Salvador Fidalgo y Lopegarcía (6 August 1756 – 27 September 1803) was aSpanish explorer. He commanded an exploring expedition forSpain toAlaska and thePacific Northwest during the late 18th century.

Fidalgo was born inLa Seu d'Urgell in theprovince of Lleida, in the region ofCatalonia,Spain, the heir of a nobleNavarrese family. He joined theSpanish Navy as a guardiamarina (midshipman) at the Real Colegio de Guardiamarinas inCádiz. He graduated in 1775 and was given the rank of Alférez de Fragata (Frigate Ensign).^[1]

He was chosen to be a member ofVicente Tofiño's team of cartographers working during the 1780s on the first atlas of Spain's ports and coastal waters.^[1] He served on various assignments in the Mediterranean and saw action against the British and Portuguese.^[1] In 1778 he was promoted to Teniente de Navío (Lieutenant) and assigned to the Spanish naval station atSan Blas,Mexico.^{[2][self-published source]}

The Spanish claim to Alaska and the Pacific Northwest had dated back to a 1493 papal bull (Inter caetera) and rights contained in the 1494Treaty of Tordesillas; these two formal acts gave Spain the exclusive rights to colonize all of the Western Hemisphere (excluding Brazil), including the exclusive rights to colonize all ofthe west coast of North America. The first European expedition to actually reach the west coast of North America was led by the SpaniardVasco Núñez de Balboa, which achieved the Pacific coast ofPanama in 1513. Balboa claimed thePacific Ocean for the Spanish Crown, as well as the lands touching it, including all of the west coast of North America. This action of Balboa further solidified the Spanish claim of exclusive control over the entire west coast of North America.

The claims unchallenged, the Spanish Empire did not explore or settle the northwest coast of North America in the 250 years after Balboa's claim. By the late 18th century, however, learning ofRussian Empire andBritish arrivals along the Pacific coast, Spain finally grew sufficiently concerned about their claims to the Pacific Northwest and set out to learn the extent of the Russian and British encroachment.

In 1790, at the direction ofJuan Vicente de Güemes Padilla Horcasitas y Aguayo, 2nd Count of Revillagigedo, the Viceroy ofNew Spain, Fidalgo was sent to New Spain's northernmost settlement,San Lorenzo de Nootka, just off today'sVancouver Island. In May 1790, Fidalgo sailed out of Nootka and some weeks later, anchored off present-dayCordova, Alaska. The expedition found no signs of Russian presence, and traded with natives in the area. On June 3, 1790, they put ashore on today'sOrca Inlet, and in a solemn ceremony, Fidalgo erected a large wooden cross, re-asserted Spanish sovereignty, and named the areaPuerto Córdova. Fidalgo continued along the Alaskan coast, reaching today's Gravina Point, where the same ceremony re-asserting Spanish sovereignty was performed. On June 15, 1790, they discovered a port, which they namedPuerto Valdez, after Antonio Valdés, then Minister of the Spanish Navy.^[3]

On July 4, 1790, the expedition made their first contact with the Russians, on the southwestern coast of theKenai Peninsula, which Fidalgo namedPuerto Revillagigedo. The expedition pressed on to the main Russian settlement of the time onKodiak Island, in today's Three Saints Bay. Fidalgo entertained the Russians aboard his ship, and then on July 5, 1790, conducted another ceremony of sovereignty, near the Russian outpost of Alexandrovsk (today's English Bay orNanwalek, Alaska), southwest of today'sAnchorage on theKenai Peninsula.^[3]

Fidalgo led the expedition back to San Blas, arriving on November 15, 1790.^[2]

In 1792 Salvador Fidalgo was assigned to establish a Spanish post atNeah Bay (the Spanish name wasBahía de Núñez Gaona), on the southwestern coast of theStrait of Juan de Fuca in present-dayU.S. state ofWashington. He arrived from San Blas on thecorvettePrincesa on May 28, 1792. The post soon had cleared land for a garden, a livestock enclosure with a number of cows, sheep, hogs, and goats, and a stockade with a small garrison.

The post was established during theNootka Convention negotiations between Spain and Britain in the wake of theNootka Crisis. It was uncertain whether the Spanish post atNootka Sound would be ceded to the British or not. Fidalgo's work at Neah Bay was in preparation for a possible relocation of Spain's Nootka Sound post.

Later during the autumn of 1792 a conflict occurred between theMakah, natives of Neah Bay, and the Spanish. Fidalgo's second in command, Pilot Antonio Serantes, was killed and in retaliation Fidalgo ordered an attack on the Makah, inflicting many casualties. For this action Fidalgo was later reprimanded by his superior officers. The post at Neah Bay was abandoned and Fidalgo was recalled to Nootka Sound.^[4][5]

In 1794 Salvador Fidalgo was promoted to Capitán de Fragata (Frigate Captain orCommander). In 1795 he sailed to thePhilippines to deliver diplomatic documents. In 1801 he suppressed a Native American rebellion at theTiburón Island in theGulf of California.^[2]

He died on September 27, 1803, in Tacubaya, nearMexico City.^{[6][self-published source]}

Fidalgo Island, nearPuget Sound, was named in his honor,^[7] as is Port Fidalgo in Prince William Sound.^[8]

• 1756 births
• 1803 deaths
• People from La Seu d'Urgell
• Explorers of Alaska
• Spanish explorers of North America
• Explorers of British Columbia
• Spanish history in the Pacific Northwest
• 18th-century Spanish naval officers
• 19th-century Spanish naval officers
• 18th-century Spanish explorers

• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata
• Articles with hCards
• All articles with self-published sources
• Articles with self-published sources from January 2018