Gabriel Franchère (3 November 1786 –12 April 1863) was a French Canadian author and explorer of the Pacific Northwest.
Franchère was born in Montreal to Gabriel Franchère (4 March 1752 - 16 May 1832) and Marie-Félicité Morin (20 August 1760 - 28 September 1807). He later joined the Pacific Fur Company as a merchant apprentice, arriving at Fort Astoria on the Tonquin.[1] 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.[1] He wrote Narrative of a Voyage to the Northwest Coast of America,[1] which was published in 1819. This work was translated into English and edited in 1851, and later rereleased as part of the General Series of the Champlain Society in 1969.[2] The untranslated version was one of Washington Irving's sources for his book Astoria.[1]
The mountain Franchère Peak in the Canadian Rockies was named in his honor in 1917.[3]