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 CHAPTER XII.

ASTORIA AND ITS FOUNDERS.

By the beginning of the 19th century, or, to be more strictly accurate, before the year 1810, a general notion had been obtained of the extent, form, and main physical features of North America. The journeys of Pike, Lewis and Clarke in the southern half of the vast continent, with those of Hearne and Mackenzie from Hudson's Bay, were now followed up by a series of expeditions, working either under the orders or with the sanction of the American Government, by which the regions south of the Missouri, those bordering on the Upper Mississippi, and the fertile provinces now known as British Columbia, Washington, and Oregon, were thoroughly explored.

The first man to take up the work begun by the heroes we have been noticing was John Jacob Astor, who, after long negotiations with the various companies struggling for the monopoly of the fur-trade of the North, succeeded in founding yet another association, under the name of the Pacific Fur Company. This new confederation, having won the co-operation of many of the best agents of its rivals, found itself in a position to compete with them on more than equal terms, and, as early as 1810, a thoroughly well-organized expedition, divided into two parts—one going by land, the other by sea—started for the mouth of the Columbia, where it was proposed to erect a fort as the head-quarters of the new trade to be opened.

After a successful voyage from Montreal via the Sandwich Islands, the Tonquin, bearing the advanced guard of traders and emigrants, including Mr. M'Dougal, who represented Mr. Astor, cast anchor off the mouth of the Columbia. Here a landing was at once effected, and M'Dougal and his chief assistant, a man named Stuart, were hospitably entertained by the Chinooks, whose chief aided them in selecting a suitable place for the foundation of their fort, and showed no jealousy of their wish to settle near him.

The town now known as Astoria (N. lat. 46° 11´, W. long. 123° 42´) was