The Project Gutenberg EBook of Astoria, by Washington Irving

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Title: Astoria
Or, Anecdotes Of An Enterprise Beyond The Rocky Mountains

Author: Washington Irving

Release Date: February 18, 2006 [EBook #1371]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

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ASTORIA;

OR, ANECDOTES OF AN ENTERPRISE BEYOND THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS

By Washington Irving

AUTHOR'S INTRODUCTION

IN THE COURSE of occasional visits to Canada many years since, I became
intimately acquainted with some of the principal partners of the
great Northwest Fur Company, who at that time lived in genial style
at Montreal, and kept almost open house for the stranger. At their
hospitable boards I occasionally met with partners, and clerks, and
hardy fur traders from the interior posts; men who had passed years
remote from civilized society, among distant and savage tribes, and
who had wonders to recount of their wide and wild peregrinations, their
hunting exploits, and their perilous adventures and hair-breadth escapes
among the Indians. I was at an age when imagination lends its coloring
to everything, and the stories of these Sinbads of the wilderness made
the life of a trapper and fur trader perfect romance to me. I even
meditated at one time a visit to the remote posts of the company in
the boats which annually ascended the lakes and rivers, being thereto
invited by one of the partners; and I have ever since regretted that I
was prevented by circumstances from carrying my intention into effect.
From those early impressions, the grand enterprise of the great fur
companies, and the hazardous errantry of their associates in the wild
parts of our vast continent, have always been themes of charmed
interest to me; and I have felt anxious to get at the details of their
adventurous expeditions among the savage tribes that peopled the depths
of the wilderness.

About two years ago, not long after my return from a tour upon the
prairies of the far West, I had a conversation with my friend, Mr.
John Jacob Astor, relative to that portion of our country, and to the