who is robert gray

The lower section of the Columbia River was first explored and described by Captain Bruno Heceta (sometimes spelled Hezeta), who named it Bahia de la Asumpcion. Captain Robert Gray explored it in 1792 for the United States and Broughton navigated it 119 statute miles upriver from its mouth the same year.

Columbia River

Columbia River

In 1800, Lagasse and Le Blanc reached the upper reaches of the Columbia by crossing the Rocky Mountains.

Lewis and Clark explored from the mouth of the Yakima River (in present day Washington State). David Thompson reached the source of the Columbia at Columbia Lake in present day British Columbia in 1807 and navigated the entire river in 1811.

The first American settlement on the Columbia was Astoria, established at its mouth in 1811. Between the Pacific and the great bend near the confluence with the Snake River, the Columbia has represented the dividing line between Oregon and Washington since before Oregon became a state in 1859.

The Columbia has been harnessed for hydroelectric power and irritation through the construction of many dams, some of which such as Bonneville Dam were built during the Great Depression.- - - Books You May Like Include: ----Sea of Glory: America's Voyage of Discovery, the U. S. Exploring Expedition, 1838-1842 by Nathaniel Philbrick. America's first frontier was not the West; it was the sea-and no one writes more eloquently about that watery wilderness than Nathaniel Philbrick.

In ... The Journals of Lewis and Clark by Meriwether Lewis. In 1803, when the United States purchased Louisiana from France, the great expanse of this new American territory was a blank -- not only on the map b...

It is known that a New England trading vessel, the Columbia Rediviva, commanded by Captain Robert Gray arrived in the summer of 1792 with the first Euro-Americans to see the County's timbered shoreline. In 1805, the explorers Lewis and Clark traveled and camped along the County's Columbia River shoreline.

About Columbia County

About Columbia County Columbia County is bordered on the east by the Columbia River, on the south by Multnomah County and Washington County, and on the west by Clatsop County. The southern County line is approximately 30 minutes from Portland, the largest metropolitan area in Oregon.

The western County line is approximately 30 minutes from the Pacific coast. The County's northern and eastern boundaries are outlined by 62 miles of Columbia River shoreline.

Columbia County enjoys the longest stretch of the Columbia River in the State of Oregon. The Columbia River is a major route of ocean-going vessels and is a popular fishing ground, as well as a popular boating and windsurfing river. Facts regarding the early history of Columbia County are few.

Carved out of Washington County in 1854, its past was tied to commercial fishing, water transportation and lumber.

Industrialization has accelerated in recent years but timber, dairy and horticulture remain important. Natural gas fields have been identified and are producing. The County offers the only two marine parks in Oregon: Sand Island on the Columbia River and J. J. Collins Memorial Marine Park on the Multnomah Channel. County Information County Seat: City of Saint Helens County Courthouse230 Strand Street, St. Helens, OR 97051-0010General Information: 1-888-397-7210Helpful Resources Census information County Organizational Chart Elected Officials Key Facts Established: January 16, 1854Elevation at St. Helens: 42 feet above sea level Area: 657 square miles Average temperature: January: 39.0 degrees July: 68.4 degrees Population: 48,140 (July 1, 2009 estimate)Assessed Value: $3,600,194,790Principal Industries: Agriculture, Lumber, Fishing, Tourism Directions to Courthouse From Highway 30 in St. Helens turn onto Columbia Blvd.

heading East towards the Columbia River. Continue approximately 1.5 miles and turn right onto South 1st Street. Go approximately 0.1 miles and turn left onto St. Helens Street. Continue straight ahead into the parking lot for the County Courthouse, which will be on the right.

Parking lot is between the River and the Courthouse. Points of Interest Paper mill at St. Helens Lewis & Clark Bridge at Rainier Lower Sauvie Island Game Reserve County Fairgrounds County Museums in St. Helens and Vernonia County Parks Key Contacts County Commissioners: Margaret Magruder, Henry Heimuller, Alex Tardif Assessor: Sue Martin County Clerk: Betty Huser County Sheriff: Jeff Dickerson County Treasurer: Jennifer Cuellar-Smith District Attorney: Jeff Auxier Justice of the Peace: Diana Taylor

Captain Robert Gray carries the flag around the world on his sailing vessel (around the tip of South America, to China, and beyond). He discovered a great river and named it after his boat The Columbia. His discovery was the basis of America's claim to the Oregon Territory.

Flag Timeline

"Flag Timeline States and their dates of admission are shown in bold red. Starting in 1819, the updated flag becomes legal on the Fourth of July following the date of admission.1775 American ships in New England waters flew a ""Liberty Tree"" flag in 1775. It shows a green pine tree on a white background, with the words, ""An Appeal to Heaven. ""1775 The Continental Navy used this flag, with the warning, ""Don't Tread on Me,"" upon its inception.1775 Sons of Liberty flag.1775 New England flag.1775 Forster flag.1776 January 1 — The Grand Union flag (Continental Colors) is displayed on Prospect Hill.

It has 13 alternate red and white stripes and the British Union Jack in the upper left-hand corner (the canton).1776 May — Betsy Ross reports that she sewed the first American flag1777 Another 13-star flag, in the 3-2-3-2-3 pattern.1777? Cowpens Flag. According to some sources, this flag was first used in 1777. It was used by the Third Maryland Regiment.

There was no official pattern for how the stars were to be arranged. The flag was carried at the Battle of Cowpens, which took place on January 17, 1781, in South Carolina.

The actual flag from that battle hangs in the Maryland State House.1777 Brandywine Flag.1777 June 14 — Continental Congress adopts the following: Resolved: that the flag of the United States be thirteen stripes, alternate red and white; that the union be thirteen stars, white in a blue field, representing a new constellation.

Stars represent Delaware (December 7, 1787), Pennsylvania (December 12, 1787), New Jersey (December 18, 1787), Georgia (January 2, 1788), Connecticut (January 9, 1788), Massachusetts (February 6, 1788), Maryland (April 28, 1788), South Carolina (May 23, 1788), New Hampshire (June 21, 1788), Virginia (June 25, 1788), New York (July 26, 1788), North Carolina (November 21, 1789), and Rhode Island (May 29, 1790)1779 John Paul Jones Flag, also called the Serapis Flag.1781? The Guilford Flag.1787

1795 Flag with 15 stars and 15 stripes Vermont (March 4, 1791), Kentucky (June 1, 1792)1803 Indian Peace Flag.1814 September 14 — Francis Scott Key writes ""The Star-Spangled Banner.""

It officially becomes the national anthem in 1931.1814 Easton Flag.1818 Flag with 20 stars and 13 stripes (it remains at 13 hereafter) Tennessee (June 1, 1796), Ohio (March 1, 1803), Louisiana (April 30, 1812), Indiana (December 11, 1816), Mississippi (December 10, 1817)1819 Flag with 21 stars Illinois (December 3, 1818)1820 Flag with 23 stars Alabama (December 14, 1819), Maine (March 15, 1820) first flag on Pikes Peakc. 1820-30 Bennington Flag. According to some accounts, this flag was flown at the Battle of Bennington.

It is sometimes called the Fillmore Flag. The story goes that Nathaniel Fillmore took this flag home from the battlefield, and the flag was passed down through generations of Fillmores, including Millard, and today it can be seen at Vermont's Bennington Museum.

Most experts doubt this story and date the flag to about 1820-30.1822 Flag with 24 stars Missouri (August 10, 1821)1836 Flag with 25 stars Arkansas (June 15, 1836)1837 Flag with 26 stars Michigan (Jan 26, 1837)1837 Great Star Flag.1845 Flag with 27 stars Florida (March 3, 1845)1846 Flag with 28 stars Texas (December 29, 1845)1847 Flag with 29 stars Iowa (December 28, 1846)1847 29 Star Flag.1848 Flag with 30 stars Wisconsin (May 29, 1848)1851 Flag with 31 stars California (September 9, 1850)1858 Flag with 32 stars Minnesota (May 11, 1858)1859 Flag with 33 stars Oregon (February 14, 1859)1861 Flag with 34 stars; Kansas (January 29, 1861) Note: Even after the South seceded from the Union, President Lincoln would not allow any stars to be removed from the flag.

• first Confederate Flag (Stars and Bars) adopted in Montgomery, Alabama1861 Fort Sumter Flag.1863 Flag with 35 stars West Virginia (June 20, 1863)1865 Flag with 36 stars Nevada (October 31, 1864)1867 Flag with 37 stars Nebraska (March 1, 1867)1869 First flag on a postage stamp1876 Centennial Flag.1877 Flag with 38 stars Colorado (August 1, 1876)1877 38 Star Flag.1889 Flag with 39 stars that never was! Flag manufacturers believed that the two Dakotas would be admitted as one state and so manufactured this flag, some of which still exist.

It was never an official flag.1890 Flag with 43 stars North Dakota (November 2, 1889), South Dakota (November 2, 1889), Montana (November 8, 1889), Washington (November 11, 1889), Idaho (July 3, 1890)1891 Flag with 44 stars Wyoming (July 10, 1890)1892 ""Pledge of Allegiance"" first published in a magazine called ""The Youth's Companion,"" written by Francis Bellamy.1896 Flag with 45 stars Utah (January 4, 1896)1897 Adoption of State Flag Desecration Statutes — By the late 1800's an organized flag protection movement was born in reaction to perceived commercial and political misuse of the flag. After supporters failed to obtain federal legislation, Illinois, Pennsylvania, and South Dakota became the first States to adopt flag desecration statutes.

By 1932, all of the States had adopted flag desecration laws. In general, these State laws outlawed: (i) placing any kind of marking on the flag, whether for commercial, political, or other purposes; (ii) using the flag in any form of advertising; and (iii) publicly mutilating, trampling, defacing, defiling, defying or casting contempt, either by words or by act, upon the flag.

Under the model flag desecration law, the term ""flag"" was defined to include any flag, standard, ensign, or color, or any representation of such made of any substance whatsoever and of any size that evidently purported to be said flag or a picture or representation thereof, upon which shall be shown the colors, the stars and stripes in any number, or by which the person seeing the same without deliberation may believe the same to represent the flag of the U. S.1907 Halter v. Nebraska (205 U. S. 34) — The Supreme Court holds that although the flag was a federal creation, the States' had the authority to promulgate flag desecration laws under their general police power to safeguard public safety and welfare.

Halter involved a conviction of two businessmen selling ""Stars and Stripes"" brand beer with representations of the U. S. flag affixed to the labels.

The defendants did not raise any First Amendment claim.1908 Flag with 46 stars Oklahoma (November 16, 1907)1909 Robert Peary places the flag his wife sewed atop the North Pole.

He left fragments of it as he traveled north. Ref1912 June 24, President Taft signs Executive Order which establishes proportions of the flag and specifies arrangement and orientation of the stars.1912 Flag with 48 stars New Mexico (January 6, 1912), Arizona (February 14, 1912)1931 Stromberg v. California (283 U. S. 359) — The Supreme Court finds that a State statute prohibiting the display of a ""red flag"" as a sign of opposition to organized government unconstitutionally infringed on the defendant's First Amendment rights.

Stromberg represents the Court's first declaration that ""symbolic speech"" is protected by the First Amendment.1942 Federal Flag Code (36 U. S. C. 171 et seq.)

— On June 22, 1942, President Roosevelt approves the Federal Flag Code, providing for uniform guidelines for the display and respect shown to the flag.

The Flag Code does not prescribe any penalties for non-compliance nor does it include any enforcement provisions, rather it functions simply as a guide for voluntary civilian compliance.1943 West Virginia Board of Education v. Barnette (319 U. S. 624) — The Supreme Court holds that public school children could not be compelled to salute the U. S. flag. In a now famous passage, Justice Jackson highlighted the importance of freedom of expression under the First Amendment: Freedom to differ is not limited to things that do not matter much. That would be a mere shadow of freedom. The test of its substance is the right to differ as to things that touch the heart of the existing order.

If there is any fixed star in our constitutional constellation it is that no official, high or petty, can prescribe what shall be orthodox in politics, nationalism, religion or other matters of opinion.1945 The flag that flew over Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, is flown over the White House on August 14, when the Japanese accepted surrender terms.1949 August 3 — Truman signs bill requesting the President call for Flag Day (June 14) observance each year by proclamation.1954 By act of Congress, the words ""Under God"" are inserted into the Pledge of Allegiance1959 Flag with 49 stars Alaska (January 3, 1959)1960 Flag with 50 stars Hawaii (August 21, 1959)1962 In the case Engel v. Vitale, the court decides that government-directed prayer in public schools is unconstitutional, a violation of the Establishment Clause.

This case is relevant to the flag in that it set a precedent for debate over use of the phrase ""under God"" which was added to the Pledge of Allegiance in 1954.1963 Flag placed on top of Mount Everest by Barry Bishop.1968 Adoption of Federal Flag Desecration Law (18 U. S. C. 700 et seq.) — Congress approves the first federal flag desecration law in the wake of a highly publicized Central Park flag burning incident in protest of the Vietnam War.

The federal law made it illegal to ""knowingly"" cast ""contempt"" upon ""any flag of the United States by publicly mutilating, defacing, defiling, burning or trampling upon it."" The law defined flag in an expansive manner similar to most States.1969 July 20 — The American flag is placed on the moon by Neil Armstrong.1969 Street v. New York (394 U. S. 576) — The Supreme Court holds that New York could not convict a person based on his verbal remarks disparaging the flag.

Street was arrested after he learned of the shooting of civil rights leader James Meredith and reacted by burning his own flag and exclaiming to a small crowd that if the government could allow Meredith to be killed, ""we don't need no damn flag."" The Court avoided deciding whether flag burning was protected by the First Amendment, and instead overturned the conviction based on Street's oral remarks.

In Street, the Court found there was not a sufficient governmental interest to warrant regulating verbal criticism of the flag.1972 Smith v. Goguen (415 U. S. 94) — The Supreme Court holds that Massachusetts could not prosecute a person for wearing a small cloth replica of the flag on the seat of his pants based on a State law making it a crime to publicly treat the flag of the United States with ""contempt."" The Massachusetts statute was held to be unconstitutionally ""void for vagueness. ""1974 Spence v. Washington (418 U. S. 405) — The Supreme Court holds that the State of Washington could not convict a person for attaching removable tape in the form of a peace sign to a flag.

The defendant had attached the tape to his flag and draped it outside of his window in protest of the U. S. invasion of Cambodia and the Kent State killings.

The Court again found under the First Amendment there was not a sufficient governmental interest to justify regulating this form of symbolic speech.

Although not a flag burning case, this represented the first time the Court had clearly stated that protest involving the physical use of the flag should be seen as a form of protected expression under the First Amendment.1970-1980 Revision of State Flag Desecration Statutes — During this period legislatures in some 20 States narrow the scope of their flag desecration laws in an effort to conform to perceived Constitutional restrictions under the Street, Smith, and Spence cases and to more generally parallel the federal law (i.e., focusing more specifically on mutilation and other forms of physical desecration, rather than verbal abuse or commercial or political misuse).1989 Texas v. Johnson (491 U. S. 397) — The Supreme Court upholds the Texas Court of Criminal appeals finding that Texas law — making it a crime to ""desecrate"" or otherwise ""mistreat"" the flag in a way the ""actor knows will seriously offend one or more persons"" — was unconstitutional as applied.

This was the first time the Supreme Court had directly considered the applicability of the First Amendment to flag burning.

Gregory Johnson, a member of the Revolutionary Communist Party, was arrested during a demonstration outside of the 1984 Republican National Convention in Dallas after he set fire to a flag while protestors chanted ""America, the red, white, and blue, we spit on you.""

In a 5-4 decision authored by Justice Brennan, the Court first found that burning the flag was a form of symbolic speech subject to protection under the First Amendment.

The Court also determined that under United States v. O'Brien, 391 U. S. 367 (1968), since the State law was related to the suppression of freedom of expression, the conviction could only be upheld if Texas could demonstrate a ""compelling"" interest in its law.

The Court next found that Texas' asserted interest in ""protecting the peace"" was not implicated under the facts of the case.

Finally, while the Court acknowledged that Texas had a legitimate interest in preserving the flag as a ""symbol of national unity,"" this interest was not sufficiently compelling to justify a ""content based"" legal restriction (i.e., the law was not based on protecting the physical integrity of the flag in all circumstances, but was designed to protect it from symbolic protest likely to cause offense to others).1989 Revision of Federal Flag Desecration Statute — Pursuant to the Flag Protection Act of 1989, Congress amends the 1968 federal flag desecration statute in an effort to make it ""content neutral"" and conform to the Constitutional requirements of Johnson.

As a result, the 1989 Act sought to prohibit flag desecration under all circumstances by deleting the statutory requirement that the conduct cast contempt upon the flag and narrowing the definition of the term ""flag"" so that its meaning was not based on the observation of third parties.1990 United States v. Eichman (496 U. S. 310) — Passage of the Flag Protection Act results in a number of flag burning incidents protesting the new law.

The Supreme Court overturned several flag burning convictions brought under the Flag Protection Act of 1989. The Court holds that notwithstanding Congress' effort to adopt a more content neutral law, the federal law continued to be principally aimed at limiting symbolic speech.1990 Rejection of Constitutional Amendment — Following the Eichman decision, Congress considers and rejects a Constitutional Amendment specifying that ""the Congress and the States have the power to prohibit the physical desecration of the flag of the United States.""

The amendment failed to muster the necessary two-thirds Congressional majorities, as it was supported by only a 254 — 177 margin in the House (290 votes were necessary) and a 58 — 42 margin in the Senate (67 votes were necessary).1995 December 12 — The Flag Desecration Constitutional Amendment is narrowly defeated in the Senate.

The Amendment to the Constitution would make burning the flag a punishable crime.2001 September 11 — The Flag from the World Trade towers survives and becomes a symbol of sacrifice in service, loss, and determination.2002 June 26 — The 9th U. S. Circuit Court of Appeals in California declares that reciting the Pledge of Allegiance in public schools is unconstitutional because ""under God"" (inserted into the Pledge in 1954) was a violation of the Establishment Clause, that expression not create the reasonable impression that the government is sponsoring, endorsing, or inhibiting religion generally, or favoring or disfavoring a particular religion.

This ruling was reconfirmed in February 2003, and applies only to the 9th Circuit (the following districts: Alaska, Arizona, Central, Eastern, Northern, and Southern California, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Eastern and Western Washington, Guam, and Northern Mariana Islands).

(See 2010)2004 June 14 — The Supreme Court declines to hear a case challenging ""One nation under God"" in the Pledge of Allegiance. ""While the court did not address the merits of the case, it is clear that the Pledge of Allegiance and the words 'under God' can continue to be recited by students across America,"" said Jay Sekulow, chief counsel for the American Center for Law and Justice.2005 January 25 — Constitutional amendment, sponsored by Rep. Duke Cunningham, introduced. It reads simply, ""The Congress shall have power to prohibit the physical desecration of the flag of the United States."" June 22 — The Constitutional amendment (see above) is approved by the House (vote of 286-130). It requires Senate approval. Then it must receive approval from 38 states within seven years.2006 June 28 — The Senate is one vote short of passing the Constitutional amendment (see above).2006 July 19 — H. R.42 is passed, preventing condominiums or residential real estate management associations from forbidding the flying of the US flag. Read full law2010 The 9th U. S. Circuit Court of Appeals in California declares that the phrase ""under God"" in the Pledge is constitutional. The majority decision states, “The Pledge of Allegiance serves to unite our vast nation through the proud recitation of some of the ideals upon which our Republic was founded.” It states later, ""Coercion to engage in a patriotic activity, like the Pledge of Allegiance, does not run afoul of the Establishment Clause."" (See 2002) Read decision [pdf]???? Proposed flag with 51 stars, to be used if a 51st state is added. Help Support USHistory.org! Buy a flag or poster! "

The country also concentrated its foreign trade activities in India. But as well, competition intensified as more Americans entered the Northwest fur trade. American merchants sought new business opportunities in the wake of the American revolution and the loss of prior trading relations with Great Britain, parts of Europe and in the West Indies. Robert Gray, who would discover the Columbia River on his second voyage to the Northwest coast, was outfitted by Boston merchants for both voyages, the first in 1787 and the second three years later.

Fur trade

Fur trade Oct 31, 2008 John Harrison Furs, particularly those of sea otters and fur seals, lured the first European explorers, and later Americans, to the Pacific Northwest and the Columbia River. They came by sea. In the mid to late 1700s, the thick, luxurious and water-repellent furs of sea mammals were highly valued in China as well as in Europe, where they were sewn into coats, hats and bed covers.

In China, furs were traded for tea and spices. A Russian, Semen Dezhnev, may have been the first to venture into the northern Pacific for the purpose of commerce in furs.

In 1648, Dezhnev completed the first recorded voyage between the Arctic and Pacific oceans by sailing east from the mouth of the Kolyma River, which flows into the Arctic Ocean, around the northeastern tip of Siberia and south to a point near the mouth of the Anadyr River, on the Pacific Ocean.

Historian Stephen Haycox of the University of Alaska calls Dezhnev’s voyage “a remarkable Russian geographical accomplishment,” a highly significant voyage like the later explorations of Vitus Bering in 1728 and 1741 that led to the colonization of Alaska by Russian fur merchants. Bering recognized the importance of Dezhnev’s accomplishment; he reported on Dezhnev’s voyage upon his return to St. Petersburg after exploring the Siberian Pacific coast.

Others recognized, it, too. In August 1778, Captain James Cook named the easternmost point of Asia — the northeastern tip of Siberia — East Cape, but Russia has preferred the name Cape Dezhnev.

By leading the way into the North Pacific, Dezhnev inspired those who would follow. And it was the knowledge of Bering’s discovery of Alaska, among other concerns, that influenced the naval officers of New Spain to dispatch their own explorations north along the eastern coast of the Pacific into the Northwest in the mid-1700s and to protect and expand their empire by establishing an outpost at Nootka Sound on the west coast of present-day Vancouver Island in 1789.

At the same time, stories about Russians trading Alaskan furs in China, and the continued search for the Northwest Passage, intensified European and, ultimately, American interest in the Pacific Northwest and the Columbia River. Cook approached the Northwest coast on his third voyage to the Pacific in March 1778. He first sighted the coast near present-day Yaquina Bay, Oregon (Newport), on March 7.

Because his instructions were to search for the passage farther north, he spent little time off the Oregon coast, but he did name several prominent capes — Gregory (today called Arago), Perpetua and Foulweather — then was blown out to sea in a storm and missed both the entrance of the Columbia River and the Strait of Juan de Fuca.

He stopped at Nootka Sound, which he did not realize was on an island, for the purpose of repairing and rerigging his two ships, the Resolution and Discovery . The expedition spent most of April at Nootka, where the local Indians carried on a lively trade with the crew for metal. The Indians possessed some brass and silver objects, apparently acquired from Spaniards who had visited the coast previously, and they wanted more. Cook’s crew traded practically everything metal they possessed — buttons, drawer knobs, kettles — in exchange for sea otter skins, which were needed to mend their worn clothing.

The pelts also were beautiful and luxurious, and the crew “was passionately fond of” them, Cook later noted in his report of the voyage.

At Canton on the return voyage to England, following Cook’s death in Hawai’i, the crew sold their surplus pelts for $100 apiece, a remarkable price at the time. News of the fabulous value of Northwest furs sparked the interest of traders in America, England and Spain and led to the beginning of the sea-based fur trade in the Northwest. It was interest in the maritime fur trade following the publication of the official report of Cook’s voyage in 1784 that led to the discovery of the Columbia River. British interest in the maritime fur trade peaked between 1785 and 1794 and gradually declined over the next 10 years as the wars that grew out of the French Revolution diminished Britain’s manpower and investment.

The trade grew steadily and remained active and prosperous until war with Great Britain broke out in 1812. As Cook’s crew discovered, the prized sea otter fur initially brought $100 or more in Canton, but over time the price declined to about $22 — still a lot of money in the early 1800s.

At the height of the trade, in 1801-02, 15 vessels were on the coast and 15,000 pelts were carried to Canton. Between 1790 and 1812, American traders sold an average of 12,000 sea otter pelts in Canton annually. The skins of beaver, marten and seals also were traded, but these were less valuable. The Columbia River was not a major trading depot for sea otters, but the estuary provided a convenient place for traders to spend the winters.

Vancouver's lieutenant, Broughton, found the American trader James Baker in the estuary when he entered in October 1792, six months after Gray discovered the river. During the winter of 1805-06, when the Lewis and Clark expedition stayed at Fort Clatsop, local Indians gave the explorers the names of 14 traders who had visited the river, but it was impossible to identify them based on the Indians’ pronunciation of their names.

In the Columbia River, traders often acquired locally made leather “war dresses,” also called “clamons,” which could be traded to Indians elsewhere on the Northwest coast for furs — until the Americans started trading guns for furs and the war dresses became obsolete.

Steadily the relentless pursuit of sea otters diminished their populations in the Northwest, and traders turned to California, where the animals remained in great supply. Enterprising businessmen sought to expand the Northwest trade to embrace the Russian forts in Alaska by using Alaskan native hunters to kill sea otters in California, trade them in Hawai’i or Canton for cash and goods, and then supply the Russian forts in a sort of triangular trade route between the Northwest, Canton and Lima..

The Columbia River provided a suitable location for the Northwest headquarters of such an enterprise, and Captain Nathaniel Winship established a post about 30 miles upriver in May 1810 for that purpose.

The site was on the south shore approximately across the river from present-day Oak Point, Washington. Repeated warnings by local Indians that Europeans were welcome to trade at the coast but not settle inland convinced Winship to abandon the project, but it was the first effort to build an American settlement in the Northwest.

Historians Dorothy Johansen and Charles Gates say the Winship attempt at settlement also shows that East Coast business interests saw the Columbia as a vital link in Pacific commerce and as the future business center of the region.

It was the nature of the fur trade, Johansen and Gates wrote, that new fields of opportunity needed to be opened continuously to feed the voracious demand for fur. In 1807 the North West Company, a Canadian firm that employed David Thompson, began exploring the region west of the Rocky Mountains.

In competition with the Hudson’s Bay Company, the North West Company sought to leave the drainage of Hudson’s Bay to its rival and attempt to dominate the Columbia River fur trade.

At the same time New York merchant John Jacob Astor, who had made a fortune in the East Coast fur trade, sought to expand his empire to the Pacific through a succession of separate companies that ultimately would be established in succession across the country and eventually joined. One of these, which he incorporated in 1810, was the Pacific Fur Company. It was an alliance among Astor and three former North West Company principals. To stake his claim on the Pacific, Astor dispatched two parties to the mouth of the Columbia in September 1810, one by sea in an Astor ship, the Tonquin , and the other by land.

The ship arrived in the Columbia River estuary in late March 1811, where eight men died as the ship attempted, and finally succeeded, to cross the bar. Fort Astoria was built, the Tonquin left in June for summer trading, and it never returned, the crew apparently massacred and the ship destroyed in Nootka Sound.

The land party would not arrive at Astoria until early 1812, and then in small groups between January and late spring. The outpost was seriously undersupplied, as most of the trade goods and supplies had been stored in the Tonquin and were now lost.

In July 1811, meanwhile, a small party of Astorians who had arrived in the Tonquin decided it was safe enough to journey up the Columbia in search of furs. Shortly, though, they met David Thompson coming down the river. All returned to Astoria, stayed a week while Thompson scouted the area, and then resumed the journey together up the Columbia.

Thompson was the only one who had seen the upper Columbia. The Astorians established their inland trading post at the place where the Okanogan River flows into the Columbia in north-central Washington.

The outbreak of war between the United States and Great Britain in June 1812 greatly affected Astor’s far-flung enterprise on the Pacific. Astor’s ship Beaver had arrived at Astoria to resupply the fort with trading goods and personnel, and the Astorians’ upper Columbia party had returned with hopeful news of hunting and trading prospects in the interior, but North West Company employees also returned with plans for their own expanded business and, of course, news of the war.

Feeling outnumbered and undersupplied, the Astorians and Canadians agreed to join forces, dissolve the Pacific Fur Company and sell Fort Astoria to the North West Company.

This was accomplished on October 16, 1813, and Fort Astoria was renamed Fort George in honor of the British kin, George IV.

Astor later would blame the war for his loss of Astoria, which he estimated ultimately cost him $200,000, but the truth is that the post was sold willingly by the partners present, which was allowed in the articles of the company’s incorporation. As well, Astor’s Pacific adventure simply was poorly supplied and managed, and even without the war he very likely would have been run out of the Northwest business by the better organized and managed North West Company.

From 1813 until 1821, when it merged with its rival Hudson’s Bay Company, the North West Company dominated the interior Northwest fur trade. But dreams of an enterprise that would include England, the Northwest coast and the Orient never were fulfilled, largely because the British-controlled East India Company refused to allow rival North West Company ships to carry Chinese goods to England.

The North West Company had a foothold in the Northwest, but not a continental monopoly; the Hudson’s Bay Company had a monopoly within its chartered area in Canada and wanted a monopoly in the West. It made sense for the competitors to merge, and they did so in 1821. The Bay Company took over Fort George, closed it and relocated at Fort Vancouver, which was constructed about 100 miles inland, the Indians now being more receptive to European settlement.

The Columbia Department of the Bay Company included all of the Northwest from the Rocky Mountains west to the Pacific and from Russian Alaska to Spanish California. By 1845, when the company was at its peak, the Columbia Department included 23 forts. Meanwhile, American interest in the western fur trade was growing.

In 1821, the same year the Bay Company and North West Company merged, Congressman John Floyd of Virginia issued a report speculating on the profitability of a transcontinental trade route to tap furs and profits from Oregon. He proposed that a community be established at the mouth of the Columbia with a port, customs house, civil administration and an Indian agent. Floyd was a friend of William Clark and a cousin of Sgt. Charles Floyd, the only man to die on the Lewis and Clark expedition.

At the time, Astor’s American Fur Company was beginning to dominate the fur trade in the Great Plains and Rocky Mountains, and he would eliminate the competition there by 1835. To discourage competition from American traders in the Columbia Basin, the Bay Company adopted a policy of trapping as many beavers as possible, particularly in the vast area south of the river where the company knew American trappers were working, or would be.

Beavers were not the only fur-bearers that were hunted, but they had a high value. The company employed its own trappers and hunters but also traded food and other goods with Indians for furs. Over time, many Indians became essentially wards of the company, trapping and trading in a sort of subsistence round of furs and food.

The Bay Company dominated the Northwest fur trade from its merger with the North West Company until 1846, when the United States and Great Britain ended the joint occupancy of the Northwest that had existed since 1818 and agreed on the 49 th parallel as the international border. The interior fur trade had its heyday in the 10 years between 1823 and 1833. Profits could be enormous.

H. M. Chittenden, whose two-volume The American Fur Trade of the Far West is an authoritative work on the subject, estimated, for example, that the profits of the Rocky Mountain Fur Company, an American firm, were $50,000-$60,000 per year between 1823 and 1827. After 1833, the aggressive trapping of the Bay Company and the subsequent decline of beaver populations, competition among the various firms engaged in the trade and a shift in public preference away from fur clothing, particularly hats, vastly reduced profitability. The fur trade declined after 1840. In the Columbia River Basin, the Bay Company experienced a decline.

Between 1826 and 1830, the company took in more than 51,700 beaver pelts at its Columbia River Basin posts. Between 1841 and 1845, the number was barely half as many, about 26,500. Other business operations, including lumbering and agriculture, steadily grew in importance as the company consolidated its operations north of the new border.

The decline of the fur trade coincided roughly with the decline of the Christian missions in the Columbia Basin following the 1847 WHITMAN MURDERS. Geographer D. W. Meinig, author of The Great Columbia Plain: A Historical Geography, 1805-1910, described the fur trade as one of three significant cultural impacts on Columbia Basin Indian tribes, the others being the missions and the military posts.

None of these specifically was intended to destroy the Indians, but each had its own negative impact. The fur trade, he maintained, attempted to placate and exploit Indians, the missions to convert and civilize, and the military posts to chastise and control. These points of contact, from the standpoint of Indians, “take on the appearance of festering sores whose influences spread gradually and insidiously to infect whole tribes with disease, economic distortion and social disintegration.” Anthropologist Eugene Hunn, also of the University of Washington, has a similar, if less pessimistic, view of the impact of the fur trade on tribes.

Indians tolerated the traders and assisted them by providing horses and venison, Hunn says. But there were social and cultural impacts of the traders’ presence, including the introduction of diseases, the easy procurement of material goods and food that made many Indians dependent on the trading posts, and inter-tribal warfare that was exacerbated by guns provided by the traders in exchange for furs.

The encounter between Indians and non-Indians on the Columbia, which began with the fur trade, “encompassed a relatively narrow exchange between the ‘discoverer’ and the ‘discovered,’” historian William Lang of Portland State University has written. For Indians, trade was an opportunity to improve their lives, not the context of their lives, Lang wrote. Nonetheless, the encounter was “part of a great world-changing experience [that] spun a kaleidoscope of consequences that continue to inform and shape our decisions in private and public matters. The Encounter changed this region, and it would never be as it was before.”