Quintin McPherson McKinnon, (1851–1892) was a

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

New Zealand explorer and tour guide. Te Anau Quintin Mackinnon Statue

McKinnon was born in

Argyll Argyll (; archaically Argyle; , ), sometimes called Argyllshire, is a Shires of Scotland, historic county and registration county of western Scotland. The county ceased to be used for local government purposes in 1975 and most of the area ...

shire in

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

and emigrated to

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

sometime in the 1870s. In 1879 he married Barbara Sinclair in

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; ) is the second-most populous city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from ("fort of Edin"), the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of S ...

. They had two sons Quintin Gillies McKinnon (b. 1881) and Robert Daniel McKinnon (b. 1882-d.1885). Although he spelt his name Quintin McKinnon, he is also referred to in both official documents and newspaper reports variously as Quintin, Quinton, MacKinnon, Mackinnon and McKinnon. McKinnon explored the central and west coast of the

South Island The South Island ( , 'the waters of Pounamu, Greenstone') is the largest of the three major islands of New Zealand by surface area, the others being the smaller but more populous North Island and Stewart Island. It is bordered to the north by ...

of New Zealand. His name has been applied to various landmarks and geographical features in the Milford and

Fiordland Fiordland (, "The Pit of Tattooing", and also translated as "the Shadowlands"), is a non-administrative geographical region of New Zealand in the south-western corner of the South Island, comprising the western third of Southland. Most of F ...

area including

McKinnon Pass Omanui / McKinnon Pass (previously spelt Mackinnon Pass) is an alpine pass between Mount Hart and Mount Balloon in Fiordland, New Zealand. The pass is at an elevation of and is located southwest of Milford Sound / Piopiotahi. The pass is the ...

, Lake McKinnon, the Quintin Huts on Milford Track, and the St. Quintin Falls in Clinton Valley. In 1887 McKinnon was employed by the Otago Survey Department to try to find a tourist route into Milford Sound. He was unsuccessful in this first attempt but hopeful that a pass could be discovered. In 1888 the Otago Survey Department again employed McKinnon, this time with Ernest Mitchell. They were instructed to cut a track up the river and to find a pass while C.W. Adams, the chief surveyor, took a party to survey the country fringing Milford Sound. Included in the party were Thomas Mackenzie, William Soltau Pillans, and the commercial photographer, Fred Muir. McKinnon was successful and discovered a passage between the head of Lake Te Anau and Milford Sound. He and Mitchell crossed the pass and joined the surveying party on the other side. The pass was named Mackinnon Pass (now officially Omanui / McKinnon Pass). The route became known as the

Milford Track The Milford Track is a hiking route in New Zealand, located amidst mountains and temperate rain forest in Fiordland National Park in the southwest of the South Island. The 53.5 km (33.2 mi) hike starts at Glade Wharf at the head o ...

and this was the first practicable overland route across the South Island. After the discovery of the pass McKinnon spent time improving the track and taking regular parties of sightseers and tourists through the area. He offered a guided tour from Lake Te Anau to Sutherland Falls. He was also contracted to carry the mail between Te Anau and Milford Sound. Milford Track Mackinnon Memorial 1

On 29 November 1892 McKinnon departed to cross Lake Te Anau to go to Milford but never arrived. He was last seen sailing with a fair wind on

Lake Te Anau Lake Te Anau () is in the southwestern corner of the South Island of New Zealand. The lake covers an area of , making it the second-largest lake by surface area in New Zealand (after Lake Taupō) and the largest in the South Island. It is the ...

by a hand from the Te Anau station. A search party was sent to the area in January 1893 but did not find any trace of him. His wrecked boat and belongings were discovered but his body was never recovered. He was presumed drowned in Lake Te Anau. A public subscription was raised to build the Quintin MacKinnon Memorial Cairn which stands at the summit of

References

External links

Photograph of Quintin McKinnon (centre) in 1888 after finding McKinnon Pass.1888 photograph of Quintin McKinnon (left) and Ernest Mitchell
{{DEFAULTSORT:McKinnon, Quintin 1851 births 1892 deaths Colony of New Zealand people New Zealand explorers Scottish explorers Explorers of New Zealand People from Argyll and Bute Deaths by drowning in New Zealand