Bodega y Quadra, Juan Francisco de la (1737–1794)
Bodega y Quadra, Juan Francisco de la (1737–1794)
Juan Francisco de la Bodega y Quadra (b. 22 August 1737; d. 26 March 1794), Spanish naval officer, explorer of the Pacific Northwest. Born in Lima, Peru, Bodega became a Spanish naval officer and was posted to the department of San Blas in 1774. The following year he had command of the Sonora on its voyage to southern Alaska. Bodega was promoted to ship's lieutenant in 1776 and commanded La Favorita, which sailed to Alaska, in 1779. He remained in San Blas in 1780–1781, then went to Peru to obtain artillery in 1782. After serving in Spain from 1783 to 1789, Bodega returned to San Blas as its commandant in 1790. He was at Nootka in 1792 as the Spanish commissioner under the 1790 convention with Great Britain. With his British counterpart, George Vancouver, Bodega circumnavigated the island later named for both men. After returning to San Blas in 1793, he retired because of poor health. Bodega died in Mexico City.
See alsoExplorers and Exploration: Spanish America .
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Michael E. Thurman, The Naval Department of San Blas, 1767–1798 (1967).
Warren L. Cook, Flood Tide of Empire: Spain in the Pacific Northwest, 1543–1819 (1973).
W. Michael Mathes