page_title: Fort Astoria
section_title: Tonquin
hierarchical_section_title: Fort Astoria / Operations / Tonquin
caption_attribution_description: English: The Tonquin being attacked off the shore of Vancouver Island in 1811.
context_page_description: Fort Astoria was the primary fur trading post of John Jacob Astor's Pacific Fur Company. A maritime contingent of PFC staff was sent on board the Tonquin, while another party traveled overland from St. Louis. This land based group later became known as the Astor Expedition. Built at the entrance of the Columbia River in 1811, Fort Astoria was the first American-owned settlement on the Pacific coast of North America.
  The inhabitants of the fort differed greatly in background and position, and were structured into a corporate hierarchy. The fur trading partners of the company were at the top, with clerks, craftsmen, hunters, and laborers in descending order. Nationalities included Scots, French-Canadian voyageurs, American, Native Hawaiian Kanaka, and people from various indigenous North American peoples, including Iroquois and others from Eastern Canada. They found life quite monotonous, with the fish and vegetable diet boring. Venereal diseases were problematic. Types of fur taken in trade at the fort included beaver, sea otter, squirrel, and red fox.
context_section_description: Acting on the orders of Astor, Thorn and Tonquin departed for Russian America in June 1811. At Destruction Island a Quinault man with familial ties to Vancouver Island, Joseachal, was hired to serve as a translator. While at Clayoquot Sound off Vancouver Island, Thorn became frustrated with the prices set by the local Tla-o-qui-aht people there. He reportedly took an animal pelt and struck the elder appointed as the primary negotiator. This offense greatly offended the Tla-o-qui-aht, and while Joseachal advised Thorn of the danger, the captain refused to immediately depart.
  Eventually a brisk trade commenced with the locals who had remained on board, with the pelts being sold primarily for American blades. Soon after receiving the weapons the Tla-o-qui-aht attacked and in the ensuing conflict Tonquin was destroyed. Josechal was the sole survivor and later returned to Fort Astoria to inform McDougall of the fate of the vessel. The loss of Tonquin caused a great deal of hardship for the personnel at Fort Astoria as it still held a large amount of the trade goods and foodstuffs intended for trade in the region.
caption: Late in 1811 Tonquin was destroyed off the coast of Vancouver Island. The loss of the vessel created a shortage of provisions at Fort Astoria until Beaver arrived the following year in 1812.
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