ASTORIA  , a

city, port of entry, and the county-seat of Clatsop county, Oregon, U.S.A., on the Columbia river, 8 m.from its mouth . Pop . (189o) 6184; (1900) 8381, of whom 3779 were foreign-born (many being Finns,—a Finnish weekly was established here in 1905), and 6o1 were Chinese; (1910, census) 9599• It is served by the Astoria & Columbia River railroad (Northern Pacific System), and by several coastwise and foreign steamship lines (including that of the Oregon Railway & Navigation Co.) . The river here is about 6 m. wide, and the city has a water-front of about 5 M. and a deep, spacious and placid harbour . By dredging and the construction of jetties the Federal government has since 1885 greatly improved the channel at the mouth of the river . The business portion of the city occupies the low ground of the river bottom; the residence portion is on the hillsides overlooking the harbour . Astoria is the port of entry for the Oregon Customs District, Oregon; in 1907 its imports were valued at $21,262, and its exports at $329,103 . The city is especially important as a salmon fishing and packing centre (cod, halibut and smaller fish also being abundant); it has also an extensive lumber trade, important lumber manufactories, pressed brick and terra-cotta factories, and dairy interests . In 1905 the value of the factory product was $3,092,628 (of which $1,759,871 was the value of preserved and canned fish), being an increase of 41.8 % in five years . Astoria is the oldest American settlement in the Columbia Valley . It was founded in 1811, as a depot for the fur trade, by John Jacob Astor, in whose honour it was named . It was seized by the British in 1813, but was restored in 1818 .

In 1821, while occupied by the

North-West Fur Company, it was burned and practically abandoned, only a few settlers remaining . It was chartered as a city in 1876 . See Washington Irving's Astoria; or Anecdotes of an Enterprise beyond the Rocky Mountains (Philadelphia, 1836) .