When the barques and brigantines of Tall Ships Tacoma sail into town this week, they’ll navigate well-marked channels. The journey will take them from Vashon Island’s Quartermaster Harbor to Commencement Bay, and past Point Defiance.

But the ships’ crews – and local landlubbers – may not know the name origins of these places. Many were bestowed by the United States Exploring Expedition – the nation’s first government-sponsored voyage of discovery. The U.S. Navy’s band of explorers, who arrived in 1841, were known as the Wilkes Expedition, after their commander, Lt. Charles Wilkes.

The commander’s mission was to navigate and chart the waters of the Pacific Ocean, from Australia to the upper west coast of North America, which wasn’t part of the United States yet.

The only white people living in the Puget Sound area at the time were from the British Hudson’s Bay Company, which had an outpost at a fort on the Nisqually River delta.

Rival claims to this part of the world – known as the Oregon country – were held by both the U.S. and Great Britain. Before the Wilkes Expedition left the Northwest, it would leave behind more than 250 place names. Some historians speculate that the expedition’s naming frenzy was in part sparked by a U.S. desire to claim the territory for itself and boot the British out.

The Wilkes Expedition left Norfolk, Va., with a fleet of six ships in 1838. By the time it reached the Northwest, Wilkes and his crews had sailed around the tip of South America, braved the frigid waters of Antarctica and confirmed that there was a previously unknown land mass there, now known as Wilkes Land.

The Wilkes crews explored South Pacific Islands, visited Hawaii and was temporarily defeated by the raging force of the Columbia River emptying into the Pacific – to this day considered one of the most hazardous navigational spots on Earth, according to the U.S. Coast Guard.

Unable initially to cross the Columbia River bar, some members of the expedition sailed north, while others set out to explore the southern Oregon country by land.

On May 17, 1841, the brig Porpoise anchored below the bluffs near where Stadium High School now stands. A member of the expedition described the shoreline and the view beyond it in his journal: “… surrounded by a range of low hills covered with splendid trees. A snow-covered range in the distance to the East, of which Mount Rainier is the loftiest peak.”

The mountain, of course, already had been christened by the expedition’s British predecessor, Capt. George Vancouver, who did a bit of his own name-dropping in 1792. He left behind 75 place names, including Rainier (for Vancouver’s friend, Rear Adm. Peter Rainier), Vashon Island (for his friend Capt. James Vashon) and even Puget Sound (for his officer Lt. Peter Puget).

But Wilkes’ crews were determined to leave their mark on even more islands, bodies of water and shorelines. The officers on board the Porpoise named the body of water from which they would begin their exploration of southern Puget Sound Commencement Bay.

And there would many more names to come.

Debbie Cafazzo: 253-597-8635

At the helm of the 1838-1842 United States Exploring Expedition was Lt. Charles Wilkes.

He made a name for himself at the Navy’s Department of Charts and Instruments, later called the Naval Observatory. The Navy brass appreciated his scientific and cartographic skills and, after several higher-ranking officers turned down the command, it decided Wilkes would be the perfect officer to head the expedition.

But to his officers and crew, Wilkes’ hallmarks were his petulant temper, zeal for shipboard discipline – including the frequent use of the lash – and a penchant for paranoia that led him to accuse his officers of plotting against him. Some historians speculate that author Herman Melville used a few of Wilkes’ unsavory personality traits to develop his Capt. Ahab in the novel “Moby-Dick.”

Wilkes, 40, was steeped in controversy from the day he walked aboard his flagship, the Vincennes. Although he often referred to himself as captain of the expedition, his rank was technically a lower one. He was a mere lieutenant who held the same naval rank as many of the officers under his command. It was an unusual arrangement, and one that created friction between Wilkes and the other officers.

Wilkes required every officer on the expedition to keep a journal. A Lt. Reynolds also kept a private journal, in which he characterized his commander as “a rascally tyrant, liar, black-hearted enough to be the Devil’s brother.” (Wilkes probably didn’t read that passage.)

But there’s no doubt Wilkes was a taskmaster. A crewman recounted a typical Wilkes command, barked to the sailors of the Vincennes: “Silence fore and aft, wet and sand the decks, knock out your ports, take off your muzzle-bags, withdraw your tompions (a plug for a gun’s muzzle to shield it from dust and moisture) and cast loose your guns.”

Despite their prickly leader’s oppressive style, members of the expedition accomplished much. They charted and mapped the South Pacific, the Antarctic and America’s west coast. Some of their charts of the Pacific were still in use during World War II.

The expedition documented and collected a variety of plants and marine specimens. Crew members took careful notes and made detailed drawings, illustrating the topography of the lands they visited and the native people they met.

On June 11, 1842, the Vincennes sailed into New York Harbor, followed several weeks later by the rest of the expedition.

While Wilkes might have expected a hero’s welcome, what he got was public humiliation. During his years at sea, a new administration had come to Washington. While Wilkes set sail during the presidency of Martin Van Buren, one of the founders of the Democratic Party, he sailed home to a country headed by an indifferent John Tyler, a member of the Whig Party. Tyler was loathe to call attention to an expedition begun by his predecessor. (He also was embroiled in a conflict over Texas that would eventually lead to war with Mexico.)

A prideful Wilkes became entangled in Washington politics, and his abused officers saw an opportunity to seek revenge against their cruel commander. Wilkes was subjected to a military court martial, accused of conduct unbecoming an officer, excessive punishment of his men and other violations of regulations.

When the verdict was read, Wilkes was cleared of all charges, save for the illegal floggings. But his only punishment was a public reprimand.

Wilkes published an account of his expedition, “Narrative of the United States Exploring Expedition,” in five volumes and edited a collection of its scientific reports and atlases.

Wilkes remained an active officer during the Civil War, when he was again involved in controversy. He stopped a British mail ship, the Trent, which was carrying two officials of the Confederacy. Although hailed as a hero by the Yankee public for intercepting the rebels, President Abraham Lincoln was furious with Wilkes for causing an international incident that nearly drew Britain into the war.

Wilkes continued his naval career and was eventually promoted to commander, then captain and finally, before his retirement, he was named a rear admiral.

Wilkes died in 1877 at the age of 78 and is buried at Arlington National Cemetery.

Sources: “Sea of Glory: America’s Voyage of Discovery, the U.S. Exploring Expedition, 1838-1842,” by Nathaniel Philbrick; “The Wilkes Expedition: The First United States Exploring Expedition, 1838-1842,” by David Budlong Tyler; “The Wilkes Expedition in Puget Sound, 1841,” by Patrick J. Haskett; “The Wilkes Expedition: Puget Sound and the Oregon Country,” by Frances B. Barkan; “Origins of Pierce County Place Names,” by Gary Fuller Reese; “Historical Atlas of Washington,” by James William Scott; Columbia Magazine, published by the Washington State Historical Society; www.uscg.mil; www.historylink.org; www.co.pierce.wa.us; www.arlingtoncemetery.net; Wikipedia