John Adams Presidential Signature
This document is the commissioning of a private armed vessel christened the Guatimozin amid increasing tensions with France at the turn of the century. Commissioned in 1800, the captain Samuel Burnstead sailed for the Northwest Coast and landed in 1804 with the intention of obtaining pelts for the booming fur trade. According to early ship reports, the name of the ship, a crew member name (H. Thompson), and the date (1804) was etched into a tree on Cape Disappointment (near Baker Bay) in Washington state. The Guatimozin entered the Columbia River in 1808 on its second voyage to the area.
