HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Donald McKenzie (16 June 1783 – 20 January 1851) was a
Scottish-Canadian Scottish Canadians are people of Scottish descent or heritage living in Canada. As the third-largest ethnic group in Canada and amongst the first Europeans to settle in the country, Scottish people have made a large impact on Canadian culture s ...
explorer, fur trader and Governor of the
Red River Colony The Red River Colony (or Selkirk Settlement), also known as Assinboia, was a colonization project set up in 1811 by Thomas Douglas, 5th Earl of Selkirk, on of land in British North America. This land was granted to Douglas by the Hudson's Bay C ...
from 1821 to 1834.


Early life

Born in Scotland, McKenzie emigrated to Canada about 1800. He and 2 or three of his brothers became involved in the
fur trade The fur trade is a worldwide industry dealing in the acquisition and sale of animal fur. Since the establishment of a world fur market in the early modern period, furs of boreal, polar and cold temperate mammalian animals have been the mo ...
and were engaged with the
North West Company The North West Company was a fur trading business headquartered in Montreal from 1779 to 1821. It competed with increasing success against the Hudson's Bay Company in what is present-day Western Canada and Northwestern Ontario. With great wealt ...
. In 1810, he left the employ of the North West Company to become a partner in the
Pacific Fur Company The Pacific Fur Company (PFC) was an American fur trade venture wholly owned and funded by John Jacob Astor that functioned from 1810 to 1813. It was based in the Pacific Northwest, an area contested over the decades between the United Kingdom of ...
(PFC), financed solely by
John Jacob Astor John Jacob Astor (born Johann Jakob Astor; July 17, 1763 – March 29, 1848) was a German-American businessman, merchant, real estate mogul, and investor who made his fortune mainly in a fur trade monopoly, by smuggling opium into China, and ...
.


Pacific Fur Company

McKenzie traveled west from
St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...
, to the
Pacific Northwest The Pacific Northwest (sometimes Cascadia, or simply abbreviated as PNW) is a geographic region in western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Though ...
with an expedition of fellow PFC employees. The group divided after experiencing hard times in southern
Idaho Idaho ( ) is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. To the north, it shares a small portion of the Canada–United States border with the province of British Columbia. It borders the states of Montana and Wyomi ...
. McKenzie’s fraction, consisting of twelve total, struck north, eventually finding the Salmon River and Clearwater River. They proceeded down the lower
Snake River The Snake River is a major river of the greater Pacific Northwest region in the United States. At long, it is the largest tributary of the Columbia River, in turn, the largest North American river that empties into the Pacific Ocean. The Snake ...
and
Columbia River The Columbia River ( Upper Chinook: ' or '; Sahaptin: ''Nch’i-Wàna'' or ''Nchi wana''; Sinixt dialect'' '') is the largest river in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. The river rises in the Rocky Mountains of British Columbia, ...
by canoe, and were the first of the Overland Astorians to reach
Fort Astoria Fort Astoria (also named Fort George) was the primary fur trading post of John Jacob Astor's Pacific Fur Company (PFC). A maritime contingent of PFC staff was sent on board the '' Tonquin'', while another party traveled overland from St. Louis. T ...
, on January 18, 1812. McKenzie spent two years exploring and trading for the Pacific Fur Company in the
Willamette Valley The Willamette Valley ( ) is a long valley in Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. The Willamette River flows the entire length of the valley and is surrounded by mountains on three sides: the Cascade Range to the east ...
, along the Columbia River, in eastern Washington and in northern and central Idaho. When the PFC sold its assets and stations to the North West Company in 1813, McKenzie was appointed to carry all important papers back east, which he did in 1814.


Fort Nez Percés and Idaho explorations

After a short time, McKenzie became reacquainted with the North West Company, and returned to the Columbia region in 1816. In 1818, he and Alexander Ross built
Fort Nez Percés Fort Nez Percés (or Fort Nez Percé, with or without the accent aigu), later known as (Old) Fort Walla Walla, was a fortified fur trading post on the Columbia River on the territory of modern-day Wallula, Washington. Despite being named after th ...
near the confluence of the Columbia River and
Walla Walla River The Walla Walla River is a tributary of the Columbia River, joining the Columbia just above Wallula Gap in southeastern Washington in the United States. The river flows through Umatilla County, Oregon, and Walla Walla County, Washington. Its dr ...
. McKenzie and his trappers made the first extensive exploration of what is now southern Idaho starting in 1818, with annual expeditions continuing through 1821. His trapping ventures covered most of present-day southern Idaho as well as parts of eastern Oregon, northern
Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...
and western Wyoming. Many of the names for rivers in this region can be traced to this period.


Governor of the Red River Colony

With the merger of the North West Company and
Hudson's Bay Company The Hudson's Bay Company (HBC; french: Compagnie de la Baie d'Hudson) is a Canadian retail business group. A fur trade, fur trading business for much of its existence, HBC now owns and operates retail stores in Canada. The company's namesake b ...
in 1821, McKenzie was appointed Governor of the
Red River Colony The Red River Colony (or Selkirk Settlement), also known as Assinboia, was a colonization project set up in 1811 by Thomas Douglas, 5th Earl of Selkirk, on of land in British North America. This land was granted to Douglas by the Hudson's Bay C ...
. He left the Pacific Northwest and moved to
Fort Garry Fort Garry, also known as Upper Fort Garry, was a Hudson's Bay Company trading post at the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers in what is now downtown Winnipeg. It was established in 1822 on or near the site of the North West Company's ...
for a decade, serving as governor of the area including most of present-day
Manitoba , image_map = Manitoba in Canada 2.svg , map_alt = Map showing Manitoba's location in the centre of Southern Canada , Label_map = yes , coordinates = , capital = Winn ...
,
Saskatchewan Saskatchewan ( ; ) is a province in western Canada, bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and on the south by the U.S. states of Montana and North Dak ...
, and
Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Terri ...
, Canada.


Legacy

In 1834, McKenzie retired and moved to
Mayville, New York Mayville is a village in Chautauqua County, New York, United States. The population was 1,477 at the 2020 census, 13.7% less than in the 2010 census. Mayville is in the town of Chautauqua and is the county seat of Chautauqua County. The village ...
, where he lived for the next two decades. Among the distinguished visitors McKenzie entertained and advised were
Daniel Webster Daniel Webster (January 18, 1782 – October 24, 1852) was an American lawyer and statesman who represented New Hampshire and Massachusetts in the U.S. Congress and served as the U.S. Secretary of State under Presidents William Henry Harrison, ...
and
William H. Seward William Henry Seward (May 16, 1801 – October 10, 1872) was an American politician who served as United States Secretary of State from 1861 to 1869, and earlier served as governor of New York and as a United States Senator. A determined oppon ...
, both of whom later served as United States Secretary of State. He gave advice on where the international boundary should be established for Oregon, and also may have planted the seeds that led to the
purchase of Alaska The Alaska Purchase (russian: Продажа Аляски, Prodazha Alyaski, Sale of Alaska) was the United States' acquisition of Alaska from the Russian Empire. Alaska was formally transferred to the United States on October 18, 1867, through a ...
from Russia. McKenzie Pass and the McKenzie River in Oregon are named for him.


References

*
''Manitoba Historical Society - Donald McKenzie''


External links



* ttp://www.mman.us/mapwestboundastorians.htm Map Showing Route of Overland Astorians 1810-1813
Photograph of: Donald McKenzie & Adelgonda Humbert Droz
{{DEFAULTSORT:McKenzie, Donald Scottish explorers of North America Explorers of Canada 1783 births 1851 deaths North West Company people History of the Pacific Northwest Explorers of Oregon British emigrants to Canada Canadian emigrants to the United States People from Mayville, New York