Our Big River

Back on May 11, 1792, Robert Gray entered the Columbia River, which at the time had no name, so Gray named it after is ship.  When it did have an Indian name, Wimahl, but by eighteenth century standards that didn't count.  Lucky for us, or non lucky, I suppose two weeks earlier Captain George Vancouver sailed pasted the river without attempting to explore it.  Had Vancouver entered the river it would have been more difficult to wrestle the Pacific Northwest from the British.  Tonight the Columbia at Astoria.