Astoria: John Jacob Astor and Thomas Jefferson's Lost Pacific Empire: A Story of Wealth, Ambition, and Survival

An eye opening account of traveling in uncharted territory, and "discovering" the best path to the west, the Oregon Trail. This takes romance out of the stories. I read this as an ebook, but I would have loved seeing maps to place the events for present comparison. Lots of research to put this together with a surprise ending. This history fell through the cracks and really should be known.

The Astoria Expedition of 1810 to 1813 established the first permanent (non-Native) American settlement on the Pacific Coast. The expedition was financed by wealthy New Yorker John Jacob Astor, who dreamed of monopolizing the Western fur trade and raking in billions doing business with the Chinese. Astor planned a two-pronged attack on the West Coast, with separate parties traveling by land and sea to rendezvous at the mouth of the Columbia River. Following closely on the heels of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, the Astoria Expedition was every bit as epic an adventure as that earlier journey. Besides a lot of historical markers on the side of Western highways, however, the story of the Astorian pioneers, while once familiar to the American public, has since faded into relative obscurity compared to the legendary status of Lewis and Clark. With his 2014 book Astoria: Astor and Jefferson’s Lost Pacific Empire, author Peter Stark aims to resurrect this important story from American history and restore it to the prominence it deserves.In many ways, the Lewis and Clark Expedition, however arduous, was an example of a trip where almost everything went right. There was only one fatality, from illness. Conflict with the Indians was minimal. They never drifted terribly far off course. The Astoria Expedition, on the other hand, is an example where just about everything that could go wrong did go wrong, for both the sea-faring party and the cross-country trekkers. Internal conflict, an ambiguous chain of command, poor decision-making or a lack thereof, faulty wilderness survival skills, undiplomatic relations with the Native population, the outbreak of the War of 1812, and more all added up to a mission impossible with a high body count. Although Lewis and Clark’s crew suffered from hunger and privation, their troubles pale in comparison to the perils encountered by the Astorians. Stark does a good job of bringing these hardships to vivid reality, but he’s always a little too ready to shift focus back to Astor in his cozy Manhattan brownstone and praise the fur baron’s vision of global domination. Stark strikes a pretty good balance between happenings on the East and West coasts, but I would have preferred a little more of the microhistory of the travelers and their survival tales, and a little less of the relentless affirmation of Astor’s importance as a pioneer of globalization.Though several members of the Astorian land and sea parties kept diaries of the journey, there seems to be a lot less information available on this expedition than that of Lewis and Clark. Stark is forced to skip over periods of time or to resort to filling in blank spots with speculation. All historians do this to some extent, but one wishes there were a greater pool of primary source material from which to draw. Documentation was one of the primary missions of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, as it had specific scientific, geographic, and diplomatic mandates to fulfill. The Astoria Expedition, on the other hand, was largely a commercial venture, and its members were primarily focused not on exploration or diplomacy but simply on the getting there. In terms of an adventure story, the Astoria trip may be the grittier and more treacherous quest, but it lacks some of the epic grandeur and Enlightenment spirit of its predecessor.Stark’s book is an illuminating reinvestigation and compelling retelling of this important episode in America history. It’s also just a great wilderness adventure story. Anyone interested in Western expansion or the early exploration of the American continent will certainly find it an enjoyable read.

John Jacob Astor had a great idea. The noble class in China loved adorning their garments with sea otter furs; sea otters could be found in the virtually unexplored and essentially unclaimed northwest part of the North American continent; why not therefore, establish the beachhead for a trading empire at the mouth of the Columbia River when ships could fill their hulls with furs, exchange them for extravagant profit and trade goods in China, then sail to the East Coast of the young United States where Chinese artifacts had become a rage? Astor floated his proposal to President Thomas Jefferson who himself agreed: it was a great idea!The trouble was Astor, comfortable in his own well-to-do life in Manhattan, hadn't counted what a considerable undertaking this would be for the men he recruited to pioneer it.Astor commissioned two expeditions to the Northwest: one to go by sea around Cape Horn, the other to travel overland into the wilderness along a route that only one party of white men--Lewis and Clark's--had traveled before. Both would encounter hardships. The mariners were captained by a rather Captain Bligh-like figure, and their voyage was compounded by other mishaps including a virtual swamping. The overland party, on the other hand, under inexperienced leadership, had to endure the threats of hostile Indians, illness, near-starvation, and winter in the mountains.The wonder was that as many reached the Columbia River as they did. An outpost was established. But the culmination of their experiences, plus the utter isolation that plagued the men being so far from home did not make for a happy situation. A couple went literally insane. Author Peter Stark raises the interesting proposition that, as this history illustrates, so much of American history--especially in the Age of Exploration and Settlement--may have been shaped by those suffering from PTSD.But even a greater wonder is that Astor's dream of an empire in the Northwest may have actually been realized if it hadn't been for the War of 1812. With the Royal Navy commandeering the seas and blockading American ports, there was no way to keep up regular supply lines with the poor souls at Astor's outpost. The British moved in and took over. Later, an agreement to all intents and purposes ceded fur gathering west of the Rockies to the British, while Americans stay on the east side of that divide.It's a great story, full of adventure, and Stark tells it more as a story than as dry history ("We can imagine . . ." he is sometimes prompted to say, filling in the blanks when his sources are sparse in detail). It's a chapter of American history that's little remembered these days (even among those, like myself who live in the Northwest), and Stark does well in bringing it back to life again.

A complex tale but very readable.

Impressively well written piece of history that will fill in the gap's of what you know about the early exploration of the west and the fur trade. The story reads like an adventure novel, however it is taken from true historical accounts from the people that lived through these tough and dangerous moments in our not so distant past. If you are Canadian, you likely are already familiar with the Hudson Bay, Northwest Company, and the adventures of David Thompson as told by British Canadian history books; but this book offers perspective's on the same fur trade as told by the Americans and their quest to the pacific, which includes interesting accounts of interactions with the Shoshone, as well as the many coastal tribes at the time. A harrowing story that will keep you flipping pages for more.

This book makes a plausible but unrealized attempt at re-telling the attempt by John Jacob Astor to set up one of the first international trading syndicate that was not based on the institution of Slavery or Drugs. Where it fails is in it’s attempt to demonstrate that J. J. Astor was anything other than an attempt at grabbing money based on the hard-work and sacrifices of some very common (most would say petty) individuals. Starting at the end with the de-masting of the ship sent to retrieve his treasure-trove of furs, the book seems to stumble (especially when the episode is revisited later in the book in sequence with the historical narrative). Along the way, we learn, once again, how shabbily the aboriginals were treated by American and European traders. The author makes the valid point that these inhabitants had benefited from the regular return of salmon as a source of revenue and hence trade for many years and were well acquainted with trade. Many of the problems described in this book were not due to aboriginals not understanding the mechanics of trade but rather their unwillingness to part with their treasures for the goods being offered. Unfortunately, the newcomers relied on their weapons rather than negotiations to resolve these differences to the ultimate destruction of their attempt to establish what the author contends would have been a complementary nation next to the pre-expansionist USA. Of course, not all the violence and loss of life was directed at the aboriginals. Sea Captains and Captains of Trade like were willing to send men in to perilous situations while comfortable ensconced in boardrooms and cabins. Still, there were some remarkable tales of endurance and perseverance in the face of bad weather, lack of food, and adversity. I was particularly taken by the episode of the woman who spent a winter living underneath the hide of a horse with her two children only to survive to greet pioneers settling the Willamette Valley. However, these stories and the much of the backroom dealing that would have supported or disproven the author’s contention that the Astorians were nation builders rather than robber barons.

Stark’s account of John Jacob Astor’s Astoria settlement on the west coast of the United States in the early 1800’s is an amazing story of the journey of both sailors and explorers in crossing America, whether by ship or canoe is spellbinding a book you won’t put down. As a historical novel, while oft times dull and plodding, this one is far from that and will hold your interest from page 1 to page 301. Full of interesting and revealing facts of how men survived that perilous journey from east to west in primitive and challenging conditions. Like I said….A must read.

This book reads as much like an adventure story as a history book. The author is excellent at filling in the back story details to help 21st century readers understand the time and the situation that those who were part of the attempt to build John Jacob Astor's trading empire found themselves in. This is an excellent book for anyone interested in North American history, especially the fur trading era of the early 19th century.