Peter Pond was one of the earliest notable explorers to venture to the far western reaches of the continent. Pond, a New Englander and member of the militia, devoted himself at the age of 25, in 1765, to a life of exploring the Canadian west. In 1778 Pond entered modern day Saskatchewan and Monitoba, in search of Cook's fabled "Northwest passage" - a waterway linking  east and west. Though Pond never found an all water route to the west, he did map his "Athabasia Country". In 1785, Pond went to New York City, and before the Continental Congress, asked for money in order to further explore the west. Though rejected, Pond provided the east coast with  his maps and his belief that the west was the critical link to trade with the Far East. Thus, Pond went to the Canadians in Montreal for support, arguing that the west was a place of imperial reward and that further exploration would benefit the British Canadian government. However, London rejected his plan, believing that further exploration would only  bring unnecessary conflict with Spanish and American neighbors. Pond, however, returned to the west in 1787 for the last time. Accompanying him on this expedition was a young explorer, who, under the tutelage of Peter Pond, found interest and necessity in further exploring the Canadian west. His name was Alexander Mackenzie.

Alexander Mackenzie.

    Mackenzie was significant as a prophet for Astoria because he was the first to articulate to the North West Company the benefits of a trading post at the mouth of the Columbia River. Mackenzie made numerous western expeditions  under the sponsorship of Montreal's North West Company. Using some of Pond's information, Mackenzie was able to state as a fact that no northwest passage existed to the south of 69 degrees, 15 minutes north latitude. Mackenzie also traveled to London to plead his case, but he met the same outcome as Pond: no commitment. However, Mackenzie's scheme was important to future efforts. He proposed a merger of the major Canadian fur companies, the North West and the Hudson's Bay. Furthermore, two far western outposts should be founded and used for fur trapping and trade: One at Cook's Inlet, and one to the south at the mouth of the Columbia River. Thus, Mackenzie became the first to vocalize that the Columbia River was a key to fur trading dominance.

Map of the Pacific Northwest.

    Although their expedition was a failure, the plan of North Westerners Duncan McGillivray and David Thompson was important to the plan of Astoria. In 1799 they set out to find an overland route over the continental divide from Edmonton to the Pacific. Their goal was to aim to the south of where Pond and Mackenzie had explored, ending up at the Columbia River. However, very treacherous weather and sickness led to the forced return of the party to Montreal in 1800. The next year, David Thompson set out with James Hughes, guided by a Cree Indian, to find the route to the Pacific. However, due to bad weather once again and what Thompson attributed to poor guiding by the Cree, the expedition again returned to the North West Company with no new information. The North West Company would abondon all ventures to the west for the next  4, years, until Simon Fraser set out in 1805 in search of the famed "all water route" to the Pacific. Of course, Fraser failed to find this, but by this time, the United States had sent out their own party to explore imperial strategies in the west.

The Columbia River Gorge, to the east,
from above Casade Locks, Oregon.

    In the first few years of the 19th century, Thomas Jefferson had recieved and read the reports of Alexander Mackenzie. By 1803 he responded by sending Meriwether Lewis and Wiliam Clark as leaders of an expedition whose goal was to map and explore the Louisiana Purchase lands and beyond to the Pacific. The most notable effect this had on Astor was Lewis' proposal, upon return to Washington DC, of the benefits of a trading post at the mouth of the Columbia River. Jeffreson put this plan aside for the time being, as he suggested instead a possible site on the Missouri. While Astor was encouraged by the plans of Lewis, the Canadian influence, especially that of Alexander Henry the elder, were much more influencial.

Alexander Henry the Elder.

    Alexander Henry met John Jacob Astor in Montreal in 1790 due to their common interest in the fur business. Henry, a fur peddler born in New Jersey, had settled in Canada after the Seven Year's War. Henry also had travelled to London, voicing the common opinions of Pond and Mackenzie that the fur trade was increasingly profitable the farther west it reached. A chain of fur posts, from Cook's Inlet to the Columbia, would be economically profitable to the North West Company, although the risk would exist.  As a businness partner and friend of Astor, Henry's emperical vision seemed to be the most dominating on Astor's later actions. Thus a link is established: Peter Pond was the exploration "father" of Alexander Mackenzie, whose views were accepted and later defended by Alexander Henry, who, befriending John Jacob Astor, led the American to his own grand scheme of a fur trading empire in the west.

    In conclusion, John Jacob Astor did not dream up the idea of Astoria on his own. The idea evolved and changed hands, and, though it took over 30 years, was finally  brought into action by Astor's Pacific Fur Company.

Pictures: Ronda, page 17. Franchere, page 56. Picture: Will Kalenius.  Ronda, page 126.

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