September 8

On the 8th in 1810, the ship Tonquin, owned by John Jacob Astor[i], sailed from New York harbor bound for the Columbia River in Oregon. It was Astor’s intention to establish a site in Oregon to take advantage of the lucrative fur trading business there. Astor had bought the boat specifically for that purpose. The cargo on board the Tonquin included trade goods, seeds, building material for a trading post, tools, and the frame of a schooner to be used in the coastal trade. Additionally there was a crew of 34 people including the captain[ii]. Following a circuitous route, which took them to the Falkland Islands, around Cape Horn, and then to Hawaii, they finally reached Oregon on March 22, 1811, when they arrived at the mouth of the Columbia River. Due to the rather treacherous sand bar there, it took them three days to figure out a way into the river. They then headed upstream and founded the city that was to become Astoria, Oregon.
[i] Astor was the first millionaire in the United States.
[ii] There were four partners of the company: Duncan McDougall, David and Robert Stuart, and Alexander McKay. Additionally there were 12 clerks and 13 Canadian voyageurs, plus four tradesmen: Augustus Roussel, a blacksmith, Johann Koaster a carpenter, Job Aitkem a boat builder, and George Bell a cooper.