Marie Dorion and The Astoria Expedition

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Hunt was not present when Astoria was sold. He had left Oregon on August 4, 1812 on Beaver en route to New Archangel, Alaska, to negotiate trade with the Russian-American Company. He sold a cargo of supplies for sealskins that he took to the Orient by way of the Sandwich Islands, where he left the ship. After learning of the declaration of war, he chartered Albatross and returned to Astoria, arriving after his partners had already arranged to sell out to the North West Company.

Before learning of the beginning of war, some of the Americans made plans to return to the East overland, carrying dispatches. One group of six men, led by Robert Stuart, left in June 1812, the month war was declared. Both Stuart and his uncle, David Stuart, were partners who had traveled west on Tonquin. With Stuart were both Ramsey Clark and John Day, who had had such a bad experience traveling with Hunt. Their route took them much farther south than Hunt’s westward expedition and was extremely difficult, causing them to go many miles out of the way. In the process they discovered a pass through the Rockies in what would become Wyoming. At an elevation of only 7,550 feet, South Pass was later to become the preferred route for the Oregon Trail. The Bonneville Expedition took the first wagon through South Pass on 24 July 1832. A large portion of Hunt’s route along the Snake River became part of the Oregon Trail.

This article was written by Wayne Jewett and originally appeared in the October 2000 issue of Wild West magazine.

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Tags: Adventurers & Trail Blazers, Expeditions, People, The Wild West, Wild West, Women's History

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