Spanish Claim Attempt on Tahiti
- When
- 1774–1775
- Where
- Tahiti; Tautira Bay, Tahiti
- Episodes
- 2
In November 1774, Spanish navigator Domingo de Bonechea arrived at Tahiti aboard the ship Aguila. He established a mission at Tautira Bay, but the Spanish presence was short-lived, ending with his death in January 1775 and the subsequent abandonment of the mission.
Episodes
- Second Aguila Expedition Arrival
Bonechea arrived in Tahiti on 14 November 1774 with two Tahitians aboard the Aguila.
- Mission at Tautira Bay
Bonechea established a mission at Tautira Bay, where he was later buried after his death in January 1775.
Background and detail
Background. Following a 1772 expedition organized by the Viceroy of Peru, Manuel de Amat y Juniet, the Spanish Crown dispatched three expeditions aboard the ship Aguila. The first two were commanded by navigator Domingo de Bonechea, who had previously brought four Tahitians back to Peru in early 1773.
Arrival and Mission. On 14 November 1774, Bonechea returned to Tahiti aboard the Aguila with two surviving Tahitians, Pautu and Tetuanui. He established a mission at Tautira Bay, where he remained until his death on 26 January 1775.
People involved
- Domingo de Bonechea · Navigator and Commander
- Pautu · Tahitian companion
- Tetuanui · Tahitian companion
Sources
- Tahiti Wikipedia, revision of 2026-07-15
Machine-drafted from the cited Wikipedia passages and checked by a reviewing model, not by a human editor. Every passage cites the revision it was written from; dates and places follow those passages.