The Pacific Northwest is one of the…

The Pacific Northwest is one of the last significant non-polar regions in the world to be explored by Europeans.

Centuries of reconnaissance and conquest have brought the rest of North America within the claims of imperial powers.

A number of empires and commercial systems during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries converge upon the Northwest Coast, by sea as well as by land across the continent.

The Russian and Spanish empires are extended into the region simultaneously, from opposite directions.

British interest in the maritime fur trade peaks between 1785 and 1794, then declines as the French Revolutionary Wars diminish Britain's available manpower and investment capital.

The country also concentrates its foreign trade activities in India.