Editing Jonathan Thorn (section)

==Pacific Fur Company==
In 1810, Thorn was granted a two-year furlough to command the [[Pacific Fur Company]]'s sailing [[Barque|bark]], the ''[[Tonquin (1807)|Tonquin]]'', owned by [[John Jacob Astor]]. The ''Tonquin'' was to sail to the [[Pacific Northwest]] to establish a fur trading post.<ref name="fur">{{cite web |access-date=2007-02-17 |archive-date=2007-04-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070414021241/http://www.thefurtrapper.com/astorians.htm |first=O. Ned |last=Eddins |publisher=TheFurTrapper.com |title=John Jacob Astor – Pacific Fur Company: Astorians – Tonquin – Fort Astoria |url=http://www.thefurtrapper.com/astorians.htm |url-status=dead |work=Mountain Man Plains Indian Canadian Fur Trade}}</ref> The ''Tonquin'' left [[New York City]] on 8 September 1810, sailing around [[Cape Horn]] on [[Christmas]] Day.<ref>{{cite book |author-link=Gabriel Franchère |last=Franchère |first=Gabriel |url=https://archive.org/stream/narrativevoyage00franrich |title=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 |translator-first=J. V. |translator-last=Huntington |location=New York City |publisher=Redfield |year=1854 |page=31 |via=Internet Archive}}</ref> The crew stopped off in the [[Kingdom of Hawaii]] to gather additional labor and resources, arriving at the [[River mouth|mouth]] of the [[Columbia River]] on 22 March 1811.<ref>Franchère (1854) pp. 55, 84, 84-86.</ref> Two days later and at the cost of eight lives, the ''Tonquin'' crossed the [[Columbia Bar|bar]].<ref>Franchère (1854) pp. 94.</ref>

Thorn and his crew spent 65 days near the mouth of the river, where they built [[Fort Astoria]] on the south side of the river, in present-day [[Astoria, Oregon|Astoria]].<ref name="fur"/> On 5 June, the ship crossed the bar and headed north along the coast to trade for furs.<ref name="fur"/> Thorn anchored off [[Clayoquot Sound]] (now in [[British Columbia]]) around 15 June, having traveled along the west side of [[Vancouver Island]]. He soon tried to trade with the local [[Tla-o-qui-aht]] people. Mutually satisfactory terms could not be settled upon, and Thorn slapped the elder appointed to represent the indigenous interests with a fur in the face.<ref name=Jones>{{cite journal |last=Jones |first=Robert F. |title=The Identity of the Tonquin's Interpreter |journal=[[Oregon Historical Quarterly]] |issue=98 |year=1997 |page=296-314}}</ref> Insulted by this behavior, the natives soon attacked and killed the majority of the crew. The last five men drove off the Tla-o-qui-aht. Later four men escaped from the ship, but three were found ashore and killed. The next day, natives returned to plunder the ship; James Lewis, the last surviving crew member on board, feigned a truce to lure them on the ship, then lit the gunpowder [[Magazine_(artillery)#Naval magazines|magazine]] and blew it up, sacrificing his life to prevent it from being used by the Tla-o-qui-at.<ref name=shtfvsl>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=31dWAAAAIBAJ&pg=7115%2C2904169 |newspaper=Spokesman-Review |location=Spokane, Washington |agency=Associated Press |title=Searchers hope to find 1811 vessel |date=August 21, 1983 |page=B7 |via=Google News}}</ref> The only known crew survivor was [[Joseachal]], an interpreter from the [[Quinault nation]] who had relatives among the Tla-o-qui-at.<ref name=Jones/>

===Leadership===
Thorn's behavior has been sharply criticized by fur traders who had to sail with him. In particular [[Gabriel Franchère]] stated that: <blockquote>He was a strict disciplinarian, of a quick and passionate temper, accustomed to exact obedience, considering nothing but duty, and giving himself no trouble about the murmurs of his crew, taking council of nobody, and following Mr. Astor's instructions to the letter. Such was the man who had been selected to command our ship. His haughty manners, his rough and overbearing disposition, had lost him the affection of most of the crew and all the passengers: he knew it, and in consequence, sought every opportunity to mortify us... <ref>Franchère (1854). p. 48.</ref></blockquote>
[[Alexander Ross (fur trader)|Alexander Ross]] recounted: <blockquote>...for the captain, in his frantic fits of passion, was capable of going any lengths, and would rather have destroyed the expedition, the ship, and everyone on board, than be thwarted in what he considered as ship discipline or his nautical duties.<ref>{{cite book |author-link=Alexander Ross (fur trader) |last=Ross |first=Alexander |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AoEFAAAAQAAJ |title=Adventures of the first settlers on the Oregon or Columbia River |location=London |publisher=Smith, Elder and Co. |year=1849 |page=42 |via=Google Books}}</ref></blockquote>