The Spanish officially suppressed the results of many of their expeditions to the Pacific Northwest. Secrecy, intrigue, and even a little espionage are part of what makes history fascinating, but the concealment of important notes, findings, and nautical charts shows us how the study of history can intentionally be missing pieces. During the 18th century, Spain was occupied with turmoil in “New Spain” and filled with rising concerns about competition with the English, Russians, and Americans in trade and the search for a Northwest Passage in the Pacific Northwest. They were also engaged in wars on the European front, including a two-year war with France between 1793 and 1795 (during which England was an ally) and war with England that lasted into the early 19th century.
While the English were eagerly publishing works on their 18th century visits to the northern Pacific (thereby making their charts available to the Spanish) the only Spanish account that reached the world with government permission was a narrative of the Galiano and Valdés expedition of 1792 aboard the Sutil and the Mexicana. It was released under the title Relación del Viage hecho por las Goletas Sutil y Mexicana en el Año de 1792 para reconcer el Estrecho de Fuca.
The Spanish government collected all the expedition documents and stored them away in archives. Their decision not to publish maps, charts, or expedition accounts ensured Spanish knowledge of the Pacific Northwest would not fall into enemy hands. But this secrecy also kept important navigational information away from their own exploring missions. Many enlightening records of Pacific navigation continued to lay on the dusty shelves of the Depósito Hidrográfico in the Spanish capital of Madrid through the 19th and much of the 20th centuries. Many remain unpublished to this day.
