In June 1791 Don Francisco Eliza in command of the San Carlos, and the schooner Santa Saturnina under the command of Jose Maria Narvaez set out to make an examination of the Strait of Juan de Fuca and El Gran Canel de Nuestra Senora del Rosario la Marinera(the Gulf of Georgia). In early July the Narvaez expedition anchored in Semiahmoo Bay, near the mouth of the Campbell River.

The Spanish were the first Europeans to see the Semiahmoo First Nations people.