Spain has long held that all foreign sailors in the Pacific Ocean are to be treated as enemies.

Spanish claims of sovereignty, especially on the west coasts of the Americas, date back centuries.

One of the first serious threats to the Spanish claim comes from the extension of Russian fur trading activity from Siberia to Alaska during the middle and later parts of the eighteenth century.

Reports about the Krenitsyn-Levashev voyage, meant to be kept secret, spread through Europe and cause alarm in Spain.

The Spanish government, already concerned about Russian activity in Alaska, decides to colonize Alta California and sends exploratory voyages to Alaska to assess the threat and strengthen Spanish claims of sovereignty on coast north of Mexico.