Gabriel Franchère

Who was Gabriel Franchère?

Gabriel Franchère was a French Canadian author and explorer of the Pacific Northwest.

Franchère was a native of Montreal and joined the Astor Expedition as merchant's apprentice, arriving at Fort Astoria on the Tonquin. After Astoria was sold to the North West Company, Franchère returned to Montreal overland in 1814. He was employed for a time by John Jacob Astor in Montreal. He wrote Narrative of a Voyage to the Northwest Coast of America, which was published in 1851. Originally written in French, the untranslated version was one of Washington Irving's sources for his book Astoria.