Tassé, Joseph, 1848-1895

Gabriel Franchère (1786-1863) was a French Canadian fur trader, explorer, and author. He was born in Montreal and joined John Jacob Asor's Pacific Fur Trade Company in 1810, participating in the founding of Astoria in 1811. After the Pacific Fur Company was turned over to the Northwest Company in 1812, he returned to Montreal where he wrote his memoirs and in 1820, he published Narrative of a voyage to the northwest coast of America in the years 1811, 1812, 1813, and 1814; or, The first American settlement on the Pacific. An English translation was published in 1854.