JOHN ASTOR NEVER set down the precise date that marked Astoria
as a full-fledged western enterprise. Perhaps it was in early March
1810 when he and some of his Canadian partners signed an initial
agreement creating the Pacific Fur Company. Or it may have been
some months earlier when Astor had patiently explained to Albert
Gallatin just how his maritime and overland parties would ren-
dezvous on the Columbia. Then again a more fitting date may have
been sometime in 1809 when Astor had hired Wilson Price Hunt as
his chief field agent. Whatever Astoria's proper birthdate, by spring
1810 all was in place to launch the first American venture in the West
since Lewis and Clark. Astoria's future now depended on strong
men and sturdy ships.

Astoria was at last something more than requests for official
approbation. That Astoria was rapidly becoming a substantial fact of
western life had not escaped the Montreal Nor'westers. In late Janu-
ary 1810 the Canadians knew spring would see Astor's land and sea
expeditions heading for the Columbia. What had been polite warn-
ings to London in earlier letters now took on an air of urgency. "We
are well informed that an expedition for the purpose of making
establishments on the Columbia river and the Northwest coast, is

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