Fur Traders vs. Tla-O-Qui-Aht Warriors : The Brutal Story Of The Tonquin Explosion

British Columbia, Canada, 1811.
James Lewis lies mortally wounded below the decks of the Tonquin, an American fur-trading ship, in the frigid waters of Clayoquot Sound, British Columbia, Canada.
All of his crewmates have been killed, and he is now alone as the Tla-O-Qui-Aht warriors who had attacked them now make their way back to the ship where Lewis lies. James Lewis knows he will not survive the day, but he burns for revenge against his attackers.
Lewis stares at the line of black powder that extends from where he lies to the ship’s powder magazine, containing many tons of gunpowder. He knows what he must do next...
Don’t miss this INTENSE episode only on History At The OK Corral: Home Of History’s Greatest Shootouts & Showdowns!
SOCIAL MEDIA LINKS
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LINKS TO SOURCES
“Astoria : John Jacob Astor and Thomas Jefferson’s Lost Pacific Empire” by Peter Stark. a.co/d/4YG2SRo
“The Fur Trade Gamble : Northwest Company On The Pacific Slope, 1800-1820.” by Lloyd Keith and John C. Jackson. a.co/d/8OvIBkS
www.thecanadianencyclopedia.c...
vanmaritime.com/the-tonquin-1...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tonquin...)
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clayoqu...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonatha...

[@mitchconner6831]

I thoroughly enjoy your videos. No politically correct nonsense. Just stories from history. Love it. Keep up the good work.

[@JohnDoe-tx8lq]

That was insane! All those men dead on both sides because of a minor disagreement. They all had everything to gain and in the end lost everything, a tradition we seem to be repeating to this day. But so well written and read, love it! 👍

[@jokiejoker2011]

Hello history buffs

[@captainfanta8641]

Hello back, time to watch the show.

[@henryspadt6160]

I’m not a history buff I’m an undiagnosed autistic

[@tylermoulton7294]

I know nothing the more I learn but know I’m capable of knowing a lot

[@philliphunt6204]

Hey buddy.

[@charminghollowforge1109]

Awesome content especially loving the plains and fur trade episodes thanks for all your hard work

[@555tdh]

Love the expert narration and content--BTW, never change your background music as it adds to the experience and is now embedded in your patrons

[@historyattheokcorral]

We agree! Thank you for watching!!

[@joemegna447]

Only found this site a little while ago and I'm so glad I did! Interesting, informative and - this may not be the appropriate word - entertaining. I'm looking forward to more from HOKC in the future and also watching past episodes.

[@trickydicky2908]

@joemegna You can binge watch the other episodes. They're very good.

[@HarupertBeagleton-dz5gw]

Just accept you’re on the same level as the audience in the gladiator games lol

[@WissHH-]

​@@HarupertBeagleton-dz5gwlol no. This statement is ridiculous

[@notreallymyname3736]

Can you imagine being a Native American nearby when this happened? I mean, it's reasonable that you would understand that gunpowder makes a big bang; but you probably haven't seen enough of it in one place to understand how big of a blast it can make. You're getting your canoe ready to go get some cool stuff from that trade ship; and next thing you know the ship explodes and everyone of your fellow tribesmen onboard just got vaporized/sent to low earth orbit. I wonder if the thought of such a thing crossed any of their minds before it happened. It had to be terrifying.

[@jamesdeen3011]

As most of you reading the comments I enjoy true stories about the USAs early history. The one thing I like most about HOKC is he doesn't pick just the stories that are well written about he also tells the ones that are rarely told.

[@frakismaximus3052]

Brilliantly told tale!

[@Music-lx1tf]

I've been over the Columbia River bar several times. I was told you can get 20 ft waves coming at you from 3 different directions. My passages were on quiet days salmon fishing

[@cookiecrumbles4024]

thank you for the story of how this ship wrecked.. my grandmother was a Stuart and one of our ancesstors was Robert Stewart . I live in Washington State and I never knew of the history of many of my dads side of my family tree. But thanks to you there is agreat story to tell.

[@JPGoertz]

As always so well narrated. Captivating history. Always with a very personal touch of the biographies of real people. The best channel for histories. Thank you!

[@Charlie.a]

Thanks again brother for all your hard work. This stuff is perfection.

[@thepirhomancer9745]

"Astoria" is a great read!

[@justbe1451]

Great narration of our sweet history!

[@johnkilmartin5101]

The fur trade on the Pacific northwest wasn't based on the beaver going to Europe but instead on sea otter going to China.

[@judithcampbell1705]

YeeHaa thank you I really enjoyed this one!!! A long time ago they used to put really good movies on TV and i always liked the ones with pirates raiding ships. They flew a black flag and when you saw them coming you had to get ready to fight. Pirates ☠ were nasty. Thank you 💛 again for your excellent work.

[@walterwhiteboy4257]

Once again. Another great story. Thanks

[@davidwhite4874]

Fascinating! Thanks.

[@texasbonn257]

Thanks!

[@GlenLake]

Great storytelling. Thanks.

[@historyattheokcorral]

Thank you!

[@1fan164]

My fav book is Astoria by Washington Irving author of Sleepy Hollow. Where this narrative came from.

[@waynemcauliffe-fv5yf]

We are a violent species

[@chinajoebinlying1773]

I read this story while researching for my history capstone.

[@WyomingTraveler]

Well told story of adventures in the northwest

[@ludwigderzanker9767]

Hi folks, congrats deep of my heart...I learned the first time on your channel a absolutly news for, i.e. I never know before the hole story....and besides a role for DiCaprio in another Astor story 😂. Be blessed from Northern Germany Ludwig.

[@darin7369]

I can't help but wonder how certain details were known given the fact that there were no survivors to tell the story. Perhaps some details were gathered from the natives, but they wouldn't have likely known the name the man who blew up the ship nor how it was done nor that it was discussed as a plan to provide cover for the others to try and escape. How would anyone know that the crew tried to warn the captain about not letting too many natives on board at once and his refusal to listen? I think a lot of speculations must have been made in order to fill in the blanks. Nevertheless, it makes for a very interesting story.

[@The_ZeroLine]

Imagine young dandies in Paris or New York wearing beaver fur beanies today. That’d give me a chuckle.

[@robertcorradi8573]

Brilliantly narration once again. Thank you.

[@haircutdeluxe]

This story is expertly told in Peter Stark’s fantastic book Astoria.

[@robbierobinson4110]

Early 19th century America is so fascinating. I want to hang out in a cafe with my beaver top hat

[@charliem5254]

Rodney 4k

[@BLMann]

There's always some dumbass junior officer that is determined to mess everything up and risk everyone's lives. Guess it's always been that way.

[@arianmoore4474]

That, combined with dumbass regulations which make life more difficult, if not outright dangerous, for enlisted Joe's. Like not being allowed to carry arms on deck w/o explicit permission even in the presence of boarding parties that are know to turn violent immediately at the first sign of offense.

[@BLMann]

@arianmoore4474 yeah, Ole buddy was a clown for sure. I got a bunch of O1/O2s right now that match him.

[@craighaldane-gy3mk]

Great story I also wonder if there is still some remnants of the ship left there and it's a known site or it's all been lost to history. I mean I would imagine there was cannon and other large metal objects that should still be around today on the bed of whare it sank?.

[@ericgibson2079]

Trails ran the length of the Country and beyond. Crisscrossing. From Alaska to South America. West to East, etc. People adventured far and wide. Many First Nation People new sovernty was the way, and they seen themselves in a global war in many ways as well. Keep up the research showing the horse as already being here as well.

[@dal8963]

I wonder why they just didn't sail away on the ship I mean they had 7 men left and that seems like enough to sail but maybe there was no wind or maybe the process of getting it going would have taken to long and been noticed by the natives before they could get going

[@Hugo-vz3eu]

Good story

[@ericgibson2079]

Well see if the boat sails away to history or gets blown up in this record? Theres conflict in this one too.

[@claudiaclaudia936]

🗺Empire

[@NaturalSocietyHistorian]

🐐

[@LonelyRanger902]

The captain wouldn’t allow them to be armed on deck while dealing with hostile natives? What kind of a moron was this guy?

[@Peter-kk6rg]

Lewis that's a man.

[@chasevideo]

This would have probably never happened if they hired a different captain

[@tommygamache7352]

😊

[@chpet1655]

lol you could buy a lot more with 250,000 dollars than what you could buy with 6 million today. 250 k is a truly large amount of money. I mean he was able to buy a 290 ton barque armed with cannons for 35 k... yeah its not the same.

[@stillinfamous]

Inflation is a bitch; it’s kinda sad seeing the buying power of a dollar decreasing overtime.

[@captainpinky8307]

wow! he BLEW up 200+ indians? crazy man.

[@jacksdulaney]

⚔️💛⚔️

[@drivenmad7676]

Captain Thorn sounded like a real turd burglar.

[@awolpeace1781]

Pompous captain with a tragic end would make for a great movie

[@cosmiccowboy3063]

He tried to run it like a navy vessel and the men as conscripts instead of r3dpecting them.

[@m.r.h.2997]

Leider ruiniert der Sprecher mit seinem süßlichen Singsang das ganze Video. Ic kann es einfach nicht anhören.

[@user-zx7dp3qp6u]

This goes to show that you don't go to a land uninvited and attempt to rape the land and people. Every place has its ways and laws and the Fur traders broke those and paid the price for their greed.

[@disturbedK0]

dudes a badass

[@555tdh]

Thanks!

[@historyattheokcorral]

Thank you so much!