John McLoughlin
| John McLoughlin | |
|---|---|
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| Born |
Jean-Baptiste McLoughlin October 19, 1784 Rivière-du-Loup, Quebec |
| Died | September 3, 1857 (aged 72) Oregon City, Oregon Territory |
| Employer | Hudson's Bay Company |
| Known for | Fort Vancouver |
| Title | Chief Factor |
| Successor | James Douglas |
Dr. John McLoughlin, baptized Jean-Baptiste McLoughlin, (October 19, 1784 – September 3, 1857) was a Chief Factor (agent) and Superintendent of the Columbia District of the Hudson's Bay Company at Fort Vancouver from 1824 to 1845. He was later known as the "Father of Oregon" for his role in assisting the American cause in the Oregon Country in the Pacific Northwest. In the late 1840s his general store in Oregon City was famous as the last stop on the Oregon Trail.
McLoughlin was born in October 1784 in Rivière-du-Loup, Quebec, of Irish (his grandfather came from Sharagore (Desertegny) in the Inishowen peninsula of County Donegal), Scottish, and French Canadian descent. He lived with his great uncle, Colonel William Fraser, for a while as a child. Though baptized Roman Catholic, he was raised Anglican and in his later life he returned to the Roman Catholic faith. In 1798, he began to study medicine under Sir James Fisher of Quebec.
In 1803, McLoughlin was granted a license to practice medicine in Lower Canada. He was then hired as a physician at Fort William, a fur-gathering post of the North West Company on Lake Superior; there he became a trader and mastered several Indian languages. In 1814 he became a partner in the company.
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Wikipedia