(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . History 101: Fort Astoria, Oregon [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.'] Date: 2023-11-19 Astoria, Oregon, situated at the mouth of the Columbia River within a few miles of the Pacific Ocean, began as a trading post known as Fort Astoria, named after John Jacob Astor (1763-1848), the New York financier who sent fur traders into the area. Background Astor was born in Germany, and as a teenager lived in England for a while where he learned English and worked in his uncle’s flute and piano business. While in England, he anglicized his name from Johann Jakob to John Jacob. Astor immigrated to the United States in 1783-1784. During his long sea voyage, he met a fur trader who inspired his interest in the profits to be made from this endeavor. In 1785, Astor married Sarah Todd. In his book Who Was Who in Native American History: Indians and Non-Indians From Early Contacts Through 1900, Carl Waldman writes: “Aided by his wife’s knowledge of furs, Astor soon embarked on a career in the fur trade in the Northeast and the Old Northwest. Over the next twenty years he developed a profitable trading enterprise.” During the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries two companies—the London-based Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC) and the Montreal-based North West Company (the Nor’westers)—dominated the beaver fur trade and set prices. Astor had connections with the North West Company, transporting their furs from Montreal to New York and then to Europe. By 1800, Astor was a millionaire and was engaged in Chinese trade. His arrangement with the Nor’westers was disrupted in 1807 when the U.S. Embargo Act closed off trade with Canada. When the Corps of Discovery led by Meriweather Lewis and William Clark returned from their trek across the continent to the Pacific Ocean, many fur trade entrepreneurs were inspired by the reports of potential wealth. Astor now envisioned a chain of trading posts on the upper Missouri River and a fleet of trading ships that would supply posts on the Columbia River. These ships would also be able to trade along the coast and supply the Russian trading posts in Alaska. The ships would then carry the furs to Canton, China where they would be traded for prized Chinese merchandise which would then be transported to the northeastern United States. With an initial investment of $400,000, Astor founded the Pacific Fur Company to establish a trading post at the mouth of the Columbia River. From this trading post, his ships could take North American furs to China where they would be traded for Chinese goods which would then be transported to the east coast of the United States. To carry out this venture, Astor took on some working partners who would invest their knowledge and labor rather than capital. Most of the working partners had been Nor’westers. The Fort The Astorians landed at the mouth of the Columbia River aboard the ship Tonquin. It was decided to build the trading post, named Fort Astoria, on the south side of the river, in Clatsop Country. The Astorians began clearing lands for a suitable warehouse for the trade goods on April 12, 1811. According to the Heritage Museum in Astoria: “The hillside was covered with massive trees that were not intimidated by inexperienced men with mostly inferior tools to chop them down. In addition, the forest was so thick that most of the trees refused to fall over even after being shorn off.” According to the Heritage Museum: “With accidents happening all around them, from black powder explosions to falling trees landing on men, it is surprising that Astor did not send a doctor or even medical supplies. Many of the men became frustrated and some even thought about forfeiting their wages and walking home.” Three men desert the trading post. In his book Astoria: John Jacob Astor and Thomas Jefferson’s Lost Pacific Empire, A Story of Wealth, Ambition, and Survival, Peter Stark writes: “The threesome evidently believed they could reach the Spanish settlements that lay nearly a thousand miles south down the Pacific Coast. They meant to escape the dark, sodden Northwest and the heavy labor of clearing the forest.” They are captured by Indians who ransom them back to the Astorians for eight blankets, a brass kettle, a tomahawk, and a broken pistol.” Shown above is the plan for the original Fort Astoria. The ship Tonquin, which had transported the Astorians from Boston to the Columbia River, had stopped in Hawaii where a number of Hawaiians joined. The Hawaiians planted a garden with maize, potatoes, turnips, radishes, and cucumbers. Trade with the Chinook and Clatsop Indians provided the Astorians with fish and occasionally with game. In May 1812, the ship Beaver arrived with supplies. In 1813, Pacific Fur Company trader Duncan McDougall married the daughter of Chinook chief Comcomly. In an article in the Oregon Historical Quarterly, Mathias Bergmann reports: “Having a Euro-American at Fort Astoria as an in-law not only increased Comcomly’s access to goods but also brought prestige, and marriage into one of the most powerful families in the region extended to the Euro-Americans much-needed economic and physical security.” The End The end of Fort Astoria and Astor’s fur trading venture in the Pacific Northwest came with the War of 1812. With reports of a British warship on its way to Astoria, John McTavish of the North West Company made Duncan McDougal a simple offer: sell out now or we will simply take it. McDougal sold out for about 30 cents on the dollar. The Americans at Fort Astoria were outraged as they felt that they could have defended the fort against the British frigate. Five weeks later, the British sloop-of-war Racoon crossed the bar and sailed into the Columbia River. In a short ceremony, the British flag is raised over Astoria and the British formally proclaimed Astoria and all surrounding territory to be under the British crown. Fort Astoria was renamed Fort George. Chinook chief Comcomly came aboard the Racoon and pledged his loyalty to the British Crown. The ship’s captain presented him with an old flag, a laced coat, a cocked hat, and a sword. The captain reported: “His Chinook majesty … left the Racoon, and returned to shore as staunch a Briton as ever he had previously been an American partisan.” More histories History 101: Establishing Fort Astoria by Sea History 101: Late 18th European exploration of the Northwest Coast History 201: The Philippine-American War History 201: The Founding of Georgia History 101: A Very Short History of the Oregon Trail History 101: The Vancouver Kaiser Shipyard History 101: An 18th Century Atheist History 101: Chinese Immigration [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/11/19/2206510/-History-101-Fort-Astoria-Oregon?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=trending&pm_medium=web Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/