William Cameron McKay (1824–1893) was a scout in the

Snake War The Snake War (1864–1868) was an Irregular warfare, irregular war fought by the United States of America against the "Snake Indians," the Exonym, settlers' term for Northern Paiute, Bannock (tribe), Bannock and Western Shoshone bands who liv ...

and

Modoc War The Modoc War, or the Modoc Campaign (also known as the Lava Beds War), was an armed conflict between the Native Americans in the United States, Native American Modoc people and the United States Army in northeastern California and southeastern ...

, a Captain in the U.S. Army, a member of the Warm Springs Scouts, and a physician and surgeon. William Cameron McKay was born in the

Oregon Country Oregon Country was a large region of the Pacific Northwest of North America that was subject to a long Oregon boundary dispute, dispute between the United Kingdom and the United States in the early 19th century. The area, which had been demarcat ...

, at Fort George, on May 18, 1824, what is now

Astoria, Oregon Astoria is a Port, port city in and the county seat of Clatsop County, Oregon, United States. Founded in 1811, Astoria is the oldest city in the state and was the first permanent American settlement west of the Rocky Mountains. The county is the ...

. He was the son of a famous trapper and guide

Thomas McKay Thomas McKay (1 September 1792 – 9 October 1855) was a Canadian businessman who was one of the founders of the city of Ottawa, Ontario. Biography McKay was born in Perth, Scotland and became a skilled stonemason. He emigrated to the Cana ...

and his wife, Timmee T'lkul Tchinouk, daughter of Tshinouk ( Chinook) chief Concomly. He was a grandson of Alexander MacKay and the step-grandson of Dr.

John McLoughlin John McLoughlin, baptized Jean-Baptiste McLoughlin, (October 19, 1784 – September 3, 1857) was a French-Canadian, later American, Chief Factor and Superintendent of the Columbia District of the Hudson's Bay Company at Fort Vancouver from 1 ...

.Dr. William Cameron McKay,(1824-1893)
/ref> Educated by his step-grandfather, he was sent with his brothers to be educated in the Eastern United States in 1838. He trained at Fairfield Medical College in

Fairfield, New York Fairfield is a Administrative divisions of New York#Town, town in Herkimer County, New York, United States. The population was 1,627 at the 2010 census. The town is named after Fairfield, Connecticut. The town is north of the village of Herkime ...

. At the age of 19 he was licensed to practice medicine. He received an honorary medical diploma from Willamette University College of Medicine in 1873. In 1871, Dr. McKay began a lawsuit to establish his American citizenship. In his ruling, Judge Matthew Deady wrote that McKay did not become a US citizen under the 14th Amendment's citizenship clause, because at birth, he had not been under the sole jurisdiction of United States, as the Oregon Country was then jointly held with Great Britain. In response the following year, Oregon Senator Henry Corbett introduced legislation, ultimately successful, to reverse the debility that Deady had imposed. This was the first birthright citizenship legislation in the United States after the passage of the 14th Amendment. He commanded a group of Warm Springs Indians that served as scouts for the U.S. Army in the

, a campaign against the

Northern Paiute Northern may refer to the following: Geography * North, a point in direction * Northern Europe, the northern part or region of Europe * Northern Highland, a region of Wisconsin, United States * Northern Province, Sri Lanka * Northern Range, a ...

in 1866–1868. He was appointed on several occasions to serve as doctor at both the Warm Springs and Umatilla reservations.McKay, W. C. (William Cameron), 1824-1893
from snaccooperative.org accessed August 16, 2018. He died in 1893, aged 74, in

Pendleton, Oregon Pendleton is a city in and the county seat of Umatilla County, Oregon, Umatilla County, Oregon, United States. The population was 17,107 at the time of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, which includes approximately 1,600 people who are ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McKay, William Cameron People from Oregon Country People from Oregon Territory 1824 births 1893 deaths Oregon pioneers Canadian Métis people Physicians from Oregon