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MacDonald, Archibald

Last Name: MacDonald
First Name: Archibald
Dates:
*1790 (Date of Birth)
*1853 (Date of Death)
Biography/History: Archibald MacDonald (or McDonald) was born in the vicinity of Glencoe, Argyllshire, Scotland in 1790 to Angus (1730-1815) and Mary Rankin MacDonald (1741-1829). His paternal grandfather, Iain (John) McDonald, had been one of the few male survivors of Clan MacDonald in the Massacre of Glencoe of 1692. As a young man, McDonald joined Lord Selkirk and his Red River Colony as a clerk and agent. In 1814 or '15 was appointed deputy governor under Miles MacDonell and in 1820, McDonald joined the Hudson Bay Company. Following its merger with the North West Company in 1821, he was sent to the Columbia River. In 1828, McDonald and Governor George Simpson went from York Factory to the Columbia, and in the same year, he was promoted to chief trader and put in charge of Fort Langley, near present-day Vancouver, British Columbia. He held that post until 1833, when he was reassigned to Fort Nisqually. In 1835, he was assigned to Fort Colville, where he was chief trader from 1833 to 1841, and chief factor until 1844. Archibald retired to the Scottish settlement of St. Andrew's East, Quebec, in 1848. He died there in 1853 and was buried in Saint Andrews East Protestant Cemetery, Saint-Andre-d’Argenteuil, Laurentides Region, Quebec, Canada.
Related Participants:
Related Objects:
600.1 (Trunk, Archibald MacDonald's Personal Trunk, ca. 1840)