Joseph Ingraham

Joseph Ingraham (1762–1800) was an American sailor and maritime fur trader who discovered several islands of the Marquesas Islands while on his way to trade along the west coast of North America. He was also a prisoner in the American Revolutionary War and an officer in the United States Navy.

Early life During the War of Independence, Ingraham was a sailor captured by the British. He spent part of the war on a prison ship. In 1787, he was second mate aboard the Columbia Rediviva under the command of John Kendrick when it sailed to the Pacific Northwest to engage in the fur trade. The owners and investors of the ship and venture were Thomas Handasyd Perkins, Russell Sturgis, James and Thomas Lamb, and James Magee. These investors also owned the Margaret, which, under Captain James Magee, frequently sailed in company with the Hope. Ingraham's intention was to return to the northwest coast to partake in the fur trade. Their next stop was at Madre de Dios Island in Chile on April 14. Captain Ingraham named the group Washington Islands, and named many of the individual islands: Washington Island for the president, Adams Island for the vice president, Federal Island, Franklin Island, Knox Island and Lincoln Island for a general. Gray was there to sell his small craft, , to the Spanish. Adventure was under the command of Ingraham's former shipmate Robert Haswell. The next day Ingraham and Hope set sail with the Spanish vessel Princesa that was sailing north to Nootka Sound to deliver Spain's new administrator to that outpost. After spending the summer trading for fur pelts from the natives along the coast, Ingraham sailed to China via the Sandwich Islands, and then back to Boston.

Later life During the United States' undeclared Quasi-War with France in the late 1790s, Ingraham served as a naval officer. He was a lieutenant, last appearing on Navy Department records on June 14, 1799.

Legacy Ingraham Bay and Ingraham Point, in Alaska, are named for Joseph Ingraham.