By Oksana Dorosh , grade 4
George Vancouver was an English man. He was an English-British explorer.
King George III sent George Vancouver to help strengthen England's claim
to all of the Pacific Northwest. Captain
Robert Gray was the first white man on the river. He named the river
after his ship. Robert Gray discovered Vancouver but the city was named
after Captain Vancouver.
Captain Gray, an American told Captain Vancouver how to find the great river.
George's ship was too large to get into the river easily. The captain of
the other ship, Lieutenant Broughton, sailed in from the ocean in a smaller
ship. So George borrowed the ship and explored the Columbia River. He told
the other captains that the Columbia was a good place for fur trading. George
Vancouver was born in 1758 and at age 40 he died in the year of 1798.