At this juncture, Mr. Astor learnt that the Northwest Company were preparing to send out an armed ship of twenty guns, called the Isaac Todd, to form an establishment at the mouth of the Columbia.  These tidings gave him great uneasiness.  A considerable proportion of the persons in his employ were Scotchmen and Canadians, and several of them had been in the service of the Northwest Company.  Should Mr. Hunt have failed to arrive at Astoria, the whole establishment would be under the control of Mr. M’Dougal, of whose fidelity he had received very disparaging accounts from Captain Thorn.  The British government, also, might deem it worth while to send a force against the establishment, having been urged to do so some time previously by the Northwest Company.

Under all these circumstances, Mr. Astor wrote to Mr. Monroe, then secretary of state, requesting protection from the government of the United States.  He represented the importance of his settlement, in a commercial point of view, and the shelter it might afford to the American vessels in those seas.  All he asked was that the American government would throw forty or fifty men into the fort at his establishment, which would be sufficient for its defense until he could send reinforcements over land.

He waited in vain for a reply to this letter, the government, no doubt, being engrossed at the time by an overwhelming crowd of affairs.  The month of March arrived, and the Lark was ordered by Mr. Astor to put to sea.  The officer who was to command her shrunk from his engagement, and in the exigency of the moment, she was given in charge to Mr. Northrup, the mate.  Mr. Nicholas G. Ogden, a gentleman on whose talents and integrity the highest reliance could be placed, sailed as supercargo.  The Lark put to sea in the beginning of March, 1813.

By this opportunity, Mr. Astor wrote to Mr. Hunt, as head of the establishment at the mouth of the Columbia, for he would not allow himself to doubt of his welfare.  “I always think you are well,” said he, “and that I shall see you again, which Heaven, I hope, will grant.”

He warned him to be on his guard against any attempts to surprise the post; suggesting the probability of armed hostility on the part of the Northwest Company, and expressing his indignation at the ungrateful returns made by that association for his frank and open conduct, and advantageous overtures.  “Were I on the spot,” said he, “and had the management of affairs, I would defy them all; but, as it is, everything depends upon you and your friends about you.  Our enterprise is grand, and deserves success, and I hope in God it will meet it.  If my object was merely gain of money, I should say, think whether it is best to save what we can, and abandon the place; but the very idea is like a dagger to my heart.”  This extract is sufficient to show the spirit and the views which actuated Mr. Astor in this great undertaking.