Aware, and in some cases very concerned. In the latter decades of the 18th century and the early decades of the 19th century, you had French, Spanish, British, American and Russian ships all sailing up and down the northwest coast of North America, exploring and trying to lay claim to the territory.

The new book Glorious Misadventures deals with this era, and is reasonably accurate.

Starting in the 1770s, you have Capt. James Cook, Cook's officers (who were picked to captain trading ships from London and India), the Frenchman La Perouse (1786) and Spanish ships from Mexico.

After the American Revolution wraps up, you have Yankee whalers and traders who supply both the whalers and the Native inhabitants of the region.