1. John McLoughlin, baptized Jean-Baptiste McLoughlin, was a French-Canadian, later American, Chief Factor and Superintendent of the Columbia District of the Hudson's Bay Company at Fort Vancouver from 1824 to 1845.
28 Facts About John McLoughlin
1. 2.
John McLoughlin was later known as the "Father of Oregon" for his role in assisting the American cause in the Oregon Country.
3.
John McLoughlin lived with his great uncle, Colonel William Fraser, for a while as a child.
4.
John McLoughlin was granted a licence to practice medicine in Lower Canada in 1803.
5.
John McLoughlin evidently completed his course, as he is widely referred to as "Dr John McLoughlin".
6.
John McLoughlin was hired as a physician at Fort William, the inland headquarters and a fur trade post of the North West Company on Lake Superior.
7.
In 1816, John McLoughlin was charged with complicity in the massacre at the Red River Colony after the Battle of Seven Oaks.
8.
John McLoughlin was instrumental in the negotiations leading to the North West Company's 1821 merger with the Hudson's Bay Company.
9.
John McLoughlin was promoted to head the Lac la Pluie district temporarily shortly after the merger.
10.
John McLoughlin investigated a quicker route than previously used, following the Saskatchewan River and crossing the mountains at Athabasca Pass.
11.
John McLoughlin built Fort Vancouver as a replacement for Fort George, on the north side of the Columbia River, a few miles upstream from the confluence of the Columbia and Willamette Rivers.
12.
From his Columbia Department headquarters in Fort Vancouver, John McLoughlin supervised trade and kept peace with the Indians, inaugurated salmon and timber trade with Mexican-controlled California and Hawaii, and supplied Russian America with produce.
13.
From Fort Vancouver, at its pinnacle, John McLoughlin watched over 34 outposts, 24 ports, six ships, and 600 employees.
14.
John McLoughlin was worried Fort Vancouver would be attacked and plundered of its heavy stock of supplies, due to its proximity to the Willamette Valley, in which there was already an American settlement of some size.
15.
John McLoughlin criticized the idea of a fur trading monopoly maintaining agricultural operations, as he felt independent farmers would be efficient.
16.
When three Japanese sailors, among them Otokichi, were shipwrecked on the Olympic Peninsula in 1834, John McLoughlin thought they might present an opportunity to open trade with Japan.
17.
John McLoughlin sent the three men to London on the Eagle to try to convince the Crown of his plan.
18.
John McLoughlin sent a party headed by Alexander Roderick McLeod to recover Smith's property.
19.
John McLoughlin, in turn, directed James Douglas to construct Fort Camosun in 1843.
20.
John McLoughlin was involved with the debate over the future of the Oregon Country.
21.
John McLoughlin advocated an independent nation that would be free of the United States during debates at the Oregon Lyceum in 1842 through his lawyer.
22.
Around 1810, John McLoughlin entered into a relationship with Marguerite Waddens McKay.
23.
John McLoughlin was the widow of Alexander McKay, a trader killed in the Tonquin incident.
24.
In 1847, John McLoughlin was given the Knighthood of St Gregory, bestowed on him by Pope Gregory XVI.
25.
John McLoughlin served as mayor of Oregon City in 1851, winning 44 of 66 votes.
26.
John McLoughlin's grave is located beside his home overlooking downtown Oregon City.
27.
John McLoughlin is featured on the 1925 Fort Vancouver Centennial half dollar designed by Laura Gardin Fraser.
28.
In 1953, the state of Oregon donated to the National Statuary Hall Collection a bronze statue of John McLoughlin, which is currently displayed at the Capitol Visitor Center.