Samuel Crowell was a ship-captain and fur trader in the late 18th century on the

Pacific Northwest The Pacific Northwest (PNW; ) is a geographic region in Western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Though no official boundary exists, the most common ...

Coast A coast (coastline, shoreline, seashore) is the land next to the sea or the line that forms the boundary between the land and the ocean or a lake. Coasts are influenced by the topography of the surrounding landscape and by aquatic erosion, su ...

. Crowell was master of the ''

Hancock Hancock may refer to: Places Places in the United States * Hancock, Iowa * Hancock, Maine * Hancock, Maryland * Hancock, Massachusetts * Hancock, Michigan * Hancock, Minnesota * Hancock, Missouri * Hancock, New Hampshire ** Hancock (CDP), New H ...

'', a

brig A brig is a type of sailing vessel defined by its rig: two masts which are both square rig, square-rigged. Brigs originated in the second half of the 18th century and were a common type of smaller merchant vessel or warship from then until the l ...

owned by Messrs. Crowell, Joseph Cordis of Charlestown and Edward Jones of Boston, according to Boston Ship Registers (Mary Malloy) which left Boston in November 1790 and arrived on the Northwest Coast in July of the following year, spending a good time of the season trading in the area of the

Queen Charlotte Islands Haida Gwaii (; / , literally "Islands of the Haida people"), previously known as the Queen Charlotte Islands, is an archipelago located between off the northern Pacific coast in the Canadian province of British Columbia. The islands are separ ...

. Crowell and his men built the first European-type vessel to be constructed on the Charlottes, a tender for the ''Hancock'', doing so on Maast Island which lies off the native village of

Masset Masset (; formerly Massett) is a village in the Haida Gwaii archipelago in British Columbia, Canada. It is located on Masset Sound on the northern coast of Graham Island, the largest island in the archipelago, and is approximately west of mainl ...

. Crowell and his vessel are believed to have been the first non-indigenous vessel to penetrate

Masset Sound Masset Sound is a saltwater inlet on Graham Island, the largest and northernmost of the Haida Gwaii islands of the North Coast of British Columbia, Canada, connecting Masset Inlet in the island's interior with the open sea via Masset Harbour a ...

. Crowell and the ''Hancock'' sailed to China in the fall of 1791 and, after selling her cargo of furs there, returned twice more to the Islands, in 1792 and 1793. Crowell Rock, near

Moresby Island Moresby Island () is a large island () that forms part of the Haida Gwaii archipelago (formerly known as Queen Charlotte Islands) in British Columbia, Canada, located at It is separated by the narrow Skidegate Channel from the other princip ...

in the southern Queen Charlottes, and Crowell Point, near Masset, are named after him. Hancock Point, also on southern Moresby, was named for his ship.

References

* * * Year of birth missing Year of death missing People from Boston Haida Gwaii 18th-century Canadian people Canadian fur traders Pre-Confederation British Columbia people Sea captains 18th-century Canadian merchants {{Massachusetts-stub

See also

References