01Biography
Born near Rivière-du-Loup, Quebec, John McLoughlin began training as a doctor at 14 and joined the fur trade in 1803. From 1825 he ran the Hudson's Bay Company's vast Columbia district from Fort Vancouver. His son later recalled that Native people called him the White-Headed Eagle for his shock of white hair.
Company policy was to discourage American settlers, but when wagon trains began arriving in the 1840s he gave needy families seed, tools and supplies, often on credit. By 1844 several hundred settlers had been given about £6,600 in credit.
02Why they matter
Gave food, seed and credit to worn-out American families arriving in Oregon, against the wishes of his British company.
03How they died
The company ended his post as superintendent in 1845, and in January 1846 he moved to Oregon City, where he owned mills and land. He became a U.S. citizen in 1851 and served briefly as mayor, but a clause in the 1850 Donation Land Claim Act put his Oregon City property at risk. He died there on September 3, 1857, aged 72. In 1862 the state legislature returned most of the property to his heirs.
04Legacy
Oregon's legislature named him the 'Father of Oregon' in 1957. Contrary to legend, the settlers' unpaid debts were never charged to him personally. His Oregon City home, the McLoughlin House, is part of Fort Vancouver National Historic Site.