Martín de Aguilar (

fl. ''Floruit'' ( ; usually abbreviated fl. or occasionally flor.; from Latin for 'flourished') denotes a date or period during which a person was known to have been alive or active. In English, the unabbreviated word may also be used as a noun indic ...

1603) was a Spanish

explorer Exploration is the process of exploring, an activity which has some Expectation (epistemic), expectation of Discovery (observation), discovery. Organised exploration is largely a human activity, but exploratory activity is common to most organis ...

whose log contains one of the first written descriptions of the

coast A coast (coastline, shoreline, seashore) is the land next to the sea or the line that forms the boundary between the land and the ocean or a lake. Coasts are influenced by the topography of the surrounding landscape and by aquatic erosion, su ...

of the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

.Historia general de América: Período colonial. Angloamérica II Academia Nacional de la Historia (Venezuela), Guillermo Morón, Louis B. Wright - 1986- p90 "A tal mar daban acceso dos pasos: uno, que se señalaba a los 43°, que fue el que supuso Aguilar en 1603. ... También dedujo el marino español que los rusos no habían encontrado el estrecho de Anian, que comenzó a pensarse no podía ser un amplio ... Vicente Doz, a la vista de los datos reunidos en Madrid, y según lo supuso ya Martín de Aguilar en 1603, en la expedición de Sebastián Vizcaíno." Aguilar was the commander of the ship ''Tres Reyes'' in an expedition led by

Sebastián Vizcaíno Sebastián Vizcaíno (c. 1548–1624) was a Spanish soldier, entrepreneur, explorer, and diplomat whose varied roles took him to New Spain, the Baja California peninsula, the California coast and Asia. Early career Vizcaíno was born in ...

. Vizcaíno set out from Mexico in 1602 in search of usable harbors and the mythical city of

Quivira Quivira was a province of the ancestral Wichita people, located near the Great Bend of the Arkansas River in central Kansas, The exact site may be near present-day Lyons extending northeast to Salina. The Wichita city of Etzanoa, which flouris ...

. While exploring along the northern

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

coast, a storm separated Vizcaíno and Aguilar's ships. While Vizcaíno may have reached the present Oregon-California border, Aguilar continued up the coast. Aguilar is thought to have sighted and named Cape Blanco, and he may have sailed as far as

Coos Bay Coos Bay (Hanis language, Coos language: Atsixiis or Hanisich) is an estuary where the Coos River enters the Pacific Ocean, the estuary is approximately 12 miles long and up to two miles wide. It is the largest estuary completely within Oregon sta ...

. Aguilar reported sighting a "rapid and abundant" river that he did not enter because of the current. He then turned back to Mexico because of

scurvy Scurvy is a deficiency disease (state of malnutrition) resulting from a lack of vitamin C (ascorbic acid). Early symptoms of deficiency include weakness, fatigue, and sore arms and legs. Without treatment, anemia, decreased red blood cells, gum d ...

among his crew. It is unknown which river he sighted, but maps referred to the "Rio d'Aguilar" in the 18th century. No deliberate exploration of the Northwest Coast occurred again until some 150 years after Aguilar, though accidental sightings and shipwrecks were possible. Aguilar and most of his crew died on the way to

Acapulco Acapulco de Juárez (), commonly called Acapulco ( , ; ), is a city and Port of Acapulco, major seaport in the Political divisions of Mexico, state of Guerrero on the Pacific Coast of Mexico, south of Mexico City. Located on a deep, semicirc ...

References

Spanish explorers of North America Explorers of Oregon Explorers of California 17th-century Spanish explorers {{Oregon-bio-stub