Archives West Finding Aid

The Hudson's Bay Company was chartered in 1670 by King Charles II of England. Originally concerned with the fur trade throughout the northern North American continent, the company's complete monopoly was challenged in the late 18th century by chartered rivals such as the North West Company. By the early 19th century the Company had established posts in the far west, including the acquisition of Fort George in 1821 and the founding of Fort Vancouver on the lower Columbia River in 1824. Prominent among its officials was Dr. John McLoughlin, the Chief Factor at Fort Vancouver. It held great power in the Pacific Northwest up to the 1840s. After the signing of the 1846 treaty setting the boundary with the U.S. at the 49th parallel, the Company moved its operations to Vancouver Island in British Columbia. In a further treaty of 1863, the U.S. agreed to pay the Company for all rights and titles to its remaining property within the Union.

Sir James Douglas (1803-1877) was a native of Scotland who entered the service of the North West Company in 1819 and worked for the Hudson's Bay Company after 1821. He was stationed first at Fort Henry, and afterwards at various outposts in the Pacific northwest, coming to Fort Vancouver in 1830 and later succeeding Dr. John McLoughlin. From 1841-1849 he sat on the Hudson's Bay Company's Board of Governor's, and he later moved to Vancouver Island, where he served as the Island's second governor from 1849-1858. He was the first governor of the Crown Colony of British Columbia, serving from 1859-1863.

Dr. William Cameron McKay (1824-1893) was born at Astoria Oregon, the son of Thomas McKay, a member of the original 1811 Pacific Fur Company expedition, and McKay's Chinook Indian wife. William McKay was educated at Fort Vancouver under Dr. John McLoughlin, and later attended Fairfield College in New York and Willamette University in Oregon, where he received an M.D. He established a trading post near Umatilla, served as a guide for military expeditions, commanded a company of Warm Springs Indians in 1866, and served as a physician at the Warm Springs and Umatilla reservations in his later years.

George McTavish (1834-1893) was a native of Scotland who entered the service of the Hudson's Bay Company as a clerk, in 1849. He was stationed at various posts at the Ottowa River, the Great Whale River, Rupert's House, Moose Factory, and Fort Garry, and others. He rose to the postion of Inspecting Chief Factor and retired in 1880 to supervise work on the Canadian Pacific Railroad. His second wife was Emma Moore, who died in 1886.