- David Thompson
David Thompson (April 30, 1770 - February 10, 1857), was an English-Canadian fur trader, surveyor, and map-maker, known to some native peoples as "the Stargazer". Over his career he mapped over 3.9 million square kilometres of North America and for this has been described as the "greatest land geographer who ever lived." - George Simpson
Sir George Simpson (1787 - 7 September 1860) was a Scots-Quebecer and employee of the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC). His title was Governor-in-Chief of Rupert's Land and the Indian Territories in British North America (now Canada) from 1821 to 1860. George Simpson was born in Dingwall, Ross-shire, Scotland, the only son of George Simpson, Sr., a writer in Dingwall. - James Douglas
Sir James Douglas, KCB, (August 15, 1803 – August 2 1877), was an employee and officer of the Hudson's Bay Company and a British colonial governor. From 1851 to 1864, he was Governor of the Colony of Vancouver Island. In 1858 he became, also, the first Governor of the Colony of British Columbia, in order to assert British authority during the Fraser River gold rush, which had the potential to turn the Mainland into an American state. - John McLoughlin
Dr. John McLoughlin, baptised Jean-Baptist McLoughlin, (October 19, 1784 - September 3, 1857), was the Chief Factor of the Columbia Fur District of the Hudson's Bay Company at Fort Vancouver, and was later known as the "Father of Oregon" for his role in assisting the American cause in the Oregon Country in the Pacific Northwest. In the late 1840s his general store in Oregon City was famous as the last stop on the Oregon Trail. - Samuel Hearne
Samuel Hearne (1745 - November 1792), English explorer of northern North America, was born in London. In 1756 he entered the navy, and was some time with Lord Hood; at the end of the Seven Years' War (1763) he took service with the Hudson's Bay Company. In 1768 he examined portions of the Hudson Bay coasts with a view to improving the cod fishery, and from 1769 to 1772 he was employed in north-western discovery, … - Jerry Zucker
Jerry Zucker (b. 1949) is an Israeli-American businessman. A graduate of the University of Florida with a triple major Bachelor of Science degree in mathematics, chemistry, and physics, and MS in Electrical Engineering, Zucker resides in Charleston, South Carolina. He was born in Israel. He is president and CEO of InterTech Group. In 2006 he acquired the Hudson's Bay Company, North America's oldest company, becoming its Governor. - Peter Skene Ogden
Peter Skene Ogden (alternately Skeene, Skein or Skeen), (baptised 12 February, 1790 - September 27, 1854) was a fur trapper and a Canadian explorer of what is now British Columbia the American West. During his many expeditions he explored parts of Oregon, Washington, Nevada, California, Utah, Idaho and Wyoming. His birthdate is variously given as 1774, 1794, or 1790. He was the son of Chief Justice Isaac Ogden of Quebec. - Henry Kelsey
Henry Kelsey (c. 1667 - 1724), also known as Boy Kelsey, was an English fur trader, explorer, and sailor who played an important role in establishing the Hudson's Bay Company. Kelsey was born and married in East Greenwich, south-east of central London. During the years 1690 to 1691, Kelsey explored Northern Manitoba from Hudson's Bay to the Saskatchewan River. He is traditionally believed to be the first white man to see what is now Alberta. - John Rae
John Rae (September 30, 1813 - July 22, 1893) was a Scottish explorer of Canada's Arctic. Rae was born at the Hall of Clestrain in the parish of Orphir in the Orkney Islands. After studying medicine at Edinburgh he went into the service of the Hudson's Bay Company as a doctor. He accepted a post as surgeon at Moose Factory, Ontario and remained there for ten years. - Peter Pond
Peter Pond ( 1739 or 1740 - 1807) was born in Milford, Connecticut. He was a soldier with a Connecticut regiment, a fur trader, founding member of the North West Company, an explorer and cartographer. Despite his accomplishments he died in relative obscurity and poverty in his birthplace. He began his fur trading career with his father out of Detroit, Michigan. He traded throughout Minnesota and Wisconsin. Through his business he became acquainted with Alexander Henry, … - Robert Campbell
Robert Campbell (21 February 1808 - 9 May 1894) was a Hudson's Bay Company fur trader and explorer. He explored a large part of the southern Yukon and established Fort Frances, Yukon on Frances Lake in the Liard River basin and Fort Selkirk, Yukon at the juncture of the Yukon River and the Pelly River. The Robert Campbell Highway in the Yukon is named after him. - Pierre-Esprit Radisson
Pierre-Esprit Radisson was a French-born explorer and fur trader. His exploits in 1668 were instrumental in the formation of the Hudson's Bay Company. He came to New France as a teenager and was captured in an Iroquois raid circa 1652, but was adopted by his captors and became accustomed to their way of life. Radisson escaped once but he was recaptured and tortured. - Paul Kane
Paul Kane (September 3, 1810 - February 20, 1871) was an Irish-Canadian painter, famous for his paintings of First Nations peoples in the Canadian West and other Native Americans in the Oregon Country. A largely self-educated artist, Kane grew up in Toronto (then known as York) and trained himself by copying European masters on a study trip through Europe. He undertook two voyages through the wild Canadian northwest in 1845 and from 1846 to 1848. - Alexander Ross
Alexander Ross, (May 9 1783 - October 23 1856), was a fur trader and author who emigrated to Upper Canada, (Ontario), from Scotland in about 1805. Working for John Jacob Astor's Pacific Fur Company, he took part in the founding of Astoria, a fur-trading post in Oregon in 1811. He joined the North West Company in 1813, after it acquired Astoria, and when the North West merged (1821) with the Hudson's Bay Company, he worked for the latter for 4 years. - Anthony Henday
Anthony Henday (Hendry) (fl. 1750 - 1762) was one of the first white men to explore the interior of the Canadian northwest. His explorations were authorized and funded by the Hudson's Bay Company because of their concern with La Verendrye and the other western commanders who were funneling fur trade from the northwest to their forts. Henday volunteered to undertake an expedition into this territory. - John Stuart
John Stuart (12 September 1780 - 14 January 1847) was a nineteenth century Canadian fur trader and explorer, employed by the North West Company. Stuart is best known as one of the two clerks (the other being James McDougall) who participated in Simon Fraser's explorations of present-day British Columbia, Canada from 1805 to 1808. After Fraser returned to his work in the Athabaska Department in 1809, … - Cuthbert Grant
Cuthbert James Grant was a prominent Métis leader of the early nineteenth century. Grant was the son of a Scottish father and Métis mother. He was born in 1793 at Fort Tremblant, a Northwest Company trading post located near the present-day town of Togo, Saskatchewan, where his father was a manager. In 1801 at the age of eight, he was sent to Scotland to be educated. It is not known exactly when he returned to the West, but in 1812, … - John Palliser
John Palliser (January 29, 1817 - August 18, 1887) was an Irish-born Canadian geographer and explorer. Born in Dublin, Ireland, he was the son of Colonel Wray Palliser, a brother of Major Sir William Palliser (1830-1882) and a direct descendant of Dr William Palliser, Archbishop of Cashel (1644-1726). From 1839 to 1863, Palliser served in the military and became a Captain in the Waterford Militia. He was also Sheriff of Waterford. - George Abernethy
George Abernethy (October 7, 1807 - March 2, 1877) was an Oregon pioneer, notable entrepreneur, and first governor of Oregon under the provisional government. - Joseph Meek
Joseph Lafayette "Joe" Meek (1810-1875) was born in Washington County, Virginia, United States, near the Cumberland Gap. At the age of 18 he joined William Sublette and the Rocky Mountain Fur Company, and roamed the Rocky Mountains for over a decade before settling in what was to become the state of Oregon in the Oregon Territory. In Idaho in 1838, he married the daughter of Nez Perce chief Kowesota. Her true name is unknown, but Meek called her "Virginia". - John Bell
John Bell (c. 1799 - 24 June 1868) was a Hudson's Bay Company governor and explorer. In 1839, he was sent to explore the land west of the Mackenzie River. He established Fort McPherson, Northwest Territories on the Peel River not far from the Mackenzie, and explored the Peel into what is now the Yukon Territory. In 1845, he crossed the mountains into the Yukon River watershed, and went down the Rat River to its confluence with the Porcupine River. - Robert Dunsmuir
Robert Dunsmuir (August 31, 1825 - April 12 1889), was a coal miner, railway developer, industrialist and politician. - James Knight
James Knight (c. 1640 - c. 1720) was a director of the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) and an explorer who died on an expedition in search of the Northwest Passage. Knight was born in England and joined the Hudson's Bay Company in 1676 as a carpenter; in 1682 he became Chief Factor of the trading post of Fort Albany in James Bay where he made himself rich. In 1697 he bought stock in HBC and in 1711 he gained a seat on the board of directors. - Colin Robertson
Colin Robertson (July 27 1783 - February 4 1842) was an early Canadian fur trader and political figure. He was born in Perth, Scotland in 1783. He originally apprenticed in Scotland as a hand weaver but later travelled to New York City where he found work in a grocery store. By 1803, he had joined the North West Company, leaving it in 1809. Robertson then travelled to England, where he became a merchant at Liverpool. - Robert Semple
Robert Semple (26 February 1777 - June 19, 1816) Born in Boston, Massachusetts, USA, was Governor of the Hudson's Bay Company from 1815 until his death at the Battle of Seven Oaks. - John Black
John Black (11 March 1817 - 3 February 1879) was the recorder for Rupert's Land in the employ of the Hudson's Bay Company. In this capacity he acted as a judge for the Council of Assiniboia, and is noted for his various roles in Red River Rebellion of 1869 - 1870. Black presided over the council on 23 October 1869 when Louis Riel was summoned to explain his rational for preventing lieutenant governor-designate William McDougall from entering the Red River Settlement. - Simon McTavish
Simon McTavish (born c.1750 - died July 6, 1804) was a Scots-Quebecer entrepreneur and the pre-eminent businessman in Canada during the second half of the 18th century. Born in Stratherrick, near Loch Ness, Inverness, a remote area of the Scottish highlands, his father had been a lieutenant in Fraser's Highlanders, a Scottish unit fighting the French and Indian War in what was then British North America. Though his family was well-connected in the Highlands, … - Miles MacDonell
Miles MacDonell (ca. 1767 - 28 June 1828), was the first governor of the Red River Colony (or, Assiniboia), a 19th-century Scottish settlement located in present-day Manitoba and North Dakota. He was born in Inverness, Scotland, around 1767. In 1773, his father, Colonel John Macdonell (Spanish John), of Scothouse, Inverness-shire and three of his cousins chartered the Pearl and brought over five hundred of their families and friends, … - James Evans
James Evans (January 18, 1801 - November 23, 1846) was a Canadian Methodist missionary and amateur linguist. He is best remembered for his creation of writing systems for several Aboriginal languages, including Ojibwe, Cree, and indirectly Inuktitut. Evans was born in Kingston-upon-Hull in England, but emigrated with his parents to Lower Canada in 1820, where he worked as a teacher. He later moved to Rice Lake and continued his teaching work. - Samuel Black
Samuel Black ca. 1780 - February 8, 1840, was a Canadian fur trader and explorer noted for his exploration of the Finlay River and its tributaries in present-day north-central British Columbia, which helped to open up the Muskwa, Omineca, and Stikine areas to the fur trade; as well for his role as Chief Factor of the Hudson's Bay Company for the Columbia District. - Yves Fortier
L. Yves Fortier CC, Q.C., BA, BLitt, BCL (born 1935) is a Canadian trial lawyer, arbitrator, businessman and diplomat. Born in Quebec City, he received his B.A. from the Université de Montréal in 1955, his B.C.L. from McGill University in 1958, and his B.Litt. from Oxford University, as a Rhodes Scholar, in 1960. In 1961, he was called to the Quebec Bar. From 1984 to 1989, he was a member of the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA), also known as the Hague Tribunal. - Richard Blanshard
Richard Blanshard, MA, (19 October 1817 - 5 June 1894), was an English barrister and first governor of the Colony of Vancouver Island from its foundation in 1849 to his resignation in 1851. Blanshard was born in London to a wealthy mercantile family, and after reading law at Cambridge University, served in the army in British India. At the age of 32, a personal connection helped secure Blanshard the post of colonial governor of Vancouver Island. - Kenneth McKenzie
Kenneth McKenzie, also known as Kenneth MacKenzie, was nicknamed the “King of the Missouri”, for as a fur trader for American Fur Company in the upper Missouri River valley, he controlled a territory larger than most European nations. McKenzie was a Scot by birth, a Canadian immigrant as a teenager. He became a clerk for the North West Company, learning the fur business. Losing his job when his employer waws merged into the Hudson's Bay Company, … - Modeste Demers
Bishop Modeste Demers was born in Lower Canada and studied at the seminary of Quebec. He was ordained as a priest in 1836 and left the following year to be a missionary at the Red River Settlement. There he worked under the direction of Bishop Joseph-Norbert Provencher. His stay there was short and he travelled to the Oregon Country with François Norbert Blanchet to perform his duties as a priest and missionary. - Robert Michael Ballantyne
R. M. Ballantyne (April 24, 1825 - February 8, 1894) was a Scottish juvenile fiction writer. Born Robert Michael Ballantyne in Edinburgh, he was part of a famous family of printers and publishers. At the age of 16 he went to Canada and was six years in the service of the Hudson's Bay Company. He returned to Scotland in 1847, and published his first book the following year, "Hudson's Bay": or, "Life in the Wilds of North America". - John Christian Schultz
Sir John Christian Schultz, KCMG (January 1, 1840 - April 13, 1896) was a Manitoba politician. He was a member of the Canadian House of Commons from 1871 to 1882, a Senator from 1882 to 1888, and the Lieutenant-Governor of Manitoba from 1888 to 1895. Schultz was born in Amherstburg, Upper Canada (now Ontario). - James Isbister
James Isbister was a Canadian Métis leader of the nineteenth century. Prominent among the Anglo-Metis of the area, he is considered by some to be the founder of Prince Albert, Saskatchewan. An interpreter for the Hudson's Bay Company for many years, Isbister was talented linguistically speaking English, Gaelic, Cree, Dene and Michif. Isbister began farming in the summer of 1862 one mile east of the present day federal penitentiary at Prince Albert. - Guillaume Sayer
Pierre Guillaume Sayer was a Métis fur trader whose trial was a turning point in the ending of the Hudson's Bay Company's (HBC) monopoly of the fur trade in North America. Sayer had been trading to Norman Kittson in Pembina, North Dakota, who was in direct competition to the HBC. Sayer was accused of illegal trading of furs and was brought to trial in Upper Fort Garry on May 17, 1849 by the Court of Assiniboia. He was backed by Métis leader Louis Riel Sr.. - Pierre Le Moyne D'Iberville
Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville [<font/>pronounce ] (b.16 July 1661 - d.(probably) 9 July 1706), founder of the colony of French Louisiana, was born at Ville-Marie, Montreal, Quebec on 16 July 1661. He died at Havana, Cuba on 9 July, 1706. He was the third son of Charles Le Moyne, a native of Dieppe in France and lord of Longueuil in Canada, and of Catherine Primot. He is also known as Sieur d’Iberville. - Prince Rupert Of The Rhine
Rupert, Count Palatine of the Rhine, Duke of Bavaria (German: "Ruprecht Pfalzgraf bei Rhein, Herzog von Bayern"), commonly called Prince Rupert of the Rhine, (17 December 1619 - 19 November 1682), soldier, inventor and amateur artist in mezzotint, was a younger son of Frederick V, Elector Palatine and Elizabeth Stuart, and the nephew of King Charles I of England, who created him Duke of Cumberland and Earl of Holderness.
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