At the far reaches of empire : the life of Juan Francisco de la Bodega y Quadra / Freeman M. Tovell.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Tovell, Freeman.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Bodega y Cuadra, Juan de la, 1743-1794--Travel--Pacific Coast (North America).

Bodega y Cuadra, Juan de la.

Bodega y Cuadra, Juan de la, 1743-1794.

Explorers--Pacific Coast (North America)--Biography.

Explorers.

Explorers--Spain--Biography.

Pacific Coast (North America)--Description and travel.

Pacific Coast (North America).

Pacific Coast (North America)--Discovery and exploration--Spanish.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (490 p.)

Place of Publication:

Vancouver : UBC Press, c2008.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Capitán de Navío Juan Francisco de la Bodega y Quadra was the most important Spanish naval officer on the Northwest Coast in the eighteenth century. Serving from 1774 to 1794, he participated in the search for the Northwest Passage and, with George Vancouver, endeavoured to forge a diplomatic resolution to the Nootka Sound controversy between Spain and Britain. Freeman Tovell's thorough and nuanced study presents this officer of Spain's Enlightened Navy as a key figure in the history of the region. Intelligent, observant, and literate, Bodega received high praise from the viceroys of New Spain under whom he served. His enlightened policy toward the Nuu-chah-nulth and his close association with Chief Maquinna are a matter of record. Bodega was not without his imperfections - when his overarching ambition to make a name for himself exceeded his financial reach, he incurred ruinous debts. As a Peruvian creole, he also struggled against the glass ceiling imposed by having been born outside Spain. Despite constant efforts for promotions, he never gained the full recognition from naval and political superiors that his achievements deserved. Bodega's accomplishments place him in the company of Bering, Cook, Vancouver, La Pérouse, and Malaspina - those who advanced a better understanding of the geography, ethnography, and natural history of the area. The most complete study of Bodega and his epoch yet written, At the Far Reaches of Empire is an absorbing narrative of eighteenth-century empire building.

Contents:

Front Matter

Contents

Illustrations

Preface and Acknowledgments

Beginnings

The Explorer: New Spain and the Northwest Coast

The 1775 Voyage on the Sonora

Preparations for the 1779 Voyage

The 1779 Voyage

Away from the North Pacific

The Commandant

The Nootka Crisis and the Spanish Response

The Administration of San Blas de Nayarit

The Diplomat

The Nootka Convention and the Expedition of the Limits

Bodega at Nootka

The Commissioners' Negotiations at Nootka

Leaving Nootka

Results and Consequences of the Expedition of the Limits

Endings

Bodega's Secret Instructions to Eliza for the Reoccupation of Nootka, January 28, 1790

Revillagigedo's Instructions to Bodega for the Expedition of the Limits

History and Description of Bodega's Viaje : The Official Report of the Expedition of the Limits

Biographical Notes

Rank Structure of the Spanish Navy

Glossary

Chronology

Abbreviations

Notes

Bibliography

Index

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

1-282-45697-0

9786612456978

0-7748-5595-9

OCLC:

605561972