Welcome to Litsy!

Just shy of 4 ⭐️, this book is a really good look at the first American settlement on the West Coast - Astoria (in what is now Oregon).
It‘s a saga, taking place over land & sea, amidst the War of 1812, across the globe, with interactions with Pacific Islanders, Native Americans, & even a Russian Count, thwarting Astor‘s plans to establish a global fur trade.
Essential reading of a forgotten piece of American history.

And just like today... Canada sounds wayyy better than the States 🙄😕

I bailed on the first pick for my Bingo/MakeMeReadIt list ... which doesn‘t make me happy, but gets me closer to my #MountTBR goal 🤷🏻‍♀️.
On to the pick by @Samplergal - hoping this one holds my attention better 🙂

I had some difficulty focusing on this book and keeping track of people. Perhaps not the best audiobook material, but in print I suspect I would never have gotten through it at all...

Dry and hard to get through but interesting

Was supposed to be grading papers. Did this instead.

Livin‘ my best life. ✌🏼

I lived in Portland, OR and Vancouver, WA for 8 years and did not know any of this! And the writing is absolutely brilliant - highly recommend, even if you‘re not a fan of nonfiction. Can‘t put it down. 👍🏼

I couldn‘t put this book down. (So much for my library ebooks due soon.) It was part of US history I knew nothing about, and it was especially meaningful since I bought it while in Oregon for the first time, which included traveling through Astoria. It‘s an adventure/wilderness/survival story, both heartbreaking and heartwarming.

I‘m loving this book.

This is nonfiction about how John Astor funded an expedition to the Pacific Northwest to establish a fur trading outpost. Men traveled by sea and over land and faced all kinds of drama on their journey. You would think a tale like this might give men pause in their relentless pursuit of capitalism, but nah. Apparently not. I feel like there wasn't much about Jefferson at all in this, which I found unfortunate.

Why I read it: #litsyatoz A

This book tells the harrowing story of hardship and loss the Astor Expedition experienced as they attempted to reach and establish a new settlement in what is today Astoria, Oregon. This story captures the wild spirit of the Pacific Northwest and the explorers who risked their lives to settle it.

This looks interesting...

"Nearly two centuries ago, the story that follows was well-known to Americans."