Where was Farnham?

Where was Russel Farnham? Putting together the pieces of this historical puzzle is not complete, but rather a work in progress. The historical record is incomplete in places, but we have this basic outline to start with, each step to later be completed with incredible detail and stories of adventures in each location:

He left New York after joining the Pacific Fur Company as a clerk. With the crew of the Tonquin he traveled around South America stopping briefly at the Falkland Islands then onward to Hawaii. From Hawaii the ship traveled to the mouth of the Columbia River. He literally help build Fort Astoria from the ground up. He was a fur trader for several years in Oregon, Washignton and even into Idaho and Montana. After the war of 1812 and the sale of Astoria to the British he left for the Russian settlement in Alaska. There he transferred ships and was taken to St Peter and St Paul Kamchatka which is now named Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky. This is where the historical record ends, but we know from existing documents that he traveled across Siberia ending in St Petersburg where he was to deliver documents. He traveled from St Petersburg to Copenhagen Denmark where the historical record starts again and from there back to America on an unknown ship completing his circumnavigation.

More to come. Thanks for reading.

Welcome

We welcome you to the Farnham Project blog. My name is James Kelly and I am the Farnham Project team leader and I am joined by team member Carl Burdick in writing this blog. We decide after about a year of talking about this idea that the best way approach this trip was to co-ordinate things with a blog. The basic idea is this - we want to recreate the remarkable journey of Russel Farnham starting in Astoria Oregon and following his path as far as St Petersburg Russia. It's our hope to incorporate this adventure into the celebrations of the 200 year anniversary of the founding of Astoria in several years.