''Beaver'' was a 427-ton merchant ship owned by

John Jacob Astor John Jacob Astor (born Johann Jakob Astor; July 17, 1763 – March 29, 1848) was a German-born American businessman, merchant, real estate mogul, and investor. Astor made his fortune mainly in a fur trade monopoly, by exporting History of opiu ...

that was in service from 1806 to the middle of the century.

Qing Empire

The ''Beaver'' was designed for

by Eckford & Beebe, with construction completed in 1805. The ship sailed to the

Qing Empire The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing, was a Manchu-led Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China and an early modern empire in East Asia. The last imperial dynasty in Chinese history, the Qing dynasty was preceded by the ...

in 1806 and was captained by

Isaac Chauncey Isaac Chauncey (February 20, 1772 – January 27, 1840) was a United States Navy officer who served in the Quasi-War, the Barbary Wars and the War of 1812. In the latter part of his naval career he was President of the Board of Navy Commiss ...

. Upon entering the

Bocca Tigris The Humen, also known as the Bocca Tigris or the Bogue, is a narrow strait in the Pearl River Delta The Pearl River Delta Metropolitan Region is the low-lying area surrounding the Pearl River estuary, where the Pearl River flows into the S ...

the ''Beaver'' was detained by HMS ''Phaeton''. One of the sailors was forcibly impressed onto the ''Phaeton'' as he was recognised as a British citizen. After this incident the ''Beaver'' entered the port of

Guangzhou Guangzhou, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Canton or Kwangchow, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Guangdong Provinces of China, province in South China, southern China. Located on the Pearl River about nor ...

and "a full load of

Tea Tea is an aromatic beverage prepared by pouring hot or boiling water over cured or fresh leaves of '' Camellia sinensis'', an evergreen shrub native to East Asia which probably originated in the borderlands of south-western China and nor ...

Nankeen Nankeen (also called Nankeen cloth) is a kind of pale yellowish cloth originally made in Nanjing, China from a yellow variety of cotton, but subsequently manufactured from ordinary cotton that is then dyed.''Oxford English Dictionary'' The ter ...

s &

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

" was purchased. Shortly after leaving the Bocca Tigris another

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

ship, HMS ''Lion'', ordered the ship to stop. Tensions arose when Chauncey refused to allow any further impressment of his crew. However that evening the ''Beaver'' was allowed to depart back to New York City. The voyage was a success and brought Astor a sizable profit.

Pacific Northwest

Eventually, the ''Beaver'' was planned as an additional supply ship for Astor's developing

Pacific Fur Company 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 G ...

(PFC). Along with the '' Tonquin'', the ''Beaver'' was a critical part of Astor's plans in expanding operations in the Maritime Fur Trade. The ship sailed from New York City to the

Pacific Northwest The Pacific Northwest (PNW; ) is a geographic region in Western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Though no official boundary exists, the most common ...

on 10 October 1811 with Cornelius Sowle as its captain. The additional company employees brought included

Ross Cox Ross Cox (1793–1853) was an Irish clerk in the Pacific Fur Company and the North West Company, later writing of his experiences. Life Ross Cox was born in Dublin, Ireland, in 1793, the son of Samuel Cox and Margaret Thorpe. He emigrated to Ameri ...

and Alfred Seton.

Fort Astoria Fort Astoria (also named Fort George) was the primary Fur trade, fur trading post of John Jacob Astor's Pacific Fur Company (PFC). A maritime contingent of PFC staff was sent on board the ''Tonquin (1807 ship), Tonquin'', while another party tra ...

was reached on 9 May 1812 after crossing the

Columbia Bar The Columbia Bar is a system of bars and shoals at the mouth of the Columbia River spanning the U.S. states of Oregon and Washington. It is one of the most dangerous bar crossings in the world, earning the nickname Graveyard of the Pacific. The ...

. At Astoria news about the destruction of the ''Tonquin'' by members of the Tla-o-qui-aht nation was confirmed. After unloading necessary supplies to the Fort, directives from Astor dictated that the ''Beaver'' was to then go north to

Russian America Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

to purchase additional furs. The manager of PFC operations, W. Price Hunt, joined Sowle and the crew during this voyage and acted the negotiator with Russian governor

Alexander Andreyevich Baranov Alexander Andreyevich Baranov (; 1747 – 1819), sometimes spelled Aleksandr or Alexandr and Baranof, was a Russian trader and merchant, who worked for some time in Siberia. He was recruited by the Shelikhov-Golikov Company for trading in Rus ...

. The ''Beaver'' arrived at

New Archangel Sitka (; ) is a unified city-borough in the southeast portion of the U.S. state of Alaska. It was under Russian rule from 1799 to 1867. The city is situated on the west side of Baranof Island and the south half of Chichagof Island in the Al ...

on 19 August. The cargo was purchased by the Russians amounted to

₽ The ruble sign, , is the currency sign used for the Russian ruble, the official currency of Russia. Its form is a Cyrillic letter Р with an additional horizontal stroke. The design was approved on 11 December 2013 after a public poll that too ...

124,000 in value, with payment in seal skins. The purchased furs were located at the

Russian-American Company The Russian-American Company Under the High Patronage of His Imperial Majesty was a state-sponsored chartered company formed largely on the basis of the Shelikhov-Golikov Company, United American Company. Emperor Paul I of Russia chartered the c ...

station on Saint Paul Island though bad weather prevented them being loaded until November. Additional orders from Astor called for the ''Beaver'' to return to the Columbia River after completing trade with the Russians. Despite this, Sowle and Hunt found the ship in poor repair and sailed for the

Kingdom of Hawaii The Hawaiian Kingdom, also known as the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi (Hawaiian language, Hawaiian:

ɛ ɐwˈpuni həˈvɐjʔi Latin epsilon or open E (majuscule: Ɛ, minuscule: ɛ) is a letter of the extended Latin alphabet, based on the lowercase of the Greek letter epsilon (ε). It was introduced in the 16th century by Gian Giorgio Trissino to represent the pronunc ...

, was an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country from 1795 to 1893, which eventually encompassed all of the inhabited Hawaii ...

instead. Hunt was left there as the ''Beaver'' went west to the

Qing The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing, was a Manchu-led Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China and an early modern empire in East Asia. The last imperial dynasty in Chinese history, the Qing dynasty was preceded by the ...

. While at

, Sowle learned of the eruption of the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 was fought by the United States and its allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom and its allies in North America. It began when the United States United States declaration of war on the Uni ...

and remained at the port for the remainder of the conflict. The ''Beaver'' then proceeded to New York City and entered the city harbor on 22 March 1816.

References

Bibliography

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* * {{authority control Napoleonic-era ships Ships built in New York City 1805 ships Fur trade