Jacques Raphaël Finlay (1768–1828), commonly known as Jaco or Jacco (pr. Jocko), was an early

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

fur trader The fur trade is a worldwide industry dealing in the acquisition and sale of animal fur. Since the establishment of a world fur market in the early modern period, furs of boreal, polar and cold temperate mammalian animals have been the mos ...

, scout, and explorer associated with the

North West Company The North West Company was a fur trading business headquartered in Montreal from 1779 to 1821. It competed with increasing success against the Hudson's Bay Company in what is present-day Western Canada and Northwestern Ontario. With great weal ...

. He built

Spokane House Spokane House was a fur-trading post founded in 1810 by the British-Canadian North West Company, located on a peninsula where the Spokane River and Little Spokane River meet. When established, it was the North West Company's farthest outpost in th ...

and

Kootanae House Kootanae House, also spelled Kootenae House, was a North West Company fur trading post built by Jaco Finlay under the direction of David Thompson near present-day Invermere, British Columbia in 1807. It was abandoned in 1812. In 1808 Thompson reck ...

, two key fur-trading posts of the era, and helped David Thompson cross the

Continental Divide A continental divide is a drainage divide on a continent such that the drainage basin on one side of the divide feeds into one ocean or sea, and the basin on the other side either feeds into a different ocean or sea, or else is endorheic, not ...

and discover the

Columbia River The Columbia River (Upper Chinook: ' or '; Sahaptin: ''Nch’i-Wàna'' or ''Nchi wana''; Sinixt dialect'' '') is the largest river in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. The river rises in the Rocky Mountains of British Columbia, C ...

Biography

Finlay was born in 1768 on the south bank of the

Saskatchewan River The Saskatchewan River (Cree: ''kisiskāciwani-sīpiy'', "swift flowing river") is a major river in Canada. It stretches about from where it is formed by the joining together of the North Saskatchewan and South Saskatchewan Rivers to Lake Winn ...

. His mother came from the Chippewa tribe of Native Americans, but never married his father,

James Finlay James Finlay was a Scotland international rugby union player.Bath, p136 Rugby Union career Amateur career Finlay played for . Provincial career Finlay was capped for Edinburgh District, playing in the very first inter-city match in 187 ...

, a North West Company trader who had a family in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

. Finlay was recorded as a clerk of the North West Company as early as 1799; this was the highest office accorded to "

half-breed Half-breed is a term, now considered offensive, used to describe anyone who is of mixed race; although, in the United States, it usually refers to people who are half Native American and half European/white. Use by governments United States In ...

s" in that era. Finlay was compensated, however, as much as David Thompson, the English-born explorer, probably reflecting his reputation as a scout. Thompson accordingly engaged Finlay in 1806 to blaze a trail through the

Rocky Mountains The Rocky Mountains, also known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range and the largest mountain system in North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch in straight-line distance from the northernmost part of western Canada, to New Mexico in ...

across the

; Thompson followed in 1807, though he was markedly unhappy with the quality of the trail, which led at least as far as

Howse Pass Howse is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Joseph Howse (1774-1852), English explorer, linguist, and scholar * Hilary Ewing Howse (1866–1938), American businessman and politician * Neville Howse (1863–1930), Australian ...

. Finlay also played a key advance role in Thompson's discovery (from the East) of the

, scouting, storing provisions, and building canoes. After Thompson returned east, Finlay found work with the

Pacific Fur Company The Pacific Fur Company (PFC) was an American fur trade venture wholly owned and funded by John Jacob Astor that functioned from 1810 to 1813. It was based in the Pacific Northwest, an area contested over the decades between the United Kingdom o ...

(a surviving receipt shows him to have been literate). He later returned to the employ of the North West Company when the latter purchased the assets of the former during the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States of America and its indigenous allies against the United Kingdom and its allies in British North America, with limited participation by Spain in Florida. It bega ...

, and remained an employee until 1816, along with three of his sons. He later took over a defunct

Hudson's Bay Company The Hudson's Bay Company (HBC; french: Compagnie de la Baie d'Hudson) is a Canadian retail business group. A fur trading business for much of its existence, HBC now owns and operates retail stores in Canada. The company's namesake business div ...

post, where botanist David Douglas recorded a visit in 1826, as well as a recipe for bread made from local

lichen A lichen ( , ) is a composite organism that arises from algae or cyanobacteria living among filaments of multiple fungi species in a mutualistic relationship. Lebensraum der Spokane Indianer

He died in 1828, and was buried on the grounds of Spokane House. According to

Nathaniel Jarvis Wyeth Nathaniel Jarvis Wyeth (January 29, 1802 – August 31, 1856) was an American inventor and businessman in Boston, Massachusetts who contributed greatly to its ice industry. Due to his inventions, Boston could harvest and ship ice internati ...

, who passed by the abandoned site in 1833, all the buildings had been burned for firewood but one, which was maintained out of respect for a dead clerk buried beneath it. In 1950, a construction crew discovered what became the archaeological site, and Finlay's body was found with items including a clay pipe marked "JF". His descendants can be found throughout the Northwest, especially on the Flathead, Colville,

Spokane Spokane ( ) is the largest city and county seat of Spokane County, Washington, United States. It is in eastern Washington, along the Spokane River, adjacent to the Selkirk Mountains, and west of the Rocky Mountain foothills, south of the Ca ...

Kalispel The Pend d'Oreille ( ), also known as the Kalispel (), are Indigenous peoples of the Northwest Plateau. Today many of them live in Montana and eastern Washington of the United States. The Kalispel peoples referred to their primary tribal range a ...

, Coeur D'Alene, and Umpqua Indian Reservations. An early settler, Jacob Allen Meyers (J.A. Meyers) wrote in the early 20th century –

"Jacques Finlay had a large family of sons and daughters, noted for their fine physique, many with light blue eyes. The men in the family were competent and trustworthy. The daughters were fine wives and mothers."

Legacy

The

Jocko Valley The Jocko Valley is located in western Montana in the northwestern United States. It is located on land of the Flathead Indian Reservation. The valley was named for Jacques Raphael Finlay, a trapper and fur trader in the area during 1806–180 ...

and the Jocko River in Montana are named for him.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Finlay, Jacques 1768 births 1828 deaths Canadian explorers Métis fur traders History of Washington (state) North West Company people Canadian Métis people American Métis people American fur traders Canadian fur traders

Biography

Legacy

See also

References