{"id":249,"date":"2021-11-11T16:50:36","date_gmt":"2021-11-11T16:50:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/theheritagenetwork.org\/?p=249"},"modified":"2026-01-13T20:16:08","modified_gmt":"2026-01-13T20:16:08","slug":"the-mcdonald-family","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/crossroadsarchive.net\/HeritageNetwork\/2021\/11\/11\/the-mcdonald-family\/","title":{"rendered":"The McDonald Family"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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You will find very few characters in fur trading history to rival the exuberance, importance or colorful impact of Angus McDonald, fur trader at Hudson\u2019s Bay Fort Colvile.\u00a0 In 1861 Charles Wilson, the Secretary of the British Columbia Boundary Commission, wrote about the McDonald family leaving from the fort on a hunting expedition. Wilson took note of Angus Macdonald\u2019s \u201cFrench half-breed\u201d wife Catherine Baptiste, who led the party, \u201cperched on a curious saddle used by women here\u2026the baby swinging in its Indian cradle from the pommel.\u201d Behind her was Macdonald\u2019s eldest daughter, \u201cMiss Christine who is about 17*, with her gaily beaded leggings and moccasins and gaudy shawl flying in the wind.\u201d Bringing up the rear was Macdonald, positioned on a buffalo-skin runner, \u201csurrounded by a crowd of Indians and half-breeds, to which added some 40 or 50 pack horses and spare animals rushing wildly about.\u201d \u00a0(Pearkes<\/a>)<\/p>\n\n

Angus MacDonald (Angus\u2019s used this spelling at times, although most articles use \u201cMcDonald\u201d **) was in charge of HBC Fort Colvile from 1856 to 1871 and was there often before those dates. He had 12 children by his M\u00e9tis wife Catherine.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n

He was the last trader at the fort for all practical purposes and no history of HBC Fort Colvile would be valuable without exploring the many facets of this remarkable man and his very impressive family.\u00a0 To that end this page notes references to MacDonald that are of interest.\u00a0 Since realizing how the best accounts and many of the more interesting stories have been passed down by or involve his relatives, I have included links to those as well.\u00a0 Hopefully, in the process of developing this bicentennial, we will encounter more stories and pictures by, from and about his descendants.<\/p>\n\n

A very good place to start is the book, Angus McDonald of the Great Divide – The Uncommon Life of a Fur Trader, 1816 \u2013 1889<\/strong>, by Steve Anderson.\u00a0 This book includes an extensive section by his wife, Catherine, about a fur-gathering trip she took with a large contingent of men south to the Sea of Cortez and back, 1840-1841.\u00a0 It is one of the most amazing and graphic accounts of that era that I have ever read.\u00a0 Written from Catherine\u2019s memory of the trip, it gives observations from the eyes of a young M\u00e9tis woman before she married Angus. As such it illuminates not only the events but the perspective that only a very literate but also fully native woman could bring to the subject.<\/p>\n\n

In McDonald\u2019s immediate family, daughter Christine draws the most attention.\u00a0 A very good account<\/a> written by Jack and Claire Nisbet is on HistoryLink.\u00a0 Largely based on an interview with William S. Lewis<\/a> in 1917 when Christine was 70 years old, this account also references letters that Christine exchanged with former Indian Agent W.P. Winans in 1903 that clarify her adherence to principles of lady-like demeanor taught to her by her father, Angus.\u00a0 But it also details her horsemanship, bravery and responsibility while preserving a leather satchel of her father\u2019s papers even after being swept into a river when a raft fell apart; taking over the reins on a wagon full of supplies when the hired driver\u2019s hands froze or carrying a valise of gold dust on a diplomatic trip with her father to Astoria.\u00a0 Her tales include accounts of Issac Stevens, Governor of Washington, guest of the McDonalds and eventually a sworn enemy of the Hudson\u2019s Bay Company; Captain McClellan, surveyor for the transcontinental Pacific Railway, Chief Kamiaken<\/a>, who Angus advised not to go to war with the United States; Doc Perkins: who married, Ellen Edwards, a daughter of Able-One, L.W. Meyers, who founded what is now Kettle Falls and who restored grain milling at Meyers Falls, Spokane Gary and many more notable historic figures.\u00a0 Christina Lake and Christina Creek just north of Laurier in British Columbia are named after her.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Archibald McDonald<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

\u00a0Two other important McDonalds are mentioned in the interview with Christine. Archibald McDonald<\/a>, uncle to Angus and Chief trader at Fort Colvile from 1835 to 1844 was the father of Ranald McDonald<\/a>, the first native English-speaker to teach the\u00a0English language<\/a>\u00a0in\u00a0Japan<\/a>, including educating\u00a0Einosuke Moriyama<\/a>, one of the chief interpreters to handle the negotiations between\u00a0Commodore Perry<\/a>\u00a0and the\u00a0Tokugawa Shogunate<\/a>.\u00a0 Ranald lived with Christine for months at a time both at Fort Colvile and later at Fort Connah in Montana<\/a>, which was managed by Angus McDonald from 1847 to 1853.<\/p>\n

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Ranald McDonald<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Fort Connah was a favorite place for the McDonald family who lived there often. They retired to the Fort Connah area and several died near there.\u00a0 Another son of Angus, Duncan McDonald, was the last Clerk running the fort.\u00a0 Carolyn Corey has written extensively about the history of the fort.\u00a0 Her works include:\u00a0A GUIDE TO FORT CONNAH and a portfolio of information about the Fort Connah Restoration Society<\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n

Other contributors to McDonald history include this article<\/a> by Nancy Marguerite Anderson relating her own Anderson family history to Angus McDonald.\u00a0 Eileen Delehanty Pearkes wrote an article for the North Columbia Monthly in 2013<\/a> about Angus.<\/p>\n\n

Another occasional contributor of McDonald stories is Gail Morin<\/a>.\u00a0 We have several to share now and will be on the lookout for more.\u00a0 This one from the Anaconda Standard includes Angus\u2019s son Duncan McDonald in a story about hunting Buffalo<\/a>.\u00a0 This one is about Walt McDonald<\/a>, a grandson of Angus and notable character in his own right as the article describes.\u00a0 Another from the Anaconda Standard accounts a trial for the murder of John Stevens<\/a> at which Angus McDonald testified.\u00a0 And this one reports that Fort Colvile burned in 1910<\/a> and was owned by Duncan McDonald.<\/p>\n\n

*Nisbet relates that Christine was 14 at the time.<\/p>\n\n

** Albert Partoll argues for “McDonald” as the favorite of Angus in this 1951 Pacific Northwest Quarterly.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

You will find very few characters in fur trading history to rival the exuberance, importance or colorful impact of Angus McDonald, fur trader at Hudson\u2019s Bay Fort Colvile.\u00a0 In 1861 Charles Wilson, the Secretary of the British Columbia Boundary Commission, wrote about the McDonald family leaving from the fort on a hunting expedition. Wilson took… (read more<\/a>)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-249","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-mcdonald"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/crossroadsarchive.net\/HeritageNetwork\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/249","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/crossroadsarchive.net\/HeritageNetwork\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/crossroadsarchive.net\/HeritageNetwork\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crossroadsarchive.net\/HeritageNetwork\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crossroadsarchive.net\/HeritageNetwork\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=249"}],"version-history":[{"count":19,"href":"https:\/\/crossroadsarchive.net\/HeritageNetwork\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/249\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1020,"href":"https:\/\/crossroadsarchive.net\/HeritageNetwork\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/249\/revisions\/1020"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/crossroadsarchive.net\/HeritageNetwork\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=249"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crossroadsarchive.net\/HeritageNetwork\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=249"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crossroadsarchive.net\/HeritageNetwork\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=249"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}