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Fortune's a river : the collision of empires in Northwest America  Cover Image Book Book

Fortune's a river : the collision of empires in Northwest America

Gough, Barry M. (Author).

Summary: "Fortune's a River is the most authoritative and readable account to date of just how British Columbia became British and how Oregon, Washington and Alaska became American. By the closing years of the 18th century, the stage was set for a major international confrontation over the Northwest Coast. Imperial Russia was firmly established in Alaska, Spain was extending its trade routes north from Mexico, Captain James Cook had claimed Northwest America for England and Captain Robert Gray had claimed the Columbia River region for the United States. Open warfare between Spain and England was narrowly averted during the Nootka Sound Controversy of 1789-1794, and again between Britain and the US in the War of 1812, when a British warship seized American property in Oregon.In Fortune's a River, noted historian Barry Gough re-examines this Imperial struggle for possession of the future British Columbia and fully evokes its peculiar drama. It turned out the great powers were reluctant conquerors in this area. Russia and Spain withdrew of their own accord. Britain was in a position to dominate, but couldn't be bothered. The US vaguely wished to fulfill its manifest destiny by securing the Northwest Coast, but it was not a priority. In the end the battle was carried on by private enterprise and individuals of vision. Alexander Mackenzie established an overland route to the coast and with his partners Simon Fraser and David Thompson, set up a network of fur trading forts south to Oregon. US president Thomas Jefferson countered by sending out the Lewis and Clark expedition to strengthen American claims and an American entrepreneur, John Jacob Astor, established a lonely US outpost at Astoria. Gough examines each of the players in this territorial drama, bringing them fully to life and vividly recounting their hardships and struggles."--Book jacket.

Record details

  • ISBN: 1550174282
  • ISBN: 9781550174281
  • Physical Description: 413 p. : ill ; 24 cm.
    print
  • Publisher: Madeira Park, B.C. : Harbour Pub., c2007.

Content descriptions

Bibliography, etc. Note: Includes bibliographical references (p. 356-402) and index.
Formatted Contents Note: Prologue. John Ledyard: "The very football of chance" -- Dreams, schemes, realities -- Visit of the stranger from the west -- The Mackenzie touch -- Soft gold: The Russian thrust to Alaska, Columbia River and Alta California -- Rising tides of empire: Flags at Nootka Sound -- The empire of safe harbour retreat -- Canadian traders on the Missouri and the Spanish response -- The view from Monticello: Jefferson's wests -- Northern shadows across the trail: Nor'westers meet Lewis and Clark -- Lewis and Clark to the Pacific and return -- The Columbian enterprise: David Thompson, 1800-1810 -- Boston and New York on the lower Columbia River: The Winships and Astor -- David Thompson and the voyage of a summer moon, 1811 -- The fortunes of war -- The empire of fortune: Cultivating the arts of peace -- The legacy: The North American far west on the eve of the Oregon crisis -- Appendix 1. "The theatre of all geographical fictions": the Northwest and other passages -- Appendix 2. Three flags and the Columbia River: identification and exploration of the river of the west.
Subject: Northwest boundary of the United States
Canada -- History -- 1763-1867
Northwest, Canadian -- History -- To 1870
Northwest, Canadian -- History -- To 1870
Columbia River Region -- Discovery and exploration
Columbia River Valley -- History
Northwest, Canadian -- History -- To 1870
Northwest, Pacific -- Discovery and exploration
Northwest, Pacific -- History -- 19th century
Northwest, Pacific -- History -- 18th century
British Columbia -- History -- To 1849

Available copies

  • 1 of 1 copy available at Selkirk College.

Holds

  • 0 current holds with 1 total copy.
Show Only Available Copies
Location Call Number / Copy Notes Barcode Shelving Location Circulation Modifier Holdable? Status Due Date Courses
Castlegar Campus Library FC 3821 G683 2007 (Text)
Copy: c. 1
B001212786 General Volume hold Available -

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