributions to the foundations of Enlightenment scientific inquiry more than balanced the rigors and boredom of years at sea. Indeed, Menzies is memorialized in the scientific names of iconic species in Washington: Douglas fir—Pseudotsuga menziesii, Madrona—Arbutus menziesii, and the former genus Menziesia (reclassified into genus Rhododendron in 2011), the false azaleas found at higher elevations.
As Patty and I walk home along the shore of Birch Bay, we walk in the footsteps of Archibald Menzies. As he did, we find fulfillment being naturalists, investigating the processes, the creatures, the green things that occupy this place. We have been on this earth for one-quarter of the time that has passed since Menzies was here. Much has changed in this place in that time. The many Europeans that followed, displacing the residents he encountered, imposed a new order on the landscape.
I will explore that some more in the next 149 posts……
-David
