Page:Early western travels, 1748-1846 (1907 Volume 6).djvu/192

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{20} Mr. John Jacob Astor, a New York merchant,^[1] who conducted almost alone the trade in furs south of the great lakes Huron and Superior, and who had acquired by that commerce a prodigious fortune, thought to augment it by forming on the banks of the Columbia an establishment of which the principal or supply factory should be at the mouth of that river. He communicated his views to the agents of the Northwest Company; he was even desirous of forming the proposed establishment in concert with them; but after some negotiations, the inland or wintering partners of that association of fur-traders having rejected the plan, Mr. Astor determined to make the attempt alone. He needed for the success of his enterprise, men long versed in the Indian trade, and he soon found them. Mr. Alexander M'Kay (the same who had accompanied Sir Alexander M'Kenzie in his travels overland), a bold and enterprising man, left the Northwest Company to join him;^[2] and soon after, Messrs. Duncan M'Dougal and Donald M'Kenzie (also in the service of the company), and {21} Messrs. David Stuart and Robert Stuart, all of Canada, did the same. At length, in the winter of 1810, a Mr.

↑ John Jacob Astor was born in Waldorf, Germany, in July, 1763, the son of a butcher. At the age of seventeen he made his way to London, where he learned English, and where in 1783 he embarked for America. During a delay in Chesapeake Bay, he met a compatriot who gave him information with regard to the fur-trade. In this he embarked upon his arrival at New York, and by 1800 had accumulated therein a considerable fortune. His plan for the founding of Astoria was continental in breadth of conception, but was brought to naught by the War of 1812-15. Astor began to withdraw from active business about 1830, and died in New York, March 29, 1848. His chief public benefaction was the Astor Library.—Ed.
↑ Alexander McKay was Sir Alexander Mackenzie's lieutenant on the latter's voyage to the Pacific in 1793 (see note 4, ante). Later author-travellers met him at different posts in the Athabasca department of the North West Company, from 1797-99. In 1804, he became one of the partners of that company, but in 1810 was induced to join Astor's enterprise. His fate at the capture of the "Tonquin," is narrated by Franchère, post.—Ed.

[1] John Jacob Astor was born in Waldorf, Germany, in July, 1763, the son of a butcher. At the age of seventeen he made his way to London, where he learned English, and where in 1783 he embarked for America. During a delay in Chesapeake Bay, he met a compatriot who gave him information with regard to the fur-trade. In this he embarked upon his arrival at New York, and by 1800 had accumulated therein a considerable fortune. His plan for the founding of Astoria was continental in breadth of conception, but was brought to naught by the War of 1812-15. Astor began to withdraw from active business about 1830, and died in New York, March 29, 1848. His chief public benefaction was the Astor Library.—Ed.

[2] Alexander McKay was Sir Alexander Mackenzie's lieutenant on the latter's voyage to the Pacific in 1793 (see note 4, ante). Later author-travellers met him at different posts in the Athabasca department of the North West Company, from 1797-99. In 1804, he became one of the partners of that company, but in 1810 was induced to join Astor's enterprise. His fate at the capture of the "Tonquin," is narrated by Franchère, post.—Ed.

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