Adventures of the First Settlers on the Oregon or Columbia River, 1810-1813

[Edited and with an introduction by Milo Milton Quaife]

Alexander Ross, Milo Milton Quaife

• Publisher: Bonhopai Books
• Year: 2025
• eBook ISBN: 9781779794444
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Social Science Biographies
• Index: Social Sciences

Adventures of the First Settlers on the Oregon or Columbia River, 1810–1813 by Alexander Ross, edited by Milo Milton Quaife, is one of the most authentic and compelling firsthand accounts of the early fur trade and exploration of the Pacific Northwest. This 1923 edition, carefully edited and annotated by historian Quaife, restores Ross's remarkable narrative to its rightful place among the foundational documents of western American history.

Originally published in 1849, Ross's memoir recounts his experiences as a member of John Jacob Astor's Pacific Fur Company, which established the ill-fated Astoria settlement at the mouth of the Columbia River — the first American trading post on the Pacific coast. His story captures the peril and promise of those years: the hazardous voyage around Cape Horn, encounters with Native peoples of the Northwest, and the constant struggle against isolation, hunger, and rival traders. Through Ross's keen eye and plain, forthright prose, readers witness the birth of an era — when wilderness, commerce, and empire collided at the far edge of a young nation.

What distinguishes this edition is Quaife's meticulous scholarship. His introduction and notes provide context for Ross's adventures within the larger story of exploration, maritime rivalry, and continental expansion. The result is a text that is both thrilling narrative and vital history — an eyewitness record of the men who first opened the path to the Pacific.

 For readers of exploration literature, early American history, and frontier adventure, Adventures of the First Settlers on the Oregon or Columbia River remains an indispensable classic — a work that combines hardship, endurance, and discovery in equal measure. 

Table of contents

• Title page
• TABLE OF CONTENTS
• PUBLISHERS’ PREFACE
• Historical Introduction
• Preface to the Original Edition
• Chapter 1—THE GENESIS OF THE EXPEDITION
• Chapter 2—THE VOYAGE OF THE TONQUIN
• Chapter 3—THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS
• Chapter 4—FROM HAWAII TO THE COLUMBIA
• Chapter 5—THE FOUNDING OF ASTORIA
• Chapter 6—THE NATIVES OF THE LOWER COLUMBIA
• Chapter 7—FROM ASTORIA TO THE NARROWS
• Chapter 8—FROM THE NARROWS TO THE OKANOGAN
• Chapter 9—THE DESTRUCTION OF THE TONQUIN
• Chapter 10—ACROSS THE CONTINENT WITH HUNT AND MCKENZIE
• Chapter 11—THE ADVENTURES OF RAMSEY CROOKS AND JOHN DAY
• Chapter 12—OPERATIONS IN THE INTERIOR
• Chapter 13—TRADING ACTIVITIES ON THE SPOKANE AND THE SNAKE
• Chapter 14—STUART’S RETURN TO ST. LOUIS AND ARRIVAL OF THE BEAVER
• Chapter 15—THE SALE OF ASTORIA
• Chapter 16—WARLIKE MEASURES AFLOAT AND ASHORE
• Chapter 17—THE END OF A GREAT ADVENTURE
• Chapter 18—MANNERS AND CUSTOMS OF THE OKANOGAN
• Chapter 19—MARRIAGES, MEDICINE MEN, AND GAMBLERS
• Chapter 20—HABITATIONS, FOOD, AND OTHER MATTERS
• Chapter 21—FURTHER MANNERS AND CUSTOMS OF THE OKANOGAN