And also were here with cspan, booktv. And so we have a National Audience as well as a oregon audience. So im going to tell some stories, and you oregonians may know some of the stories, and you may not know others. But ill start with how i came to this story. And, actually, whats surprising about it is how this story was very well known in its day. In 1836 when Washington Irving was commissioned by John Jacob Astor to write the story of these events 20 years after they occurred, irvings book also called astoria, was a best seller of 1836. And those events have been largely forgotten in the american consciousness. I think you in oregon know a little bit more about them or im sure some of you know a lot more about them. But in the national consciousness, theyre largely forgotten, except among historians and people who really follow western history. So it is a really important story. Its historically significant, and its a great adventure story. And thats partly what attracted me to it.