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Astoria

by Washington Irving

First Published

1838

Subjects

Overland journey to the Pacific coast
Fur trade
Descriptions et voyages
Contributions in discoveries (in geography)
Pacific Fur Co
Description and travel. [from old catalog]
Fourrures
Description and travel
Oregon
Overland journeys to the Pacific. [from old catalog]
Discovery and exploration
Commerce
Pacific Fur Company
Overland journeys to the Pacific
Indiens
History
Pacific fur company. [from old catalog]
Indiens d'Amérique
Indians of North America
Voyages par terre jusqu'au Pacifique
Sources
American Fur Company
Voyages to the Pacific coast
Travel
Astoria (or.)
Northwestern states, description and travel
Overland journeys to the pacific
Oregon, history
Discoveries in geography
American literature
Fiction, westerns
Fiction, historical, general
Fiction, action & adventure
Frontier and pioneer life, fiction
Northwest, pacific, fiction

Description

In 1811 a group of American traders built a fort at the mouth of the Columbia River, named Fort Astoria in honor of its financier, John Jacob Astor. Envisioned as the spur of a fur-trading empire, by 1813 the project was a business failure and the fort was surrendered to the British. But in its short life Astoria rendered incalculable benefits to public understanding of the Great Northwest. The exploration of trade routes, the description of various Indian tribes and their customs, and an American claim on the Northwest coast were among many of its legacies. Astor never relinquished his pride in the enterprise and insisted that the West would one day be a dominating factor in national politics. To drive his point home he asked Washington Irving, the country's most renowned and respected author, to transform the papers of Fort Astoria into a unified and readable history. Irving accepted the offer and published Astoria in 1836. From its first appearance--when it was hailed by no less a reviewer than Edgar Allan Poe--to the present day, Astoria has been read as a vivid and fascinating history, comparable indeed to the finest of romances, but rooted in the rough and hardy life of trapping, hunting, and exploration.

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