An Imperial Context for the Spanish Presence on the Northwest Coast
Abstract
The Spanish presence on the Northwest coast of the Americas has always been considered within the context of Mexico and what has been termed the "thrust" to California by Spain in the closing decades of the eighteenth century. Scholars of the Northwest coast have taken the view that the establishment of a Spanish military garrison at Nootka Sounds, isolated, and thousands of kilometres away from the next nearest Spanish settlement was unique. This article argues that the Spanish garrison at Nootka was not conceived and built in a vacuum of knowledge; rather, Spain brought their long history of colonialism with them to the Northwest coast.
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