John Meares
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John Meares (c. 1756 – 1809) was an English navigator.
As a merchant sailor he made many voyages to Newfoundland, Labrador, and Greenland. He entered the British Navy in 1776 and served against the French in the West Indies. He became a captain in the merchant service after the war ended in 1783. He went to India and formed the Northwest America company for opening trade with Russian America. He sailed from Calcutta on March 12, 1786, in the Nootka, a vessel of two hundred tons, with which he explored part of the coast of Alaska. He spent the winter of 1786 - 1787 in Prince William Sound. He wasn't successful trading with the Russians and he returned to China by way of the Sandwich Islands.
In 1788 he started new expedition with two vessels. He sailed from China on January 22, 1788 and explored the Nootka Sound of present-day British Columbia and the neighboring coasts, of which he took possession in the name of the crown. He built a trading post on the shores of the Nootka Sound and built the ship Northwest America, the first ship launched in British Columbia with the aide of the earliest Chinese migrants to North America who were carpenters. In 1789 his trading post and some ships were seized by the Spanish, nearly causing a war between England and Spain. Spain later withdrew its claims to Nootka Sound.
Captain Meares's discoveries form the chief basis upon which the British title to Oregon and British Columbia was based.
He published Voyages in the Years 1788-'9 from China to the Northwest Coast of America in 1790. This caused a controversy with George Dixon, another explorer, who claimed the Meares was self-aggrandizing and falsely claimed discoveries made by others. A trio of pamphlets resulted that seem to prove Dixon's claims.
Captain Meares' discoveries formed the chief basis upon which the British title to Oregon and British Columbia was based.
Cape Meares, in the present United States state of Oregon, is named after Meares. Also named after him is Meares Island, located in the entrance of Clayoquot Sound, British Columbia.
