Pacific Fur Company
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The Pacific Fur Company (PFC) was an American fur trade venture wholly owned and funded by John Jacob Astor that functioned from 1810 to 1813. It was based in the Pacific Northwest, an area contested over the decades among the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Spanish Empire, the United States of America and the Russian Empire.
A depiction of North American beaver, the main source of animal pelts collected by the PFC
John Jacob Astor established the Pacific Fur Company as part of his grandiose plans to gain commercial hegemony over major fur producing areas in the North American fur trade against his North West and Hudson's Bay competitors.
Fort Mackinac was a center of the Great Lakes regional fur trade
Fort Astoria two years after its foundation
Fort Astoria
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Fort Astoria was the primary fur trading post of John Jacob Astor's Pacific Fur Company (PFC). 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.
Comcomly's mercantile skills as an intermediary gained him significant profits in deals with Fort Astoria. In particular he controlled the sale of many of the pelts originating from the Chinookan, Chehalis and Quinault nations.
A watercolor painting of Fort George in 1845.