Alexander Ross (May 9, 1783 – October 23, 1856) was a fur trader and author.
Early life
Ross emigrated to
Upper Canada
The Province of Upper Canada (french: link=no, province du Haut-Canada) was a Province, part of The Canadas, British Canada established in 1791 by the Kingdom of Great Britain, to govern the central third of the lands in British North Americ ...
, present day (
Ontario
Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...
), from
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to ...
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 ...
, Ross took part in the founding of
Fort Astoria
Fort Astoria (also named Fort George) was the primary fur trading post of John Jacob Astor's Pacific Fur Company (PFC). A maritime contingent of PFC staff was sent on board the ''Tonquin (1807 ship), Tonquin'', while another party traveled overl ...
, a fur-trading post at the mouth of 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 ...
. During the same year he led a detachment up 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 ...
and founded
Fort Okanogan
Fort Okanogan (also spelled Fort Okanagan) was founded in 1811 on the confluence of the Okanogan and Columbia Rivers as a fur trade outpost. Originally built for John Jacob Astor’s Pacific Fur Company, it was the first American-owned settle ...
where during the winter he was the sole PFC employee at the trading post.Ross, Alexander ''Adventures of the first settlers on the Oregon or Columbia River.'' London: Smith, Elder and Co. 1849, pp. 145-147. During his solitary posting, Ross' hair greyed from the stress of being socially isolated among the welcoming
Syilx
The ''Syilx'' () people, also known as the Okanagan, Okanogan or Okinagan people, are a First Nations and Native American people whose traditional territory spans the Canada–US boundary in Washington state and British Columbia in the Okanagan ...
people, "savages who had never seen a white man before." Nights were a constant source of worry for the lonely Ross, despite having several hundred Syilxs encamped near by performing sentry duties. One evening his watchdog alerted Ross to an intruder.
In this perplexing dilemma I got my hand, with as little noise as possible, I got my hand, with my gun, and gradually drawing out the ramrod, tried, with my right arm streched out, to stir up the embers, so that I might see... I concluded that the enemy must be skulking in the cellar... when, lo! What was there but a skunk sitting on a roll of tobacco! The shot blew it almost to atoms, and so delicately perfumed everything in the house that I was scarcely able to live in it for days afterwards...
North West Company
Ross joined 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 ...
in 1813, after they acquired all of the Pacific Fur Company properties, renaming Fort Astoria to Fort George. Ross and three Indians crossed the
North Cascades
The North Cascades are a section of the Cascade Range of western North America. They span the border between the Canadian province of British Columbia and the U.S. state of Washington and are officially named in the U.S. and Canada as the Casca ...
on a project of discovery in 1814. Ross's account is vague but they probably crossed the mountains via
Wyoming
Wyoming () is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho to the west, Utah to the southwest, and Colorado to t ...
. He and trapper Daniel Potts apparently viewed some of the thermal features of what is today
Yellowstone National Park
Yellowstone National Park is an American national park located in the western United States, largely in the northwest corner of Wyoming and extending into Montana and Idaho. It was established by the 42nd U.S. Congress with the Yellowst ...
. Each of them produced an account of these features, with Ross reporting that "...boiling fountain having different degrees of temperature were very numerous; one or two were so very hot as to boil meat."(Breining, p. 69)
Ross described the lower Columbia River area of the Pacific Northwest as follows:
The banks of the river throughout are low and skirted in the distance by a chain of moderately high lands on each side, interspersed here and there with clumps of wide spreading oaks, groves of pine, and a variety of other kinds of woods. Between these high lands lie what is called the valley of the Wallamitte , the frequented haunts of innumerable herds of elk and deer.... . In ascending the river the surrounding country is most delightful, and the first barrier to be meet with is about forty miles up from its mouth . Here the navigation is interrupted by a ledge of rocks, running across the river from side to side in the form of an irregular horseshoe, over which the whole body of water falls at one leap down a precipice of about forty feet, called the Falls.
Fort Nez Percés
Fort Nez Percés (or Fort Nez Percé, with or without the accent aigu), later known as (Old) Fort Walla Walla, was a fortified fur trading post on the Columbia River on the territory of modern-day Wallula, Washington. Despite being named after the ...
was established by the North West Company in 1818 under the direction traders Ross and Donald MacKenzie. Located on the east bank of the Columbia River, the station was half a mile north of the mouth of the Walla Walla River and a few miles below the mouth of the
Snake River
The Snake River is a major river of the greater Pacific Northwest region in the United States. At long, it is the largest tributary of the Columbia River, in turn, the largest North American river that empties into the Pacific Ocean. The Snake ...
. The site was first claimed and posted by David Thompson several years prior.
Hudson's Bay Company
The North West Company was merged with the
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 di ...
by the British government in 1821. The majority of the NWC employees, including Ross, continued laboring at their respective locations for the HBC. Ross served another four years as factor at Fort Nez Percés after the merger. While working for the HBC, Ross explored various territories of the Pacific Northwest. In 1824, while searching the mountain wilderness of what is present day Idaho, known to them as
Columbia District
The Columbia District was a fur trading district in the Pacific Northwest region of British North America in the 19th century. Much of its territory overlapped with the disputed Oregon Country. It was explored by the North West Company bet ...
, for beaver, Ross came up the
Wood River Wood River may refer to:
Rivers In Canada
* Wood River (British Columbia), a tributary of the Columbia River via Kinbasket Lake
* Wood River (Saskatchewan), a river in south-west Saskatchewan
In Ireland
* Wood River (County Clare), Kilru ...
and discovered Galena Summit on September 18. Leading a large brigade of Hudson's Bay Company trappers, he wondered if he could get through unknown mountains and rocky defiles that obstructed his passage back to his base of operations at present Challis. Unwilling to turn back he pressed on to explore Stanley Basin and the difficult canyon beyond. When he reached Challis on October 5, 1824, he had traveled the route now followed by
Idaho State Highway 75
State Highway 75 is a two-lane highway that travels through the Sawtooth Valley of central Idaho. The highway's southern terminus is in Shoshone, and its northern is near Challis. It is designated as one of Idaho's scenic byways and provides ...
Salmon
Salmon () is the common name for several commercially important species of euryhaline ray-finned fish from the family Salmonidae, which are native to tributaries of the North Atlantic (genus '' Salmo'') and North Pacific (genus '' Onco ...
through mostly unexplored land.
Later years
Ross subsequently moved to the
Red River Colony
The Red River Colony (or Selkirk Settlement), also known as Assinboia, was a colonization project set up in 1811 by Thomas Douglas, 5th Earl of Selkirk, on of land in British North America. This land was granted to Douglas by the Hudson's Bay ...
, present-day
Manitoba
Manitoba ( ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population o ...
, where he served as Sheriff, Post master, and a member of the council. His daughter Mary married George Flett on 26 November 1840. Flett was later to become a prominent Presbyterian missionary.
Ross published a number of books including the notable ''The Red River Settlement''.
Legacy
Ross House is a small museum that highlights the life of Alexander Ross and his family. It is located in the Point Douglas area of
Winnipeg
Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749 ...
.
Works
* ''Adventures Of The First Settlers On The Oregon...River'', (1849)
* ''The Fur Hunters Of The Far West'', (1855)
* ''The Red River Settlement'', (1856)
* ''Letters Of A Pioneer, Alexander Ross'', (1903), (autobiography, edited by
George Bryce
George Bryce (April 22, 1844 – August 5, 1931) was a Presbyterian minister and a prolific author, writing on many topics including history of the Red River Colony in what is now Manitoba, Canada.
Bryce was born near Mount Pleasant, Canada Wes ...
)
Source:
References
Further reading
* Breining, Greg, ''Super Volcano: The Ticking Time Bomb beneath Yellowstone National Park'' (St. Paul, MN: Voyageur Press, 2007).
* Ross, Alexander, ''Adventures of the First Settlers on the Oregon or Columbia River'' Google Books * Ross, Alexander, ''The Fur Hunters of the Far West'' Google Books "> * "Alexander Ross's 1824 Route into Stanley Basin