John McLoughlin
| John McLoughlin | |
|---|---|
| Jean-Baptiste McLoughlin | |
| Born | 1784-10-19 near Rivière-du-Loup, Quebec |
| Died | 1857-09-03 Oregon City, Oregon |
| Occupation | Physician, fur trader, merchant |
| Father | |
| Mother | |
| Partner | |
John McLoughlin (baptized Jean-Baptiste) (19 October 1784 – 3 September 1857 (aged 72)) was a Canadian physician and fur trader who served as chief factor of the Hudson's Bay Company's Columbia District from 1824 to 1845. He became widely known as the "father of Oregon" for his pivotal role in developing the Pacific Northwest.
Early life and medical training
McLoughlin was born near Rivière-du-Loup in Quebec on 19 October 1784, the son of John McLoughlin, a farmer, and Angélique Fraser, daughter of Malcolm Fraser.[1] His uncle Dr. Simon Fraser shaped his early direction toward medicine; at about age 14, McLoughlin apprenticed under Dr. James Fisher of Quebec City. In May 1803, at eighteen, he obtained a licence to practise in Lower Canada.[1]
Despite his medical qualification, an incident involving an army officer made it prudent for McLoughlin to leave the province, and on 26 April 1803 he signed a five-year agreement with McTavish, Frobisher and Company — partners in the North West Company — to serve as physician and apprentice clerk.[1]
North West Company service (1803–1821)
McLoughlin's earliest posting was at the Kaministiquia depot (present-day Thunder Bay), the principal inland hub of the North West Company. He spent winters at outlying posts, including Rainy Lake in 1806 and Sturgeon Lake in 1807, where he served alongside Daniel Williams Harmon. His imposing physical presence made a strong impression on Indigenous peoples, and he proved an effective trader.[1]
Financial obligations — supporting his brother David's medical studies in Edinburgh — extended his service beyond the initial five years. After the death of Simon McTavish in 1804, promised pay arrangements were disputed, but McLoughlin eventually secured a three-year agreement from William McGillivray at £200 annually, with a partnership interest made a condition of continued service. He was admitted as a wintering partner in 1814 and assigned to the Lac la Pluie district, moving to Fort William in 1815.[1]
During the turbulent period surrounding Lord Selkirk's Red River Settlement in 1816, McLoughlin arrived at Fort William after the violence at Seven Oaks, prudently avoiding direct involvement. When Lord Selkirk occupied Fort William in August 1816, McLoughlin was among those arrested. He was tried at York (present-day Toronto) in October 1818 and found not guilty.[1]
By 1819 McLoughlin had become convinced that the North West Company faced financial ruin in its contest with the HBC. He discreetly approached Selkirk's lawyer Samuel Gale to inquire about terms of accommodation. At the 1820 annual meeting, he and Angus Bethune were authorized by eighteen wintering partners to negotiate with the HBC in London, a process that resulted in the union of the two companies in March 1821.[1]
Hudson's Bay Company: Columbia District (1824–1845)
After the coalition, McLoughlin was appointed chief factor and initially assigned to manage the Rainy Lake district in 1822 and 1823. Governor George Simpson then selected him to reorganize the troubled Columbia District. Simpson and McLoughlin travelled together to Fort George (the former Astoria) on the Columbia River, arriving on 8 November 1824. McLoughlin was given broad discretionary authority over the district, functioning as its superintendent for nearly two decades.[1]
Under McLoughlin's direction, the Columbia District expanded substantially. A new Fort Vancouver was constructed upriver and became the district headquarters from 1829. A network of coastal trading posts was established, including Fort Langley on the lower Fraser River (1827), Fort Nisqually near present-day Tacoma (1833), Fort McLoughlin near Bella Bella (1833), and Fort Nass on the Nass River, later moved and renamed Fort Simpson. The construction of each post was delegated to officers including Archibald McDonald, Duncan Finlayson, and Peter Skene Ogden.[1]
When the American merchant Nathaniel Jarvis Wyeth arrived at Fort Vancouver in late 1832 with proposals for a joint fur and salmon venture, McLoughlin extended hospitality while expecting the enterprise to fail commercially. Wyeth returned in 1834 accompanied by the Methodist missionary Jason Lee, the first of many American missionaries to settle in the Willamette Valley. McLoughlin provided practical assistance to American settlers who followed — seeds, implements, and food supplies — a policy that troubled his superiors in London but which McLoughlin defended as both humanitarian and commercially sensible. By spring 1844, advances to settlers amounted to some £6,600.[1]
A critical episode in McLoughlin's tenure was the death of his son John McLoughlin (the younger) at Fort Stikine in April 1842. The younger McLoughlin had been placed in command of the post and was killed by members of his own garrison. Governor Simpson, arriving shortly after, accepted the men's account and suggested the killing would amount to justifiable homicide in an English court. McLoughlin, devastated and enraged, spent years assembling evidence to refute this characterization, describing the accused as among the worst characters on the coast. The dispute permanently embittered his relationship with Simpson.[1]
Simpson's visit to the Columbia in August 1841 precipitated further conflict. Simpson ordered the closure of most northern coastal posts and directed that trade rely instead on the steamship Beaver. McLoughlin objected vigorously but was overruled. The reorganization resulted in the closure of Forts Taku and McLoughlin in 1843 and the founding of Fort Victoria on Vancouver Island in the same year.[1]
Oregon City and later life
McLoughlin had identified the site of Oregon City, at the falls of the Willamette River, as the most strategically important location in the region and had surveyed and laid out the town in 1842. This brought him into prolonged conflict with the Methodist missionary Alvan F. Waller, who contested his property claims, and with the Oregon provisional government, which enacted land laws that effectively targeted McLoughlin and the HBC.[1]
The HBC terminated McLoughlin's role as superintendent effective 31 May 1845. In January 1846 he moved permanently to Oregon City, notifying the company on 26 March that he would not return to active service; his retirement was formally recognized on 1 June 1849. He received full chief factor shares for one year and half shares for five years thereafter.[1]
In Oregon City, McLoughlin operated as a merchant and mill owner and briefly served as the town's mayor. He applied for American citizenship, which was granted in 1851. The 1850 Oregon Land Donation Act set aside his property claims for public education, but the state legislature did not convey most of his properties to his heirs until 1862, five years after his death.[1]
Marguerite Waddens, whom McLoughlin had taken as a country wife around 1810, had previously been the country wife of explorer Alexander MacKay, who was killed in the Tonquin massacre of 1811. McLoughlin and Marguerite were formally married in a Roman Catholic ceremony at Fort Vancouver on 19 November 1842. She survived him, dying in 1860 at about age 85.[1]
Legacy
McLoughlin was known to Indigenous peoples as "Pee-kin," meaning the White Headed Eagle of the Whites, a reference to his distinctive white hair. He came to be remembered as the "father of Oregon" and was chosen to represent the state in the National Statuary Hall in the Capitol, Washington, D.C. His Oregon City home is preserved as the McLoughlin House, a national historic site.[1]
Governor Simpson's 1832 character book described McLoughlin as "a man of strict honour and integrity but a great stickler for rights and priviledges," with an "ungovernable Violent temper and turbulent disposition," adding that he "would be a Radical in any Country."[2] In his final letter to HBC Governor Sir John Henry Pelly in July 1846, McLoughlin reflected bitterly that Simpson's 1841 visit had "cost me Dear."[1]
References
- ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 1.14 1.15 1.16 1.17 W. Kaye Lamb."W. Kaye Lamb, "McLoughlin, John," Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. 8."[website].Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. 8 (University of Toronto/Université Laval).1985.University of Toronto/Université Laval.Link.(Rights: copyrighted | Access: open)
- ↑ "Simpson, "Character book"."[book].HBRS, vol. 30, ed. Glyndwr Williams.pp. 151–236.(Rights: unknown | Access: open)
[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11]
External links
- ↑ "Hudson's Bay Company Archives."[record].HBCA, A.5; A.6; A.11; A.12; B.223/a/1–7; B.223/b/1–43; D.4; D.5; E.13/1; F.8–F.26.Provincial Archives of Manitoba.(Rights: unknown | Access: open)
- ↑ "John McLoughlin's Fort Vancouver correspondence."[book].Hudson's Bay Record Society, vols. 4, 6, 7, ed. E. E. Rich.(Rights: unknown | Access: open)
- ↑ B. B. Barker (ed.)."Letters of Dr. John McLoughlin, written at Fort Vancouver, 1829–1832."[book].1948.Portland, Oregon.(Rights: unknown | Access: open)
- ↑ W. R. Sampson (ed.)."John McLoughlin's business correspondence, 1847–48."[book].1973.Seattle, Washington.(Rights: unknown | Access: open)
- ↑ B. B. Barker."The McLoughlin empire and its rulers."[book].1959.Glendale, California.(Rights: unknown | Access: open)
- ↑ B. B. Barker (ed.)."The financial papers of Dr. John McLoughlin."[book].1949.Portland, Oregon.(Rights: unknown | Access: open)
- ↑ F. V. V. Holman."Dr. John McLoughlin, the father of Oregon."[book].1907.Cleveland, Ohio.(Rights: unknown | Access: open)
- ↑ R. C. Johnson."John McLoughlin: father of Oregon."[book].1958.Portland, Oregon.(Rights: unknown | Access: open)
- ↑ R. G. Montgomery."The white-headed eagle, John McLoughlin, builder of an empire."[book].1935.New York.(Rights: unknown | Access: open)
- ↑ J. S. Galbraith."The Hudson's Bay Company as an imperial factor, 1821–1869."[book].1957.Toronto.(Rights: unknown | Access: open)
- ↑ A. S. Morton, ed. L. G. Thomas."A history of the Canadian west to 1870–71."[book].1973.Toronto/Buffalo, New York.(Rights: unknown | Access: open)