In the early nineteenth century, multi-millionaire businessman John Jacob Astor developed an expansive fur trade network across the United States. This trade system led to the founding of many Pacific coastal cities like Astoria, Oregon. Established in 1811, it became the first permanent U.S. settlement west of the Rocky Mountains. Historian Rex Ziak shared the history of Astoria’s founder, John Jacob Astor, and the business that was thought to have made him the wealthiest man in America at the time of his death in 1848.
“John Jacob Astor: The Rise and Fall of His Fur Trade” was a Mark O. Hatfield Distinguished Historians Forum held March 15, 2011, by the Oregon Historical Society at the First Congregation Church in Portland, Oregon.