John Boit

John Boit Jr. (15 October 1774 – 8 March 1829) was one of the first Americans involved in the maritime fur trade. He sailed as fifth mate under Captain Robert Gray on the second voyage of the ''Columbia Rediviva'', 1790–1793. During the voyage he wrote a short but important journal in which he described the first time the Columbia River was located by Europeans or European Americans. From 1794–1796 he captained the ''Union'' on another maritime fur trading circumnavigation voyage from New England to the Pacific Northwest and China. Later he captained other vessels including the ''George'' and the slave ship ''Mac''.

Early life and family

John Boit Jr. was born on 15 October 1774 to John Boit Sr. and Sarah Brown Boit, both of Boston.

John Boit Sr. was a "West India merchant" who came to Boston from England. The West Indies were at the time an integral part of the transatlantic slave trade and the French, British, Spanish, Danish, and Dutch all operated plantations in the region to produce goods, such as sugar, for export. Boit Sr. is documented as having been at a March 23, 1772 Boston Caucus meeting along with John Adams, Samuel Adams, and Paul Revere. He is also on record at a November 3, 1773 Boston Caucus meeting discussing how to respond to the imposition of tea taxes by the British that preceded the Boston Tea Party. Boit Sr. is mentioned in a May 2, 1775 letter to Paul Revere from his wife Rachel, when he was prevented from returning home from his "midnight ride" due to the siege of Boston in the aftermath of the Battles of Lexington and Concord. He is accused of not paying his fair share of taxes by a group of Boston residents in an August 18, 1777 meeting of the Boston Board of Selectmen, saying:

Robert A. Boit, Boit's grandson, concludes that Boit's grandfather was Jacque Boit, a Huguenot of Normandy who fled to England as part of a wave of Huguenot emigration from France following the 1685 revocation of the Edict of Nantes.

Robert Boit also states that Boit likely would have gone to Boston Latin School when it was located adjacent to King's Chapel.

Second voyage of the ''Columbia Rediviva'', 1790-1793

Boit was brother-in-law to Crowell Hatch, one of the primary investors in the Columbia expeditions.
On September 28, 1790, at the age of 15, Boit set sail on ''Columbia'' as its fifth mate under Captain Robert Gray on what would be his first circumnavigation of the globe. They traded tools, trinkets, and various other items for sea otter pelts obtained from indigenous peoples of the northwest coast of North America, which in turn were traded for goods at Canton, China. These were then sold in the United States. His log of the expedition is the only complete account of the second voyage of ''Columbia'', and only one of two written accounts of the first European Americans to locate what they would call the Columbia River on May 12, 1792, the other being the official log of Robert Gray. These accounts are the first written descriptions of Chinookan peoples and their first documented contact with Europeans or European Americans.

Destruction of Opitsaht

Boit's ''Columbia'' logbook describes the events leading to the destruction of the Tla-o-qui-aht village of Opitsaht on what is today known as Meares Island along the western coast of Vancouver Island. In September 1791, ''Columbia'' established its winter quarters at a location they called Adventure Cove, near present-day Columbia Islet. Here, they assembled the sloop ''Adventure'' using materials they brought from Boston and timbers harvested from the island, making it the first American ship ever built in the Pacific. During this period, they interacted with the Tla-o-qui-aht and Wickaninnish, who resided at Opitsaht. Many of their interactions were friendly, although Boit's logbook conveys a general attitude of distrust and a belief that they would all be murdered by the Tla-o-qui-aht if the tribe got the chance.

On March 25, 1792, Boit relates finding the village of Opitsaht deserted, with the tribe having gone to what is now called Wickaninnish Island. On the 27th, he writes:

This is the only account of this incident, and no instigating factors immediately preceding the destruction of the village are mentioned by Boit. He was 17 years old at the time.

In 2005, William Twombly, a descendant of Robert Gray, apologized to the Tla-o-qui-aht people in a reconciliation ceremony.

Voyage of the ''Union'', 1794–1796

Shortly after the ''Columbia'' returned to Boston John Boit was given command of the sloop '' Union'' for another maritime fur trading voyage to the Pacific Northwest and China. The sloop was owned by three investors including Boit's brother-in-law Crowell Hatch, who had also been an investor in the two voyages of ''Columbia Rediviva'', under Robert Gray and John Kendrick.

Boit sailed ''Union'' from Newport, Rhode Island, on 1 August 1794. He passed the Cape Verde Islands without stopping in October. The Falkland Islands were reached near the end of the year. Boit remained in the Falklands for about three weeks before leaving on 23 January 1795. Rounding Cape Horn the ''Union'' reached its southernmost latitude on 4 February 1795.

On 16 May 1795 he arrived at Columbia Cove, Nasparti Inlet, on the west coast of Vancouver Island near Brooks Peninsula. He had been there three years before with Captain Gray on ''Columbia''. After acquiring all the sea otter he could, he sailed south to Nootka Sound.

From Nootka Sound, he sailed north to Haida Gwaii to trade with the native Haida for sea otter furs. After trading with the Haida in the vicinity of Houston Stewart Channel and the village of Ninstints the ''Union'' cruised north up the eastern side of Haida Gwaii to the vicinity of the village known as Cumshewa. Then he returned south to Ninstints and cruised up the western side of Haida Gwaii until reaching the northern end in June, 1795. Boit traded with the Haida of Chief Cuneah in the area near Cloak Bay, Langara Island, and villages such as Dadens and Kiusta. On June 21, 1795, while off the western coast of Kunghit Island, Boit wrote:

Then Boit sailed the ''Union'' south to the Strait of Juan de Fuca, the Columbia River, and Tillamook Bay, again trading for sea otter furs. For nine days he attempted to enter the Columbia River. But the weather was against him and he nearly lost the ''Union'' on the dangerous Columbia Bar before giving up in disappointment.

From Tillamook Bay Boit sailed north again, stopping briefly at Nootka Sound. By August, 1795, ''Union'' was again cruising the southeast coast of Haida Gwaii and the west coast of Vancouver Island.

On 12 September 1795 Boit, having finished his fur trading, sailed from Columbia Cove, making for the Hawaiian Islands and Guangzhou (Canton), China.

Boit reached Hawaii on 12 October 1795. On 16 October, along the north coast of the Island of Hawaii, he met John Young, a British–American sailor who had been left on the island by Simon Metcalfe in 1790. Young had become an important advisor to the Hawaiian King Kamehameha I and frequently met with and assisted visiting ships. Young told Boit a great deal of information about the situation in the island, of other ships that had visited and other trading captains, including accounts of the death of John Kendrick, and of Simon Metcalfe and his son Thomas Metcalfe. Boit wrote a very long journal entry describing all the things he had learned from Young. This entry is now a vital primary source account about a variety of topics.

Boit offered to take Young to Canton, but Young declined, saying that his situation in Hawaii was far better than a common sailor like himself could ever hope to achieve anywhere else in the world. When Young left the ''Union'' late that night he discovered one of Boit's crew hiding in his canoe, having hoped to stay in Hawaii. The crewmember was returned and Boit wrote in his journal that although the man "richy deserved" punishment Boit understood why he would want to stay in Hawaii, and that he could only threaten him, "not having the heart to flog the poor illiterate devil".

Boit left the Hawaiian Islands for Canton on 17 October 1795, arriving in the Pearl River Delta area in early December. With the mandatory help of a local pilot he took the ''Union'' first to Macau, then up the Pearl River to Whampoa anchorage near Canton. The ''Union'' remained there until 12 January 1796, during which time he overhauled the ''Union'' and sold his furs and bought Chinese goods. He also took on some French freight and a French passenger wanting passage to Mauritius.

Boit sailed the ''Union'' from China on 13 January 1796. He sailed south through the South China Sea to Sunda Strait, arriving in late January. The ''Union'' entered the strait with a convoy on January 31 and struggled with adverse winds and contrary tides until February 9, when the sloop made it to the open Indian Ocean. After sailing across the ocean Boit reached the island of Mauritius, arriving on 14 March 1796 and staying until March 29. Continuing on, Boit sailed around the Cape of Good Hope in April.

On 8 July 1796 the ''Union'' arrived back in Boston. Two weeks later it was sold.

''Union'' was the first sloop of her size and rig to sail around the world. Upon return Boit wrote in his journal "I believe the ''Union'' was the first sloop that ever circumnavigated the globe."

Relationship with Zhou Libei

In the summer of 1796, Boit left Boston harbor as captain of the snow ''George'', also partially owned by Crowell Hatch, on a voyage to the Isle of France (Mauritius) in the Indian Ocean. The ship suffered from significant leaking and was sold after arriving at its destination. In his logbook, Boit wrote:

It is often stated that Boit first met Chou, a teenage boy, in China as captain of the ''Union''. However, there is no reference to Chou in Boit's ''Union'' logbooks, casting doubt on this claim. Indeed, another source identifies Mauritius as the location where Boit and Chou met. Chou returned with Boit to Boston as his servant.
On September 11, 1798, Chou was working on a mast of the ''Mac'' when he fell to his death. Boit paid for a headstone for Chou in Boston's Central Burying Ground, and had inscribed the following:

It is claimed that Chou's name would now be written as Zhou Libei. He is believed to be the first person of Chinese descent to have lived, died, and been buried in the United States, and he is still honored and celebrated by the Chinese-American community in Boston.

Marriage and slave voyage of the ''Mac'', 1798-1799

In November 1798, two months after Chou's death, Boit set sail from Boston as captain of the ''Mac''. He told his crew that they were headed toward Cape Verde, but in fact he was heading for the African continent, where he obtained 270 enslaved Africans. They arrived in Havana, Cuba

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