Joseph Ingraham (1762–1800) was an American sailor and

maritime fur trade The maritime fur trade was a ship-based fur trade system that focused on acquiring furs of sea otters and other animals from the indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast and natives of Alaska. The furs were mostly sold in China in e ...

r who discovered several islands of the

Marquesas Islands The Marquesas Islands (; french: Îles Marquises or ' or '; Marquesan: ' (North Marquesan) and ' (South Marquesan Marquesan is a collection of East-Central Polynesian dialects, of the Marquesic group, spoken in the Marquesas Islands of ...

while on his way to trade along the west coast of North America. He was also a prisoner in the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of ...

and an officer in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

Early life

During the War of Independence, Ingraham was a sailor captured by the British. He spent part of the war on a prison ship. In 1787, he was second mate aboard the '' Columbia Rediviva'' under the command of John Kendrick when it sailed to the Pacific Northwest to engage in the fur trade.

Pacific voyages

On September 16, 1790, Ingraham set sail from

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the capital city, state capital and List of municipalities in Massachusetts, most populous city of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financ ...

as captain of the brig . The owners and investors of the ship and venture were Thomas Handasyd Perkins, Russell Sturgis,

James James is a common English language surname and given name: *James (name), the typically masculine first name James * James (surname), various people with the last name James James or James City may also refer to: People * King James (disambiguat ...

and Thomas Lamb, and James Magee. These investors also owned the ''

Margaret Margaret is a female first name, derived via French () and Latin () from grc, μαργαρίτης () meaning "pearl". The Greek is borrowed from Persian. Margaret has been an English name since the 11th century, and remained popular through ...

'', which, under Captain James Magee, frequently sailed in company with the ''Hope''. Ingraham's intention was to return to the northwest coast to partake in the

fur trade The fur trade is a worldwide industry dealing in the acquisition and sale of animal fur. Since the establishment of a world fur market in the early modern period, furs of boreal, polar and cold temperate mammalian animals have been the mo ...

. Ingraham and his ship sailed around

Cape Horn Cape Horn ( es, Cabo de Hornos, ) is the southernmost headland of the Tierra del Fuego archipelago of southern Chile, and is located on the small Hornos Island. Although not the most southerly point of South America (which are the Diego Ramí ...

on January 26, 1791. Their next stop was at

Madre de Dios Island Madre de Dios Island (Spanish: ''Isla Madre de Dios'', ) is an uninhabited island in the Magallanes Region, Chile. It is located west of the Trinidad Channel and Concepción Channel. Madre de Dios Island is composed partly of limestone and has ...

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the eas ...

on April 14. While in this Spanish port they took on some provisions before sailing north again. A few days later, on April 19, 1792, Ingraham discovered a small uncharted island group. These islands were situated roughly nine degrees south of the

Equator The equator is a circle of latitude, about in circumference, that divides Earth into the Northern and Southern hemispheres. It is an imaginary line located at 0 degrees latitude, halfway between the North and South poles. The term can al ...

. Captain Ingraham named the group Washington Islands, and named many of the individual islands: Washington

Island An island or isle is a piece of subcontinental land completely surrounded by water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, cays or keys. An island in a river or a lake island may be ...

for the president,

Adams Adams may refer to: * For persons, see Adams (surname) Places United States *Adams, California *Adams, California, former name of Corte Madera, California *Adams, Decatur County, Indiana *Adams, Kentucky *Adams, Massachusetts, a New England town ...

Island for the vice president, Federal Island, Franklin Island,

Knox Knox may refer to: Places United States * Fort Knox, a United States Army post in Kentucky ** United States Bullion Depository, a high security storage facility commonly called Fort Knox * Fort Knox (Maine), a fort located on the Penobscot River i ...

and Lincoln Island for a general. The island are approximately at 9° 20' south of the Equator and 140° 54' west of

Greenwich Greenwich ( , ,) is a town in south-east London, England, within the ceremonial county of Greater London. It is situated east-southeast of Charing Cross. Greenwich is notable for its maritime history and for giving its name to the Greenwic ...

. These islands are part of the

. From the Marquesas archipelago, Ingraham sailed north to the Sandwich Islands before sailing on to the Queen Charlotte Islands on the northwest coast of North America. After arriving off the coast of North America, Ingraham set about trading for the fur pelts he was sent to bargain for from the natives. On September 26, 1792, Ingraham encountered his former captain, Captain Robert Gray, captain of the ''Columbia'', in Neah Bay off Cape Flattery. Gray was there to sell his small craft, , to the Spanish. ''Adventure'' was under the command of Ingraham's former shipmate

Robert Haswell Robert Haswell (November 24, 1768 – 1801?) was an early American maritime fur trader to the Pacific Northwest of North America. His journals of these voyages are the main records of Captain Robert Gray's circumnavigation of the globe. Later du ...

. The next day Ingraham and ''Hope'' set sail with the Spanish vessel ''

Princesa Princesa may refer to: * Spanish ship ''Princesa'', various Spanish Navy ships * Princesa Oliveros (born 1975), Colombian track and field hurdler * Princesa, Santa Catarina, a municipality of Brazil * ''Princesa'' (film), a 2001 film directed b ...

'' that was sailing north to Nootka Sound to deliver Spain's new administrator to that outpost. After spending the summer trading for fur pelts from the natives along the coast, Ingraham sailed to China via the Sandwich Islands, and then back to Boston. On the journey to the Chinese mainland the ship log shows the crew passing by the island of

Formosa Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is an island country located in East Asia. The main island of Taiwan, formerly known in the Western political circles, press and literature as Formosa, makes up 99% of the land area of the territori ...

. This voyage was a commercial failure.

Later life

During the United States' undeclared

Quasi-War The Quasi-War (french: Quasi-guerre) was an undeclared naval war fought from 1798 to 1800 between the United States and the French First Republic, primarily in the Caribbean and off the East Coast of the United States. The ability of Con ...

with

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...

in the late 1790s, Ingraham served as a naval officer.US Navy Officers (1798-1900).
Naval Historical Center. Retrieved on February 26, 2008. He was a lieutenant, last appearing on Navy Department records on June 14, 1799. Joseph Ingraham was lost at sea in fall 1800 while serving on the USS ''Pickering''.Corning, Howard M. (1989) ''Dictionary of Oregon History''. Binfords & Mort Publishing. p. 124.

Legacy

Ingraham Bay and Ingraham Point, in

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S ...

, are named for Joseph Ingraham.

References

External links

"Papers of Joseph Ingraham, 1790-1792: Journal of the Voyage of the Brigantine "Hope" from Boston to the North-West Coast of America"
from the

World Digital Library The World Digital Library (WDL) is an international digital library operated by UNESCO and the United States Library of Congress. The WDL has stated that its mission is to promote international and intercultural understanding, expand the volume ...