Francis Joseph Schanno was born in Turckheim, Alsace, France. After the death of his first wife Schanno remarried and in 1856 at age 61 he traveled to America with his wife and three adult children, who were under threat of being drafted into the French military.

The family were brewers and after a few years in the east they made their way across the country and settled in Grant County in the Territory of Oregon.  In 1863 the family moved to The Dalles where 68-year-old Francis and 27-year-old Henry Ludwig formed the Columbia Brewery on Second Street.  In around 1870 Ludwig removed to Portland and Schanno and his sons ran the brewery from then on alone.   In 1876 the family sold out to Portland brewery titan Henry Weinhard and his partner August Buchler.  Francis, now aged 81 retired.

Francis Joseph Schanno died on the 21st day of July, 1883 at the age of 88.  The brewery he and Henry Ludwig founded continued as the Eastern Oregon Brewing Co. until Oregon prohibition laws shut it down in 1916.

August Buchler was born in Switzerland. At age 22 he emigrated to America, eventually settling in the Dalles, Oregon. There he partnered with Henry Weinhard in the Columbia Brewery, a brewery he ran for nearly 30 years. he died November 24, 1917 aged 76 years.