The Sutil and Mexicana sailed along the coast of the Pacific Northwest in 1792, their stated mission to put to rest the persistent rumors of the mythical strait connecting the Pacific and Atlantic in the neighborhood of the Strait of Juan de Fuca, the present-day border of Canada and the United States. This would be the last Spanish exploration along the Pacific Coast after 250 years of primacy in charting those waters.

Commanded by Dionisio Alcalea Galiano and Cayento Valdes y Flores, and inaugurated by Alejandro Malaspina, the voyage is the origin of our knowledge of part of the coast...