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Narrative of a Voyage to the Northwest Coast of America in the Years 1811, 1812, 1813, and 1814 or, The First American Settlement of the Pacif. 1854c
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About the Book
Titles in this category recount travel a...)
About the Book
Titles in this category recount travel across the lands that form part of the great myth of the West. The western part of the United States has often been referred to simply as “The West”. Western expansion in the United States really began to progress after 1800 and the frontier moved further and further as time went by. The West includes the Rocky Mountains, the Great Basin and the West Coast.
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Franchère's Narrative of a Voyage to the Northwest Coast, 1811-1814;
(Unlike some other reproductions of classic texts (1) We h...)
Unlike some other reproductions of classic texts (1) We have not used OCR(Optical Character Recognition), as this leads to bad quality books with introduced typos. (2) In books where there are images such as portraits, maps, sketches etc We have endeavoured to keep the quality of these images, so they represent accurately the original artefact. Although occasionally there may be certain imperfections with these old texts, we feel they deserve to be made available for future generations to enjoy.
Narrative of a Voyage to the Northwest Coast of America: In the Years 1811, 1812, 1813, and 1814, Or, The First American Settlement on the Pacific
(This collection of literature attempts to compile many of...)
This collection of literature attempts to compile many of the classic, timeless works that have stood the test of time and offer them at a reduced, affordable price, in an attractive volume so that everyone can enjoy them.
Gabriel Franchère was a French-Canadian author and explorer of the Pacific Northwest. He is noted for taking part in the founding of Astoria, at the mouth of the Columbia river in 1811 and keeping notes about Astoria expedition, which later became a book - rared and valued item in Lower Canada, which also established Franchère’s reputation as a traveller and writer.
Background
Gabriel Franchère was born on November 3, 1786 in Montreal, the son of Gabriel and Félicité (Marin) Franchère. The Franchère family was of good French stock of the upper middle-class.
Jacques, the first of the name in Canada, came as a ship’s surgeon to New France early in the eighteenth century, when Montreal was the depot for the vast French fur-trade; and, seeing the possibilities which this new life offered, Jacques abandoned the sea.
He prospered moderately. Under the British régime, his son Gabriel had become an established merchant, in good standing, though not wealthy, at the time of the younger Gabriel’s birth.
Career
Jacques, the first of the name in Canada, came as a ship's surgeon to New France early in the eighteenth century, when Montreal was the depot for the vast French fur-trade; and, seeing the possibilities which this new life offered, Jacques abandoned the sea.
He prospered moderately. Under the British regime, his son Gabriel had become an established merchant, in good standing, though not wealthy, at the time of the younger Gabriel's birth.
Gabriel fils was twenty-four years old and was serving as a merchant's apprentice when the fur-traders' realm was startled by the news of John Jacob Astor's plans to secure a monopoly of the Pacific Coast fur-trade.
In the hope of making his fortune and with a great curiosity to see new lands, so he tells us, Franchere engaged in Astor's service. He left Montreal in a birch-bark canoe manned by nine voyageurs, who were also new employees of Astor. The party portaged the canoe from the St. Lawrence to the Richelieu River and, again, between Lake Champlain and the Hudson at Lansingburg, from which point they paddled down stream to Long Island, landing at "the village of Brooklyn. "
On September 6, 1810, Franchere sailed from New York, being one of the "singing, smoking, gossiping, scribbling groups" of whom Captain Thorn of the Tonquin complained so bitterly.
Thus Franchere assisted in the founding of Astoria, near the mouth of the Columbia, witnessed the sale of Astor's property to the Canadian North West Fur Company for $40, 000, and saw the capture of the fort by the British in 1813.
Because of his knowledge of the local Indian tongue the Nor' Westers induced him to remain there in their service for five months.
He left on April 4, 1814, with the first overland brigade, arriving in Montreal after his four years of exile in September 1814. He was employed as Astor's Montreal agent, and for some years before 1833 by the North West Fur Company.
In 1834 he became Astor's agent at Sault Ste. Marie, and remained there until 1838 or 1839. After the liquidation of Astor's American Fur Company Franchere was employed for a time by Pierre Chouteau of St. Louis, before establishing his own fur-trading company in New York.
Having written his reminiscences of Astoria for his family and friends, Franchere was urged to prepare them for publication. He sought the aid of Michel Bibaud, a well-known Canadian editor, and in 1820 his Relation d'un Voyage . .. la C"te du Nord Ouest de l'Amerique Septentrionale, dans les annees 1810, 11, 12, 13, et 14, was published in Montreal by C. B. Pasteur.
The original manuscript is in the Toronto Public Library.
The book came into notice in the United States when the Oregon question was stirring Congress.
In the Senate, on May 25, 1846, Thomas H. Benton translated passages from it to reinforce his fiery demands for American acquisition of Oregon (Congressional Globe, 29 Cong. , 1 Sess. , pp. 860-61). Franchere, loyal to his adopted country, took a keen interest in the great question.
He went to Washington and conferred with Senators Benton, Webster, and Clay.
In 1853 he revisited Montreal where he was treated respectfully as a noted author. The French edition of his book was one of the sources of Irving's Astoria. The English version by J. V. Huntington of Baltimore, with the title Narrative of a Voyage to the Northwest Coast of America and containing some changes and additions, was published by Redfield, New York, in 1854.
In this edition, Franchere corrected Irving's aspersions on the Canadians of Astor's expedition.
In his religious denomination Gabriel Franchère was a Christian.
Views
Franchère had kept a diary with the innocent intention of describing precisely, for family and friends, “what I had seen and learned, ” and he prepared a manuscript for publication just five years after the events. This manuscript was edited by Michel Bibaud*, a respected Montreal journalist and author, who made extensive revisions and additions for its publication in 1820. The book soon became a rare and valued item in Lower Canada, and also established Franchère’s reputation as a traveller and writer.
The best single account of the Astor enterprise, it became a central source for Washington Irving’s Astoria, a minor factor in the debates in the Congress of the United States over the Oregon boundary in 1846 (Franchère was invited to Washington at that time by Senator Thomas Hart Benton), and a frequently cited record of the fur trade’s relations with Indians in the era. The Oregon dispute, and the appearance of narratives of Astoria not only by Irving but also by Ross Cox* and Alexander Ross*, prompted an English translation of Franchère’s account, published in 1854.
Membership
Gabriel Franchère was a member of the New York society.
Personality
Franchère was a respected member of the communities in which he lived. An appropriate comment was provided by an acquaintance, Benjamin Parke Avery of Minnesota, who described him as being “of very simple and correct habits, which insured him good health and cheerful spirits. He possessed a blithe disposition, veined with a kindly humour; was very active and intelligent, exceedingly kind-hearted, true to his adopted country, and had a firm faith in the Christian religion. ”
Quotes from others about the person
Franchère's years in New York had their difficult moments, particularly after the failure of the American Fur Company in 1842 when, according to a friend, he acted “in an extremely honorable manner, [and] sacrificed his own personal fortune to assist in meeting its liabilities. ”
Connections
Gabriel Franchère first married Sophie Routhier. Franchère and his wife had had eight children in their years in Montreal and Sault Ste Marie, six of whom survived childhood. When Sophie died in 1837, Franchère had been concerned about his two young daughters but a chance introduction to a widow, Charlotte Prince, in Detroit, provided a happy solution to his difficulties in 1839.