Pacific Fur Company


Organized by John Jacob Astor in 1810. Sometimes

known as the Astor Fur Company. Astor had made a fortune in the fur

trade, and formed the plan of extending his operations to the Pacific

coast, and building a post at the mouth of the Columbia. He suggested to

the North West Company that the project be undertaken jointly, but the

Company declining the offer, he induced several of its partners and

employees to join him.
hese men sailed to the Columbia by way of Cape

Horn, while another party went overland by the route followed by Lewis

and Clark. Astoria was built in 1811, at the mouth of the Columbia, but

the energetic competition of the North West Company, and complications

arising out of the War of 1812, defeated Astor's plans. =Index=: (Sir James Douglas era)

Logical sequel to journey of Lewis and Clark, 68; formed in 1810 by John

Jacob Astor, 68; made famous by Washington Irving, 68; character and

extent of its operations, 69-71; employees recruited in Montreal, 70;

expeditions sent out, 71. See also Astoria. =Bib.=: Cox, Adventures

on the Columbia River; Ross, Fur Hunters of the Far West; Franchere,

Voyage to North-West Coast of America; Irving, Astoria.



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