- Robert Stuart (explorer)
:"For the British diplomat of the same name, see
Robert Stuart (diplomat) (1812-1901)"Robert Stuart (1785-1848) was the son of
David Stuart , a partner ofJohn Jacob Astor who as one of theNorth West Company men, or Nor'westers, enlisted by Astor to help him found his intended fur empire. Young Robert was on the "Tonquin " on its voyage around the Cape to foundFort Astoria , and it was he who held the pistol to the head of the ship's Captain Thorn when he attempted to leave theFalkland Islands without Stuart's uncle David, and another of the Nor'Wester partners of Astor'sPacific Fur Company .Because he accompanied the overland expedition from Fort Astoria to St. Louis when the fort was sold off to the North West Company, Robert Stuart is credited as an explorer who was one of those who effectively blazed the
Oregon Trail , though his achievement was not recognized until much later. His journal is a detailed account of his wintertime trip fromFort Astoria in what is nowOregon to St. Louis.Washington Irving 's "Astoria" is said to be based on this journal.After the
War of 1812 Stuart continued in Astor's employ as head of theAmerican Fur Company 's "Northern Department" based on Mackinac Island, Michigan.Robert Stuart Junior High School in Twin Falls,
Idaho , is named after the explorer. [ [http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~rykbrown/glenogle.htm The Stewarts of Glen Ogle, Balquhidder, Perthshire, Scotland] ]Notes
References
* Philip Ashton Rollins, "ed.", "The Discovery of the Oregon Trail: Robert Stuart's Narratives of His Overland Trip Eastward from Astoria in 1812-13", University of Nebraska Press, 1995, ISBN 0-803-29234-1
* G.P.V. and Helen B. Akrigg, "British Columia Chronicle: Adventurers by Sea and Land", Discovery Press, Vancouver, 1975
* Laton McCartney, "Across the Great Divide: Robert Stuart and the Discovery of the Oregon Trail", Simon & Schuster, 2003, ISBN 0-7432-4924-0
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