History Day at Special Collections: Topic: Northwest Explorers

Special Collections is a great resource for all your Pacific Northwest primary source needs!

Background Information

Many explorers, both American and European, spent the 18th and 19th centuries exploring the Pacific Northwest. UW Special Collections in particular has many resources on George Vancouver, who explored Puget Sound in 1792; Lt. Charles Wilkes, who led the first U.S. Navy expedition to explore the Pacific Ocean in 1838; and Lewis and Clark, whose 1805 trek through the Louisiana Purchase ended in Washington and Oregon.

Digital Collections

Various images from Charles Wilkes' Narrative of the U. S. Exploring Expedition, 1845 have been scanned by Special Collections. They are from a variety of artists but some of them are sketches by Charles Wilkes from his explorations.

"In camp on White Bear Island" : conflict with Indians, singular adventures of the Captains Lewis and Clarke, and command of the U.S. soldiers in the vast unexplored West Lewis and Clark's journals with new commentary
Call Number: 979.512 L58aLin
A chart shewing part of the coast of N.W. America : with the tracks of His Majesty's sloop Discovery and armed tender Chatham 18th century map of Vancouver's travels
Call Number: G3350 1798 .V3 1950z (Size D)
Diary of Wilkes in the Northwest Wilkes' diary
Call Number: 979.5 W65d
A new Vancouver journal on the discovery of Puget Sound Diary for a member of the crew for the Chatham, Vancouver's ship
Call Number: 979.511 V27mn
A voyage of discovery to the North Pacific Ocean and round the world, 1791-1795 : with an introduction and appendices Vancouver's writings
Call Number: G420 .V22 1984
Letters of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, with related documents, 1783-1854
Call Number: 979.512 L58ja
Titian Ramsay Peale, 1799-1885, and his journals of the Wilkes Expedition.
Call Number: G170 .P6
Vancouver voyage Pamphlet file Clippings and ephemera related to Vancouver's exploration of the Puget Sound
Call Number: 979.5 (Pacific NW- Discovery and Exploration- Vancouver Voyage)

Bern Anderson papers
Vancouver historian's typescripts of various logs from Vancouver's voyages or of the published version of them.
Clarence Bagley Papers
Historical research and collected ephemera on Wilkes.
Edmond S. Meany papers
Historical research and some collected ephemera (speeches and documents) on Wilkes, Vancouver, and Lewis and Clark throughout.
George Vancouver letter, 1798
Letter to J. Sykes on January 11, 1798
Thomas Wickham Prosch papers
Box 2, Folder 6 contains a "Report on Oregon Territory" by Com. Charles Wilkes from 1842