Thomas McKay (fur trader) facts for kids

Thomas McKay (born around 1796, died 1849-1850) was an important Anglo-Métis fur trader and explorer. He worked for major fur trading companies like the Pacific Fur Company, the North West Company, and the Hudson's Bay Company. Thomas McKay was known for leading fur brigades and exploring the Pacific Northwest. Later in his life, he became a citizen of the United States and was one of the first settlers in Oregon.

Who Was Thomas McKay's Family?

Thomas McKay was born in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Canada, around 1796. His father was Alexander MacKay, who was also a fur trader.

His mother was Marguerite Wadin, a Métis woman. Her mother was from the Cree people, and her father was a Swiss fur trader named Jean Etienne Wadin. Thomas's parents were married "à la façon du pays," which means "in the style of the country." This was a common way for fur traders and Indigenous women to marry at the time.

Who Were Thomas McKay's Wives and Children?

Thomas McKay had three wives during his life and a total of eight children.

His first wife was Timmee T'Ikul Tchinouk, a Chinook woman. She was the daughter of Chief Concomly. They married before 1824 in the Oregon Territory. Their children were Joseph, Margaret, William Cameron McKay, John C., and Alexander II.

His second wife was She-Who-Rides-Like The Wind Umatilla, an Umatilla woman. They married around 1834 in the Oregon Territory. Their son, Donald McKay, was born in 1836.

On December 31, 1838, Thomas married his third wife, Isabelle Montour, at Fort Vancouver. Her parents were Nicholas Montour, Jr. and Susanne Humpherville. Their children were Maria and Thomas II.

Working for the Pacific Fur Company

In 1811, when Thomas McKay was about 15 years old, he traveled with his father on a ship called the Tonquin. They went to the mouth of the Columbia River, where the Pacific Fur Company built Fort Astoria.

Thomas was at Fort Astoria when his father, Alexander McKay, died in late 1811. The Tonquin ship was destroyed off Vancouver Island. In 1813, the Pacific Fur Company sold Fort Astoria and all its other properties to the North West Company. Thomas McKay then joined the North West Company.

Working for the North West Company

After the Pacific Fur Company closed down in 1813, Thomas McKay joined the North West Company. Between 1815 and 1819, he was in the Red River Colony. He fought alongside the North West Company and the Métis people against the Hudson's Bay Company. McKay was part of the Battle of Seven Oaks in 1816.

By 1819, he was back in the Columbia region. Two years later, the North West Company joined with the Hudson's Bay Company.

Working for the Hudson's Bay Company

Even though Thomas McKay had fought against the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) in the Red River Colony, he became an HBC employee in 1821.

In 1824, John McLoughlin became the main leader of the HBC's operations in the Columbia District. McLoughlin and his family moved to Fort George (Astoria) and then to Fort Vancouver, which became the new main office. McLoughlin had married Thomas's mother, Marguerite Wadin, in 1811. So, in 1824, Thomas's mother and stepfather moved to the same area where Thomas was living.

Exploring the West with the HBC

In the 1820s, the HBC sent groups to trade, trap furs, and explore south of the Columbia River. These groups traveled into the Willamette Valley and even reached California. In 1825, Thomas McKay and Finan McDonald led one of these trips. He led or joined several other expeditions.

From 1826 to 1828, McKay was part of the "Snake Country brigades" led by Peter Skene Ogden. During these trips, Ogden explored the Snake River area, the Deschutes River, and the Blue Mountains in Oregon. They also explored the Klamath Lake region, the Great Salt Lake, and the Weber River.

In 1828, McKay was part of a group sent from Fort Vancouver. Their job was to get back furs and other items that Native Americans had taken from Jedediah Smith on the Umpqua River in southern Oregon.

Creating a "Fur Desert"

George Simpson, the head of the HBC, wanted to reduce the number of fur-bearing animals in the Snake Country. This was a strategy to make it harder for American trappers and traders to find furs there. This way, the HBC hoped to keep Americans away from the area. Thomas McKay and other former North West Company trappers worked very hard to achieve this goal.

Expeditions to California

In 1829, Thomas McKay joined Alexander McLeod's trip to California. McLeod's group traveled as far south as the San Joaquin River. This became the first of many yearly fur trapping trips to California, known as the Southern Party. The path from Fort Vancouver to the lower Sacramento River became known as the Siskiyou Trail.

In 1836, McKay led an HBC Southern Party group to the Pit River area of California. In 1840-41, McKay and Michel Laframboise were leaders of the Southern Party to California.

Farming and Competition

In 1832, McKay was put in charge of an HBC farm in Scappoose. Within a year, he moved to and settled in Champoeg. He may have stopped working full-time for the HBC around this time, but he continued to work for them off and on for many years.

In 1834, McKay led a group to the Snake Country, reaching into what is now southeastern Idaho. John Kirk Townsend, who was with an American group, described McKay's party. It had 17 French Canadians and Métis, and 13 Native Americans (from the Nez Perce, Chinook, and Cayuse tribes). Townsend noted that McKay made sure his group followed HBC rules. These rules included being orderly and not trading alcohol to Native Americans. This was very different from how American fur traders often behaved.

The Americans were trying to compete with the HBC in the Oregon Country. The HBC used strategies to make it difficult for new companies to succeed. For example, when an American named Nathaniel Jarvis Wyeth built Fort Hall, Thomas McKay built a rival post called Fort Boise. This helped the HBC make the Snake Country a "fur desert" and push the Americans out. This strategy worked, and by 1837, Wyeth had left the region and sold his company's properties, including Fort Hall, to the Hudson's Bay Company.

In 1834, McKay met an American missionary named Jason Lee at Fort Hall. McKay guided Lee from Fort Hall to Fort Vancouver. He then helped Lee choose the location for the Willamette Mission.

Thomas McKay continued to be active in the Snake Country until 1838. He spent most of 1839 at his home in Champoeg.

Thomas McKay's Later Life

Thomas McKay spent most of his later years on his farms in Champoeg and Scappoose. At some point, he became a citizen of the United States.

In 1840, he moved more than 3,600 sheep and 661 cattle from California to Fort Nisqually for the HBC.

In 1841, members of the Wilkes Expedition visited McKay at his Champoeg farm. George Colvocoresses, a member of the expedition, wrote that McKay was "one of the most noted individuals in this part of the country. Among the trappers, he is the hero of many a tale." This shows how well-known and respected he was.

McKay also led a group of local soldiers during the Cayuse War in 1848.

In September 1848, he guided a group of 50 wagons to California.

Thomas McKay died sometime between November 1849 and April 1850. He is buried in an unmarked grave in Scappoose, Oregon.