My ancestors' moves across the United States began before the colonies became a nation, but those first moves were no further west than mid-Connecticut.

It was 1787 when a distant Newcombe cousin, John Kendrick, commanded a two ship private expedition from Boston to the coast of the Pacific Northwest via Cape Horn. It was the first expedition of a United States enterprise to trade with the NW Indians and China. At his insistence, the two captains swapped ships. John wanted the faster and smaller support ship Lady Washington to make runs to China and back via Hawaii. He left Robert Gray with the bigger Columbia Rediviva to trade for furs and explore the coastline of the Northwest in more detail.

Gray discovered bays, and more importantly, the mouth of a major river - which he named for his ship - the Columbia - claiming it for the new country. He then completed a round the world route back to Boston via the Indian Ocean and the Cape of Good Hope - a feat that even Magellan didn't accomplish in his much earlier attempt..

Kendrick didn't fare so well. He assisted the chief of the Island of Oahu in his attempt to avoid being part of  the consolidation of the islands by Kamehameha I. With Kendrick's help, they won the battle. It can be said that the first American battle at Pearl Harbor was won by the American forces - in December, 1794.

In a freak accident later in the day, a three gun salute to Kendrick for his victory was offered by a British ship which happened to be in Pearl Harbor at the time. When the third gun loaded with only wadding misfired, the crewman fired the next in line to complete the salute. Unfortunately, that gun had grape shot in it.

The shot hit the cabin of the Lady Washington and killed Kendrick.