Narrative of a Voyage to the Northwest Coast of America in the years 1811, 1812, 1813, and 1814 or the First American Settlement on the Pacific
Franchere, Gabriel, 1786-1863
English
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Below is a summary of Narrative of a Voyage to the Northwest Coast of America in the years 1811, 1812, 1813, and 1814 or the First American Settlement on the Pacific
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[Transcriber's Note: Because this is a personal narrative,inconsistencies in spelling, hyphenation, capitalization, anditalicization have been preserved in cases where it is not clearly anerror from the original printing.]
Astoria, as it was in 1813.
NARRATIVE OF A VOYAGE TO THE NORTHWEST COAST OF AMERICA
IN THE YEARS 1811, 1812, 1813, AND 1814
OR
THE FIRST AMERICAN SETTLEMENT ON THE PACIFIC
BY GABRIEL FRANCHERE
TRANSLATED AND EDITED BY J.V. HUNTINGTON
REDFIELD
110 AND 112 NASSAU STREET, NEW YORK
1854.
Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1854,
BY J.S. REDFIELD,
In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States, in andfor the Southern District of New York.
PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION.
In 1846, when the boundary question (that of the Oregon Territory inparticular) was at its height, the Hon. THOMAS H. BENTON delivered inthe United States Senate a decisive speech, of which the following is anextract:—
"Now for the proof of all I have said. I happen to have in my possessionthe book of all others, which gives the fullest and most authenticdetails on all the points I have mentioned—a book written at a time,and under circumstances, when the author (himself a British subject andfamiliar on the Columbia) had no more idea that the British would layclaim to that river, than Mr. Harmon, the American writer whom Iquoted, ever thought of our claiming New Caledonia. It is the work ofMr. FRANCHERE, a gentleman of Montreal, with whom I have the pleasure tobe personally acquainted, and one of those employed by Mr. ASTOR infounding his colony. He was at the founding of ASTORIA, at its sale tothe Northwest Company, saw the place seized as a British conquest, andcontinued there after its seizure. He wrote in French: his work has notbeen done into English, though it well deserves it; and I read from theFrench text. He gives a brief and true account of the discovery of theColumbia."
I felt justly proud of this notice of my unpretending work, especiallythat the latter should have contributed, as it did, to the amicablesettlement of the then pending difficulties. I have flattered myselfever since, that it belonged to the historical literature of the greatcountry, which by adoption has become mine.
The re-perusal of "Astoria" by WASHINGTON IRVING (1836) inspired me withan additional motive for giving my book in an English dress. Withoutdisparagement to Mr. IRVING'S literary, fame, I may venture to say thatI found in his work inaccuracies, misstatements (unintentional ofcourse), and a want of chronological order, which struck forcibly one sofamiliar with the events themselves. I thought I could show—or ratherthat my simple narration, of itself, plainly discovered—that some ofthe young men embarked in that expedition (which founded our Pacificempire), did not merit the ridicule and contempt which Captain THORNattempted to throw upon them, and which perhaps, through the genius ofMr. IRVING, might otherwise remain as a lasting stigma on theircharacters.
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