Simon Metcalfe

Simon Metcalfe (also spelled Metcalf) (April 23, 1741 – 1794) was a British-born American surveyor and one of the first American maritime fur traders to visit the Pacific Northwest coast.

As early visitors to the Hawaiian Islands in 1789, Metcalfe and his son Thomas Humphrey Metcalfe unwittingly provided Western military weapons and advisors for Kamehameha I, when two of their men and a ship and its armaments were captured. These helped the chief win strategic battles and unify the Hawaiian Islands. The son Thomas and most of his crew were killed about 1789-1790 in an attack by Hawaiian warriors, which the father never learned about.

Simon Metcalfe later returned to the Pacific Northwest. He and all but one of his crew were killed in 1794 in an attack by Haida warriors who were allowed on the ship for trading. This was in what were then known as the Queen Charlotte Islands, now known as Haida Gwaii in present-day British Columbia, Canada.

Life Simon Metcalfe was born in London, England, April 23, 1741. He was the son of George and Anne Metcalfe of Askrigg, Yorkshire. Due to a recent inheritance, they had moved to Shadwell, London, at the time of Simon's birth. Simon was baptized at 9 days old on May 1, 1741, at St. Pauls, Shadwell. In his early life he trained for a career at sea with the East India Company. He was married in Bolton-on-Swale, Yorkshire, on May 12, 1763, to Catherine Humphrey, daughter of Thomas and Elizabeth Humphrey of that town. Metcalfe said at that time that his address was Dowgate Street, London and that he was a merchant. His brother Bernard Metcalfe was his witness.

He and Catherine Humphrey had at least nine children. About 1765, the family: Simon, Catherine and baby Elizabeth emigrated to the Province of New York, leaving son George in Yorkshire with Simon's brother Bernard, so that the boy could be educated. The Metcalfe family first settled in New York City, a major port. Metcalfe found employment as a surveyor and worked on the survey of the Fort Stanwix Treaty line in about 1769 in the western part of the province. He was promoted to Deputy Surveyor in the Province of New York by 1770. With his family settled on this land, Metcalfe established a fur trading post at the mouth of the Missisquoi River. In 1783, after the Revolutionary War, the British released Catherine Metcalfe and 8 children as prisoners from Canada. Metcalfe's property located on Lake Champlain was destroyed during the war. After the war was over, Metcalfe moved with his family to Albany, the capital of the new state of New York. In command of the Eleanora, he may have been on the Northwest Coast in 1787 or 1788, perhaps before the arrival of American captains Robert Gray and John Kendrick in August and September 1788.

In 1789, both Simon Metcalfe and his son Thomas Humphrey Metcalfe were caught up in the Nootka Crisis at Nootka Sound, near present-day Vancouver Island. Major European powers were competing with the new United States and each other to establish control over trading in this area. Although the events at Nootka were mainly directed toward British merchant vessels, the Spanish naval officer Esteban José Martínez seized Thomas Metcalfe's small schooner, the . Simon Metcalfe approached Nootka Sound and the Eleanora was almost captured as well, but he managed to escape. The Fair American and its crew were taken to the Spanish naval base at San Blas. They were quickly released.

The Metcalfes had planned to spend the winter in the Hawaiian Islands. After being released, Thomas Metcalfe sailed the Fair American to Hawaii, hoping to join his father.

Olowalu massacre

The Eleanora under Simon Metcalfe arrived in the islands first. In Kohala on the island of Hawaiʻi, Metcalfe was greeted by local chief Kameʻeiamoku. Metcalfe had the chief flogged for some infraction. The captain was said to believe in strong and immediate punishment when his rules were broken. By most accounts he was irascible and harsh. He sailed to the neighboring island of Maui to trade along the coast. Kameʻeiamoku vowed revenge on whatever ship next came his way. Because Hawaiians considered Olowalu a pu'u honua, or place of refuge, this attack had profound and long-lasting consequences, ultimately undermining the site's cultural stability. After the massacre, Metcalfe weighed anchor and returned to the island of Hawai'i. At Kealakekua Bay he began what seemed to be friendly trade for provisions. The chief eventually gave Fair American and Davis to King Kamehameha I.

These events mark a turning point in Hawaiian history. The two Americans, John Young and Isaac Davis, were put to use by Kamehameha, who drew on their knowledge and the armament from the Fair American for his military ventures. He eventually conquered and unified the Hawaiian Islands under his rule.

In 1794, Metcalfe visited Houston Stewart Channel, at the southern end of the Haida Gwaii, and anchored in Coyah's Sound, in the area now known as British Columbia. He began friendly trading with the local Haida natives under Chief Koyah. Metcalfe let a great number come aboard the Ino. The Haida took advantage of their superiority in numbers and attacked. Within a few minutes, the natives had killed nearly every man on board, including Simon Metcalfe, save one who fled into the rigging. The natives ordered the man to come down, and kept him as a slave for about a year.

Eventually that man was ransomed to a visiting European ship, whose captain dropped him off in Hawaii. There he told the story to John Young, who passed it on to other captains who visited the northwest Pacific islands.