In 1994, my college history professor, Dr. Terry Finnegan, asked a simple question: Why study history?  His answer: Because we want to know the future. The unknown brings anxiety. The present is ephemeral and gives us no direction. Only by looking into the past can we find some direction in how to cope with similar circumstances that we find ourselves looking at, as we collectively wade in the unknown.  

As a librarian, I enjoy browsing the New York Public Library collections online and wander the stacks at various NYPL locations. I recently found an exciting book on the shelves of the Riverside Library entitled Astoria: John Jacob Astor and Thomas Jefferson's Lost Pacific Empire," by Peter Stark. It tells of the genesis of the Oregon Trail, as Astor planned and organized a two-pronged expedition to start a colony in the Pacific Northwest—and it recalls my professor's answer to the question "Why study history?"

Stark writes a brisk, exciting history of the vision shared by Astor and Jefferson, of a possible new sister democracy to the United States that would revolve around the Pacific fur trade, and how it was affected by nature, global politics and, above all, humans ability to manage in the exposed elements of the world.

Astor, a German immigrant to New York City, quickly began his ascent to wealth through fur trading in upstate New York and Canada, and wanted to develop the Pacific Northwest. He devised a plan that would have a series of ships sail around South America and land at the mouth of the Columbia River, still one of the most dangerous passages in the world. Meanwhile, an overland group of hunters, trappers, botanists, and interpreters traveled on land, roughly following Lewis and Clark's route to the Pacific. 

Stark describes how Astor carefully chose the people to led this ambitious expedition and gave thorough instructions as to whom he wanted in charge. All of his planning and funding were thrown up against luck, fate, and the decisions people must make under extreme and certainly life-threatening circumstances, with deadly consequences for others.

Astoria is well-written and Stark moves crisply through the events without being bogged down in esoteric details, leaving you in awe at the scope of the adventure on both land and sea. 

Stark also brings to the reader’s attention some of the elements that influence the minds of the participants. For instance, rumors of the ferocity of Blackfeet Native Americans led overland party leader Wilson Price Hunt to take a more southern route to the Pacific, leading his party through the Snake River and nearly dying of exposure during the winter of 1811 at Hells Canyon. 

I also love how this great adventure can teach us about the future. Astor and Jefferson had the vision to see the future of the United States would lead to the Pacific, and adventurers like Wilson Price Hunt had the courage to try and make that vision a reality. This is similar to those who dream of colonizing space: How and when will humans be able to land on others planets, and what will be some of the obstacles they will encounter?  Suddenly, reading about people and their crazy dreams 200 years ago becomes relevant.