Hie Discovery of Nantucket Island

The Discovery of Nantucket Island

by John Lacouture

ALL HISTORIC PLAQUES and visitor handouts on Nantucket credit the discovery of Nantucket to Bartholomew Gosnold in 1602. There is little doubt that Gosnold sighted and sailed by Nantucket on the thirty ton Concord in mid May 1602 bound for Verrazanas "Refugio" (Narragansett Bay) in an attempt to establish an English settlement. Gosnold, unfortunately, has never received the credit due to him in American History books as the leader of the first attempt to establish the first English settlement in Massachusetts (at Cuttyhunk in 1602) and for his role as the prime instigator and second in command of the Jamestown Colony in Virginia in 1607. It is, therefore, with considerable reluctance that this article is written which will attempt to fairly conclusively prove that Nantucket was discovered long before Gosnold sailed by it in 1602.

There were possibilities of Nantucket's being sighted (i.e. discovered) by European voyagers, explorers or fishermen long before 1602 most of which cannot be verified. One might start with the Norsemen. Eric the Red sailed from Iceland in 982 to explore and settle in Greenland. He settled in Eriksfyord and returned to Iceland three years later mounting such a good publicity campaign for Greenland that 25 shiploads of colonists left for Greenland in 986.

In the year 1000 Leif Erickson (Eric the Red's son) on a sailing direct from Norway to Greenland missed Cape Farewell (Greenland's southern point) and made landfall at either Labrador or Newfoundland. He realized he had overshot, headed northeast, and returned safely to Greenland with the news of a new land. From then on the Vikings from Greenland made frequent visits to Markland, the forested middle or southern part of Labrador to obtain timber. Less frequently they visited Vinland, probably the St. Lawrence, New Foundland area, but possibly the Nova Scotia and New England areas. Several serious but unsuccessful attempts were made to settle Vinland. The main difficulty encountered by the Norsemen without firearms in their colonization attempts in Vinland was the stout opposition offered by the Indians.

At the height of their population the number of the Norsemen in Greenland totalled between 3500 and 10,000 persons settled mostly around Julianhaab and Godhaab on the West coast. The colonies lasted well into the 15th century. It certainly was possible that some of the Viking ships from Greenland could have reached the region of Nantucket, but as yet it has been impossible to substantiate their presence in this general area by either written or archaeological evidence.

The next possibility of European discovery of Nantucket is the 1498 voyage of John Cabot. Giovanni Caboto of Genoa and Venice had already made his first voyage of discovery sailing for King Henry VII of England departing Bristol 2 May 1497 on the tiny Mathew with a crew of 18. On this voyage he fully expected to reach Asia. He sighted land on 24 June at what appears to have been Cape Breton Island. After a brief landing to take possession of the land in the name of King Henry and to replenish wood and water, he returned to Bristol probably sighting the south coast of Newfoundland enroute. On reaching Bristol, Cabot announced that some 700 leagues beyond Ireland he had reached the country of the Grand Kahn. (He also mentioned the profusion of cod fish found off the southern coast of Newfoundland)

Henry the VII was delighted and promised Cabot a fleet with which to sail next year to Cipanqu (China). Early in May 1498 Cabot with several ships set sail again for America or to what he thought would be the riches of the East. He meant to explore the coast between Cape Breton and Florida in the process of which he expected to find Cathay (China). Where he went on this voyage and whether he ever safely returned has never been positively determined.

Morison puts it most clearly when he states that John Cabot's second voyage in 1498 can only be reconstructed by hypothesis in which no two historians agree. Therefore, although there is a slight possibility Cabot could have sighted Nantucket on this 1498 voyage, no firm evidence exists or is likely to be found that will confirm this possibility.

Meanwhile the Portuguese, already a great seafaring people who had explored the western coast of Africa to the Cape of Good Hope and had entered the Indian Ocean, began exploring the northeastern coasts of North America. A nobleman from the island of Terceira in the Azores, Gaspar Corte Real, became so deeply interested in the discoveries being made that at his own expense he fitted out a ship and set sail from Lisbon in the Spring of 1500 in search of new lands towards the northwest. Some authorities claim he reached the east coast of Greenland and sailed north

till stopped by ice at which point he reversed course, coasted south, rounded Cape Farewell, sailed well up the west coast of Greenland and returned to Lisbon in the autumn of 1500. Other authorities claim he reached the east coast of Newfoundland and did most of his exploring along this coast prior to returning to Lisbon.

Thinking he had been on the northeast coast of Asia Gaspar Corte Real decided to follow this voyage with a second voyage. Accordingly he set sail from Lisbon with three ships about 1 May 1501. They made a landfall somewhere on the Labrador coast and followed the coast southeasterly penetrating some of the larger inlets and kidnapping 50 Indians. They passed Belle Isle Straits without entering and continued southeasterly along the east coast of Newfoundland giving names to many geographical features that still persist today.

Rounding Cabo Razo (Cape Race) they coasted along the southern shores of Newfoundland as far as Placentia Bay. At this point sometime in September Gaspar Corte Real sent his other two ships back to Portugal (both arrived safely in Lisbon). Corte Real wished to continue his explorations to the south in order to discover the connection of the continent with the islands discovered by Columbus. Gaspar Corte Real and all on his ship were never seen or heard from again. Yet there is a remote possibility that he could have sailed past Nantucket.

In 1502 after Gaspar Corte Real had still failed to return to Portugal, his brother, Miguel, resolved to go in search of him. Miguel set sail from Lisbon with three vessels on 10 May 1502 and reached Newfoundland in June. At this point it was decided that each ship should search a separate part of the coast with a rendezvous set at St. Johns Harbor on 20 August. Two of the ships returned to St. Johns by 20 August neither of them having seen a trace of Gaspar. Miguel's ship, however, was missing and never was heard from again.

Some evidence of what may have happened to Miguel Corte Real has been presented by Prof. De Labarre who has managed to isolate an inscription on the Dighton Rock of Nanagensett Bay reading: 1511 MIGU (el( CORTER (eal) V(oluntate) DE (i) HIC DUX IND (orum), translated reads: "1511 Miguel Corte Real By the Will of God Lord of the Indians in this place". Again this leads to the interesting possibility that Miguel Corte Real might have been shipwrecked somewhere in the vicinity of southeastern Massachusetts after sighting Nantucket and later became chief of the Wrmpanoag Indians being commemorated after his death by a surviving member of his crew.

Whatever happened,the work of these illustrious brothers was not in vain for by 1506 the codfish from the waters around Newfoundland were being brou^it into Portugal in sufficient quantities to be taxed and for twenty-five years Newfoundland was a province of the Portuguese empire. In addition to the Portuguese, Bretons were fishing the Grand Banks possibly even prior to Cabot's voyage in 1497. Starting in 1504 they reached Newfoundland and commenced using its harbors for drying their fish. In 1508 the Pensee under Capt. Aubert from Dieppe showed the fishermen from Normandy the way to the harbors of northeastern Newfoundland. The Grand Bank cod fisheries continued to expand rapidly throughout the remainder of the 16th century. By 1517 50 Castilian, French and Portuguese vessels were making fishing trips to the Grand Banks. On 3 August 1527 eleven Norman, one Breton and two Portuguese fishing boats were to be found in St. John's harbor, Newfoundland, on a single day. By the end of the century over 400 ships annually were visiting the Grand Bank fisheries. Some of these ships from southern Europe (mainly Spanish) crossed from east to west following the route of Columbus to the Indies and then coasted up to Newfoundland from Florida or the Bahamas. This again raises the very likely possibility that at least some of these fishermen must have sighted Nantucket in passing.

One more voyage of exploration deserves to be mentioned as a possibility for the first undocumented sighting on Nantucket. That is the voyage of Sebastian Cabot in 1508-1509 in search of a southwest passage to Asia. Most authorities credit Sebastian Cabot on this expedition with discovering Hudson Straits and with glimpsing Hudson Bay. Thinking he had found the northwest passage and faced with a threatened mutiny he then turned back and proceeded southward to look for another opening. He is believed to have coasted southward past Newfoundland and the Grand Banks and along the northeastern coast of the United States as far as Cape Hatteras at which point he turned for Europe, reaching England in 1509 after the death of Henry VII. From most textual sources it seems clear that Sebastian Cabot made a voyage in search of a northwest passage sometime in 1508 or 1509 and returned via the northern coast of North America. If in fact he did sight Nantucket there is no evidence to prove it.

All voyages mentioned so far have been described to show the reader that several opportunities existed for the Norsemen or the early European explorers or fishermen to have sighted Nantucket prior to Verrazzano's voyage in 1524. However, to date, no evidence has been found that can even set forth such a claim. This situation, however, no longer existed

Verrazzano continued north always skirting the shore navigating by daylight and casting anchor at night. He continued northeasterly in this manner until he reached New York Harbor which he named "Angouleme" in honor of Francois I, who had been Count of Angouleme prior to becoming King of France. The visit to New York Harbor was made in a small boat with the Dauphine remaining outside the Narrows. A sudden shift of wind caused Verrazzano to abandon further exploration of the harbor and to depart Angouleme on the same day. He then proceeded to "Refugio" (Newport Harbor) where they remained for 15 days exploring the Narraganset Bay area and mingling with the friendly natives. These turned out to be the happiest days of the voyage.

On the 6th (or 5th) of May after these enjoyable 15 days at "Refugio" Verrazzano again set sail and as the letter states, "being supplied with every necessity we departed from said port following the shore never losing sight of the land. We sailed 150 leagues," and a note "within which space we found shoals which extend from the continent into the sea 50 leagues". These shoals were named "Armellini".

The identity of Armellini is without doubt the maze of shoals lying east of Nantucket and the Cape Cod peninsula. One might think the letter seems to place the shoals 150 leagues beyond "Refugio" which is an impossible distance. Statements in the text modify this to indicate that the 150 leagues is meant to apply to the end of the exploration (i.e. somewhere on the coast of Maine). The 150 league distance is divided into three 50 league stretches of which the first ended at the extremity of the shoals. On this basis and observing that the Cellere letter states that the ship followed the shore never losing sight of land, Verrazzano's route can be recreated as coasting south of Marthas Vineyard and Nantucket to the shoals and then giving them a wide berth proceeding north along the coast of the outer cape. This interpretation is supported by the maps. Maggiolo names Buzzards Bay, "Corte Maiore", and shows the islands of "Baduasia" (Marthas Vineyard and Nantucket). Further, H. de Verrazano shows the shoals east of Nantucket on his map at the proper distance from "Refugio" (Newport).

The Dauphine continued north across Massachusetts Bay and along the coast of Maine to about the vicinity of Mount Desert at which time Verrazzano realized he was near the land which the English had found in the past at 50 N latitude and, having consumed most of his provisions, he decided to turn toward France sailing along the south coasts of Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and taking departure for France from Newfoundland.

Great credit should be given on this long journey to the skill of the shipmaster, Antione de Corflans, who sailed through a violent Atlantic storm and along a strange and dangerous coast for over two thousand miles and brought his ship safely back to Dieppe by early July 1524.

There seems little doubt that Verrazzano sighted Nantucket as he sailed past it in the Dauphine in early May of 1524. The scholars who have analyzed in detail the accounts of this remarkable voyage and the maps that resulted from the voyage credit Verrazzano with passing along the shore of Nantucket after leaving Newport. Wroth even goes so far as to state that the extent of the Verrazzano exploration of 1524 is established with certainty.

Hence it would seem fitting that Giovanni de Verrazzano should be given credit as the first European whose sighting of Nantucket Island can be substantiated.

A good case can also be made for a second well documented sighting of Nantucket between the Verrazzano voyage of 1524 and the Gosnold voyage of 1602. This occurred in 1525 on the voyage of exploration for Charles V, King of Spain, by Estovan (or Estoban) Gomez. Estovan Gomez, a native of Portugal, was one of the most eminent and experienced navigators in the services of Spain.

Gomez had sailed with Magellan as one of his senior navigators in his round the world cruise. However, on reaching the Straits of Magellan the crew of the ship he was on, the San Antonio, possibly led by Gomez rebelled against its captain, put him in irons, and returned to Spain. Gomez had been jealous of Magellan, a Portuguese nobleman with a distinguished career in the East Indies, who had transferred his allegiance to Spain and convinced the King of Spain to support his plan for an expedition to reach the Molluccas (spice islands) by sailing west through the straits he hoped to discover at the southern end of South America. Gomez for some time had been trying to enlist the King's support for a similar expedition with himself in command.

At the time of Gomez s voyage Spain felt that the region explored by Verrazzano was within the Spanish part of the New World conveyed to them by the Papal Bull of 1493 and the Treaty of Tordesillas with Portugal in 1494. As far as the Spanish were concerned the French had no rights in that region and Verrazzano's voyage was a brazen intrusion.

Spurred on by this intrusion Gomez set forth from Coruna on 25

Verrazzano continued north always skirting the shore navigating by daylight and casting anchor at night. He continued northeasterly in this manner until he reached New York Harbor which he named "Angouleme" in honor of Francois I, who had been Count of Angouleme prior to becoming King of France. The visit to New York Harbor was made in a small boat with the Dauphine remaining outside the Narrows. A sudden shift of wind caused Verrazzano to abandon further exploration of the harbor and to depart Angouleme on the same day. He then proceeded to "Refugio" (Newport Harbor) where they remained for 15 days exploring the Narraganset Bay area and mingling with the friendly natives. These turned out to be the happiest days of the voyage.

On the 6th (or 5th) of May after these enjoyable 15 days at "Refugio" Verrazzano again set sail and as the letter states, "being supplied with every necessity we departed from said port following the shore never losing sight of the land. We sailed 150 leagues," and a note "within which space we found shoals which extend from the continent into the sea 50 leagues". These shoals were named "Armellini".

The identity of Armellini is without doubt the maze of shoals lying east of Nantucket and the Cape Cod peninsula. One might think the letter seems to place the shoals 150 leagues beyond "Refugio" which is an impossible distance. Statements in the text modify this to indicate that the 150 leagues is meant to apply to the end of the exploration (i.e. somewhere on the coast of Maine). The 150 league distance is divided into three 50 league stretches of which the first ended at the extremity of the shoals. On this basis and observing that the Cellere letter states that the ship followed the shore never losing sight of land, Verrazzano's route can be recreated as coasting south of Marthas Vineyard and Nantucket to the shoals and then giving them a wide berth proceeding north along the coast of the outer cape. This interpretation is supported by the maps. Maggiolo names Buzzards Bay, "Corte Maiore", and shows the islands of "Baduasia" (Marthas Vineyard and Nantucket). Further, H. de Verrazano shows the shoals east of Nantucket on his map at the proper distance from "Refugio" (Newport).

The Dauphine continued north across Massachusetts Bay and along the coast of Maine to about the vicinity of Mount Desert at which time Verrazzano realized he was near the land which the English had found in the past at 50 N latitude and, having consumed most of his provisions, he decided to turn toward France sailing along the south coasts of Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and taking departure for France from Newfoundland.

Great credit should be given on this long journey to the skill of the shipmaster, Antione de Corflans, who sailed through a violent Atlantic storm and along a strange and dangerous coast for over two thousand miles and brought his ship safely back to Dieppe by early July 1524.

There seems little doubt that Verrazzano sighted Nantucket as he sailed past it in the Dauphine in early May of 1524. The scholars who have analyzed in detail the accounts of this remarkable voyage and the maps that resulted from the voyage credit Verrazzano with passing along the shore of Nantucket after leaving Newport. Wroth even goes so far as to state that the extent of the Verrazzano exploration of 1524 is established with certainty.

Hence it would seem fitting that Giovanni de Verrazzano should be given credit as the first European whose sighting of Nantucket Island can be substantiated.

A good case can also be made for a second well documented sighting of Nantucket between the Verrazzano voyage of 1524 and the Gosnold voyage of 1602. This occurred in 1525 on the voyage of exploration for Charles V, King of Spain, by Estovan (or Estoban) Gomez. Estovan Gomez, a native of Portugal, was one of the most eminent and experienced navigators in the services of Spain.

Gomez had sailed with Magellan as one of his senior navigators in his round the world cruise. However, on reaching the Straits of Magellan the crew of the ship he was on, the San Antonio, possibly led by Gomez rebelled against its captain, put him in irons, and returned to Spain. Gomez had been jealous of Magellan, a Portuguese nobleman with a distinguished career in the East Indies, who had transferred his allegiance to Spain and convinced the King of Spain to support his plan for an expedition to reach the Molluccas (spice islands) by sailing west through the straits he hoped to discover at the southern end of South America. Gomez for some time had been trying to enlist the King's support for a similar expedition with himself in command.

At the time of Gomez's voyage Spain felt that the region explored by Verrazzano was within the Spanish part of the New World conveyed to them by the Papal Bull of 1493 and the Treaty of Tordesillas with Portugal in 1494. As far as the Spanish were concerned the French had no rights in that region and Verrazzano's voyage was a brazen intrusion.

Spurred on by this intrusion Gomez set forth from Coruna on 25

September 1524 in the caravel, La Anunciada, of 50 tons provisioned for a year with the object of searching for a passage to Cathay between Florida and the Bacalaos (Newfoundland). This voyage was to explore the same region explored by Verrazzano in 1524. Unfortunately, in contrast to Verrazzano's voyage, no report of his voyage by Gomez has come down to us, although undoubtedly he must have made one. However, the results of his voyage were immediately incorporated into the world maps made by the best cartographers of the time so it has been possible to analyze the voyage of Gomez in considerable detail.

Most notable of these maps were those by Ribero, the most distinguished cartographer of his time, which came out between 1525 and 1529. These were followed up by those of Chaves in 1536 and of Santa Cruz in 1541. Chaves was Ribero's successor as Pilot Major, another eminent cartographer. Santa Cruz was a famous official cosmographer of Spain, who knew Gomez personally and who undoubtedly had access to the report and maps brought back by Gomez. Santa Cruz wrote an authoritative book entitled "Islario General del Mundo" which came out in 1541 and included a description of Gomez's voyage including detailed maps.

Examining the Ribero, Chaves, Santa Cruz maps together with their accompanying texts for further descriptions of the portion of the voyage in the vicinity of Cape Cod and Nantucket, we find Baya De S. Xpoval (San Christoval) as fitting the description of the combined Cape Cod and Massachusetts Bays. Chaves describes it as "a great ensenada (partially enclosed bay) into which fall some rivers" and as enclosed between Cabo De Santiago (Cape Cod) and Rio de Buena Madre" (near St. Ann). Later compiled maps list the words "buelta, tourne", etc. in its southwestern corner implying Gomez was forced to turn back at this point and head north to round Cape Cod. Cabo de Santiago (Cape Cod) is used on the Chaves-Santa Cruz maps to denote the extremity of the northerly extending cape.

Chaves further describes Cabo de Santiago as the cape which on all the coast projects furthest out to sea. Cabo de Arenas (Cape of Sands) shown on both groups of maps in such a position and with such a name to leave no question of its location being Monomoy point. Finally Cabo de Saint Julian on both groups of maps is shown at the correct distance and bearing from the previous two capes just mentioned with an intermediate inlet to indicate the entrance to Nantucket Sound between Monomoy and Great Point to place this cape on the eastern shore of Nantucket Island probably at Sankaty Head.

In conclusion there seems to be little doubt from the records and maps now available resulting from the voyages of exploration of Verrazzano in 1524 and Gomez in 1525 that both with a reasonable degree of certainty sighted Nantucket as they coasted past the Island. Verrazzano named the shoals at the eastern end of Nantucket and Gomez named a cape on the eastern side of Nantucket. Hence it seems appropriate that the historic plaques and documents and the publicity handouts on Nantucket Island should be changed to reflect its discovery by Verrazzano in 1524 vice Gosnold in 1602. Further consideration should be given to naming some prominent geographic feature connected with Nantucket Island in honor of Verrazzano as recognition of his historic voyage and his discovery of Nantucket.

Note on Author of this Article

Capt. John E. Lacouture, U. S. N. (Ret.) was born in Boston, Mass., Aug. 18, 1917. He graduated from the Roxbury Latin School in 1935, and from the Naval Academy in 1940. He served on the old aircraft carrier Saratoga, prior to proceeding to the destroyer Blue as gunnery officer, and participated in all early actions of World War II in the Pacific, from Pearl Harbor to Guadalcanal, where the Blue was sunk. He returned to flight training after which he served as executive officer of a fighter squadron before assuming command of a fighter squadron, two attack squadrons and two carrier wings. In between sea duty he received a master's degree at Princeton University in Aeronautical Engineering (flight testing) and served a tour at the Naval Air Test Center. He became the first program manager of the F4 (Phantom) aircraft and served as SACLANT'S Representative in Europe (Paris). This was followed by tours as commanding officer of Diamond Head (ammunition ship) and of the aircraft carrier Saratoga. From there served as Chief of Staff of the Carrier Task Force off Vietnam. He then became the Director of Naval Aviation Plans and Requirements Division. After serving as Commander of the Pacific Fleet's light attack Community, he retired in 1970, to work in the aerospace industry. During the past seven years he has enjoyed the life of a research scholar at Cambridge University in England.

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