The American Cyclopædia (1879)/Astoria

ASTORIA, a town of Clatsop county, Oregon, near the mouth of the Columbia river; pop. in 1870, 639. It was for a long time the depot of the fur trade for all the country west of the Rocky mountains, and was formerly a port of entry. The difficulties in the entrance to the Columbia have, however, opposed a great impediment to its development. It was founded by the Pacific fur company in 1811, and named in honor of John Jacob Astor, the chief proprietor. Its early history is described by Washington Irving in his “Astoria.”