Pacific Fur Company. - Astoria: John Jacob Astor and Thomas Jeffersons lost Pacific empire: a story of wealth, ambition, and survival

To Murray and Rosa, and to Rags

[T]his is the land of liberty and equality, where a man sees and feels that he is a man merely, and that he can no longer exist, [except if] he can himself procure the means of support.

Robert Stuart, journal postscript for October 13, 1812,
while starving in todays Wyoming,
shortly before discovering the South Pass

CONTENTS

SEAGOING PARTY

Captain of the Tonquin

CAPTAIN JONATHAN THORN age thirty-one. U.S. naval hero whom Astor hired to captain the Tonquin on the voyage around Cape Horn to the West Coast and then to China.

Partners Aboard the Tonquin

ALEXANDER MCKAY age forty at the time he joined. Highly respected for his experience as explorer, trader, and friend of the Indians in many years service in Canada with the North West Company, he was a shareholding partner and trader with Astors enterprise, sailing aboard the Tonquin .

DUNCAN MCDOUGALL age unknown. Scottish fur trader from Canada and former North West Company employee appointed by Astor to be second in command for his emporium on the West Coast and to lead it whenever Wilson Price Hunt was absent.

DAVID STUART age forty-five. One of the oldest members of the Astor enterprise, the Scottish emigrant had lived some years in Canada, probably in the fur trade, before going out aboard the Tonquin as shareholding partner and fur trader.

ROBERT STUART age twenty-five. The younger Stuart, also Scottish-born, worked briefly as a clerk for the North West Company in Canada before joining Astors company with his uncle David, and also held a small number of shares.

Notable Clerks Aboard the Tonquin

GABRIEL FRANCHRE age twenty-four. A French Canadian born in Montreal to a merchant family, Franchre sailed aboard the Tonquin as a clerk and kept his own journal account of the expedition.

ALEXANDER ROSS age twenty-seven. Scottish-born, Ross worked as a schoolteacher in Canada before seeking his fortune by joining Astors Pacific enterprise as a clerk, sailing aboard the Tonquin but staying at Astoria when she sailed on. He also kept his own journal.

JAMES LEWIS clerk from New York who sailed aboard the Tonquin .

THOMAS MCKAY son of Alexander McKay (above) who stayed at Astoria when the Tonquin sailed onward.

The Seagoing Party also included seven additional clerks, about fifteen French-Canadian voyageurs, and about five craftsmen such as blacksmiths and carpenters.

Crew of the Tonquin

In addition, the Tonquin carried officers and crew, totaling about twenty-three people, and, after stopping at Hawaii, Hawaiians numbering about twenty-four individuals.

THE OVERLAND PARTY

Leader

WILSON PRICE HUNT age twenty-seven. The young New Jerseyborn businessman, who had worked as a fur trade supplier in St. Louis, was appointed by Astor to lead the Overland Party across the continent and head Astors West Coast operations.

Partners

DONALD MACKENZIE age twenty-six. Scottish fur trader from Canada and former employee of the North West Company (NWC) who possessed considerable wilderness experience and great physical energy. Unhappy with the NWC, he joined Astors enterprise, initially helping Hunt to co-lead the Overland Party.

RAMSAY CROOKS age twenty-three. Scottish-born Canadian fur trader who had worked in the American fur trade along the Missouri River, befriending Hunt in St. Louis and eventually joining the Overland Party as partner in Astors West Coast enterprise.

ROBERT M c CLELLAN age forty. Born in Pennsylvania to parents of Scottish descent, McClellan had fought in Ohio Valley Indian wars and eventually worked as a fur trader along the Missouri, for a time in a partnership with Ramsay Crooks. Joined Hunts Overland Party as a partner at St. Louis, given two and a half shares, compared to most partners five shares.

JOSEPH MILLER age thirty, approximately. Member of a respected family in Baltimore, Miller had quit the military to come west as a fur trader, and joined the Overland Party in St. Louis, also holding two and a half shares.

Clerk with Overland Party

JOHN REED An Irishman, Reed joined the Overland Party at Montreal or Mackinac Island and served as clerk as Hunts party made its way west.

Other Notable Members of Overland Party

JOHN DAY forty-year-old Virginian who joined the Overland Party as a hunter.

MARIE DORION Iowa Indian woman with two toddlers and married to Pierre Dorion, interpreter for Hunts Overland Party.

PIERRE DORION half-Sioux interpreter for Hunts Overland Party and son of Old Dorion, interpreter for Lewis and Clark.

In addition, the Overland Party included nearly forty French-Canadian voyageurs, several other American hunters, and several trappers met on the Missouri.

Notable Clerks Aboard the Beaver

ROSS COX age nineteen. The Dublin-born Cox emigrated to New York and joined Astors enterprise as clerk with the hope of making his fortune. He kept a journal of his experiences.

ALFRED SETON A young New Yorker of good family that was down on its luck, Seton dropped out of Columbia to join Astors enterprise as clerk. He also kept a journal of his own.

JOHN CLARKE age twenty-nine. From Montreal, and a former employee of the North West Company, Clarke may have been related to Astor through his mother. He sailed to the West Coast aboard the Beaver, and may have soon been made a shareholding partner.

Captain and Crew of the Beaver

CAPTAIN CORNELIUS SOWLE age forty-two. A native of Rhode Island, Sowle had sailed on Pacific and Far East trading voyages for a number of years previous to joining Astor.

The Beaver also carried other Astor clerks, craftsmen, voyageurs, and Hawaiians, in addition to the captain and his crew.

Nearly two centuries ago, the story that follows was well-known to Americans. In the Epilogue to the following account, I touch on some of the reasons why it has now been largely forgotten. It has been told before by various authors, a number of them participants in these events in the early 1800s who kept journals or logbooks at the time or later wrote memoirs. Among these participant-writers are Gabriel Franchre, John Bradbury, H. M. Brackenridge, Alexander Ross, Ross Cox, Alfred Seton, Duncan McDougall, and Robert Stuart.

The best-known account from the early 1800s was published in 1836, after a retired John Jacob Astor commissioned Washington Irving, then one of Americas most famous authors, to write an account of these events two decades past. Irvings book, Astoria, or Anecdotes of an Enterprise Beyond the Rocky Mountains (1836), became a bestseller of its day and was soon published in editions abroad.

V IEW OF THE F ALKLAND I SLANDS .

Boat and five passengers pulling after Ship Tonquin.

O N A UGUST 13, 1813, GALE WINDS BLEW UP AS J OHN J ACOB Astors ship the Lark sailed in the open Pacific. At the time, the ship lay about two hundred miles off the coast of Maui, bound for Astors settlement on the Northwest Coast of America. Huge seas overtook the Lark, and Astors trusted Captain Samuel Northrup fought to keep her steady. For a moment the Captain took a break belowdecks, leaving her in the hands of less experienced officers. Suddenly she swung sideways to the onrush of wind and water and was knocked down by an enormous wave. She slowly heaved herself upright, decks lashed by spray, rigging screaming in the wind.