Indigenous peoples had inhabited Vancouver Island for thousands of years, long before the arrival of Spanish and British naval expeditions in the late 18th century. The Spanish and British conjointly named it "Quadra's and Vancouver's Island" in commemoration of the friendly negotiations held in 1792 between the Spanish commander of Fort San Miguel in Nootka Sound, Juan Francisco de la Bodega y Quadra, and British naval captain George Vancouver, during the Nootka Crisis. (Bodega y Quadra's name was eventually dropped.) It is one of several North American locations named after George Vancouver, who between 1791 and 1794 explored the Pacific Northwest coast.