While a soldier at Michigan's Fort Mackinac in 1810, Cannon was recruited by William Price Hunt to accompany an overland expedition to the Oregon Country. In his 1836 book, Astoria, Washington Irving related Cannon's unpleasant experience with a grizzly bear during the trip.[4] The party reached Astoria in 1812. Later they traveled to French Prairie, and Etienne Lucier remained with Cannon to help start an American settlement.[2] When John McLoughlin arrived in 1824, Cannon built a gristmillatFt. Vancouver.[2] In 1843 Cannon was among the immigrants who voted in favor of forming a provisional government in the Oregon Country.[5]
^Laidlaw, Tom (2005). "Fort Vancouver's First Blacksmith"(PDF). Forge and Plane Newsletter. Fort Vancouver Trades Guild. Archived from the original(PDF) on November 5, 2012. Retrieved January 26, 2015.
^ abcDobbs, Caroline C. (1932). "Men of Champoeg"(pdf). Daughters of the American Revolution. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved January 26, 2015.