James Cook

"# The celebrated navigator James Cook sighted the coast at Vancouver Island in March 1778 and dropped anchor at a place he thought the inhabitants called Nootka. He heard wrong, in fact, since no local language contained this particular word. Even so, the place where Cook anchored continues to be called Nootka Sound, and its inhabitants, the Nuu-chal-nuth, became widely known as the Nootka.

Cook stayed nearly a month, charting the waters and making friends. On first impression he thought Nuu-chal-nuth people 'mild and inoffensive'-until their trading savvy revealed itself. 'These people got a greater medley and variety of things from us than any other,' he noted. By the time Cook set sail, his ship had been stripped of virtually all surplus metal: copper kettles, tin tea canisters, brass candlesticks and bureau fittings, even the buttons off officers' uniforms. In return, Cook filled his hold with native artifacts-and a fortune in sea otter pelts.

The success of Cook's voyage ignited a worldwide frinzy of excitement. Ships from England, Spain, Portugal, France, and the soon-to-be-independent United States swarmed into the region. Profits were unbelievably high. One trader from New England arrived in 1785 and swapped some cheap metal items for 560 pelts, which commanded $20,000 in the China market....American ships alone gathered some 350,000 sea otter pelts altogether, for which native suppliers received an estimated $7 million worth of trade goods.
# In the end there was plenty for everyone, native and foreigner alike. Among the Haida, prominent families were amassing fortunes in coppers, blankets, firearms, and other valuable items. Down the coast it was the same. White traders coming into the region often preferred to deal with one or two powerful families, who became exceptionally wealthy as a result."

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