Next, astoria by author john jacob. This an is hour and 14 minutes. Thank you powells books and thank you for being here. Normally i have a more formal presentation. I have a reading i show at readings. But tonight is a special night so i am going to do something different. And i want to tell stories a little bit more and, of course, i will do some readings. It is special we are at powells books, we are in oregon, astoria is nearby and we are also here with cspan so we have a national and oregon audience. I will tell stories and you may know some of them and may not some of the others. But i will start with how i came to this story. And actually, what is surprising about it is how this story was verywell known in its day. In 1836, when Washington Irving was commissioned by john John Jacob Astor to write these, irvings book also called astoria was a best seller in 1926. They have been forgotten now. I think some of you know about them. But in the National Consciousness they are largely
Risking their lives instead of staying at home on the ohio river and risking their lives a little bit less. So pike makes the same request of congress. He forged letters from jefferson and dearborn and secretary of state James Madison and things like that in congress, the committee reviewing the request votes in favor of granting him this but by this point the expedition is inextricable from the politics dividing congress over jefferson and burr and wilkinson in general and Congress Never votes. My guess, there is no record of why they dont vote. No one made the decision not to vote but the last evidence we have in the congressional record as of the Committee Voting to bring it to a vote on the floor and then it just disappears until the 1840s when we have a comments by his widow clara who is requesting that the reward be paid to her. By this point she is destitute. Then she dies before they do anything. My guess about whats going on is twofold. One is burr is acquitted and he has a lo
And, actually, whats surprising about it is how this story was very well known in its day, in 1836 when Washington Irving was commissioned by John Jacob Astor to write the story of these events 20 years after they occurred. Irvings book, also called astoria, was a best seller of 1836. And those events have been largely forgotten in the american consciousness. I think you in oregon know a little bit more about them, or im sure some of you know a lot more about them. But in the national consciousness, theyre largely forgotten except among historians and people who really follow western history. So it is a really important story. Its historically significant, and its a great adventure story. And thats partly what attracted me to it. And its also a story that i i feel needs to be told because its had, those events have had a big impact on the shape of the north American Continent and on the course of american empire, these events that happened over these three years from 1810 to 181. 1813.
Layed with 20 tons of goods and equipped with ors, sand and tow ropes the party left from winter camp on april 21, 1811 with sails set in a favorable wind. They hoped to reach the pacific in late summer or autumn. The second passage i am reading takes place as they are going up the river from their winter camp which was about 400 miles up river from st. Louis. And as i mentioned, they were to follow the lewis and clark trail that is going up the missouri, over the rockies and down the columbia. Thaws went up the missouri, the father they went the worse the stories got about the indians at the head water. The overland leader was a young new Jersey Business man named wilson price hunt who was known as a nice guy, serious minded, conscious, and liked to lead by c concensus but he had never been in the wilderness before. Astor knew that hunt would remain loyal to astor. But astor hired a lot of other scottish fur traders, french canadian voyagers. He was looking for the best and that happe
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