Gray, Robert (1755-1806), was the first person to sail around the world under the United States flag. His voyage established an important trade route for U.S. merchants. Gray sailed from Boston in 1787 bound for the North Pacific by way of Cape Horn. He visited China, and returned by way of the Cape of Good Hope in 1790. Gray set out again on the same route and sailed into the mouth of the Columbia River in 1792. He named the river after his ship. Gray’s entrance into the river became a basis for U.S. claims to the Oregon Territory. Gray was born on May 10, 1755, in Tiverton, Rhode Island. He died during the summer of 1806.
