Photo compliments of the Kamloops Museum
Don was a fur trader (b 1805, Tobermory, Scotland; d 17 July 1864 near Chilko Lake). He joined the HBC in 1833 and served in the Oregon Territory until he transferred to Fort Alexandria on the upper Fraser River in 1842. For the next 18 years he rose through the ranks, serving at different posts in New Caledonia until he was put in charge of Fort Kamloops in 1855. He was an effective trader known for harsh treatment of his First Nations clients. In 1860 he resigned from the HBC rather than accept a transfer out of BC. With his family he settled at Hat Creek south of Clinton, where he farmed, raised livestock and ran a stopping place on the Cariboo Wagon Road. In 1864, during the so-called Chilcotin War, he joined the pursuit of the fugitive Tsilhqot’in and was shot and killed by one of them. His sons were members of the notorious Mclean Gang of outlaws. (from B.C. Encyclopedia)
Great Kamloopsians 