The Pacific Fur Company was founded by John Jacob Astor on June 23, 1810, as a subsidiary of his American Fur Company. In 1811, the company established a trading post at Astoria at the mouth of the Columbia River. Astor lost this post during the War of 1812.

Astor lost money on the company. Astor asked a captain named Jonathan Thorn to lead his sea expedition. This was a bad choice. Thorn was impatient and wanted to find the passage as soon as possible. He sent a small dinghy to the mouth of the Columbia. At the time there was a rough storm happening. He killed eight men. He also left nine men on an island for being "unloyal". He had to be held at gunpoint to bring them back. On August 2, 1811, his actions resulted in the sinking of the Tonquin which killed 61 men.

The Story of the Tonquin: "After sixty-five days at Astoria, the Tonquin sailed back to Baker’s Bay, but had to wait until the 5th of June before conditions were right to cross the breakers.

Anchoring on the west side of Vancouver Island at Nootka Sound, McKay went ashore to an Indian village. While he was gone, Indians began arriving with sea-otter skins to trade. Captain Thorn laid out the trade goods, but when his first offer for a trade was scorned at by one of the chiefs, Thorn hit him across the face with a sea otter skin. The Indians onboard gathered their furs and left the ship.

The next morning a canoe of twenty unarmed Indians were allowed on deck. When another canoe arrived, the Watch Officer become alarmed. He called for Captain Thorn and McKay, but by the time they reached the deck, a large number of Indians were onboard. McKay urged Captain Thorn to clear the deck and get under way. The Indians offered to trade on Thorn’s terms, and while the anchor was being raised, the trade started. Once the anchor was up and the sails set, the Captain ordered the deck cleared of Indians. Told to leave, the Indians drew weapons from under their blankets and killed McKay and Thorn.

Although the three Astorian clerks that kept journals, Ross, Franchère, and Cox, heard the story from the only survivor, Jack Ramsey (Lamazu), the details in the three books vary to such an extent that suffice it to say all of the Tonquin crewmen were killed, except one. The following morning, when the Indian came back onboard, a badly wounded James Lewis (?) managed to light the powder magazine. Ramsey estimated two hundred Indians were killed by the explosion. The sunken hull of the Tonquin has never been located."(O. Ned Eddins via www.thefurtrapper.com)

In the Spring of 2003 an anchor was found near the rugged B.C. coastal town of Tofino. Fluked, with a wooden shaft, its finder, Rod Palm, thought it might be related to “Tonquin”. John Jacob Astor’s fur trading vessel. When he raised it he was amazed to find over 100 blue-glass beads of the type used by early fur traders adhering to the rust of the anchor. After to talking with local natives, Palm was convinced that he had found the “Tonquin” and announced the find with great fanfare to the world. The Government of British Columbia, not convinced of Palm’s claim called on “The Sea Hunters” and Archaeologist James Delgado to assess the site and carry out a survey.(episode guide for The Seahunters:The Search for "Tonquin" via www.shipwreckcentral.com)

Only one of Astor's three expeditions, the second of his land expeditions, was successful. In that mission, the men sent out discovered the spot that eventually became Fort Astoria.

Astoria, Oregon | Fur trade | History of Oregon | Oregon Country