On this episode, we hear from Alexander Ross, who sailed from the East Coast to the Oregon Country in late 1810. Ross, who was nearly 30 at the time, was engaged by John Jacob Astor to travel with a group of men to the mouth of the Oregon (or Columbia) River. There the men established “The Pacific Fur Company,” and founded what’s now Astoria, Oregon.

The passage was printed in the book,“Adventures of the First Settlers on the Oregon or Columbia River” written by Alexander Ross and based on his journals. Ross’ book was originally published in London in 1849.

In this journal entry, read by Feliks Banel, we hear about the final leg of the voyage to The Oregon Country on a vessel called “The Tonquin.” Also aboard is the challenging Captain Thorn, chief architect of a deadly struggle to identify a safe course and cross what’s now called The Columbia Bar