Dr. John McLoughlin (1784-1857), 6 feet 4 inches tall of heavy proportion, was the FIRST Chief Factor of Fort Vancouver. McLoughlin was a former North West Company (1779-1821) employee in charge of Fort William who was retained by the London based Hudson’s Bay Company after the merger. From 1824 to 1846 McLoughlin was the FIRST Chief Factor in charge of the HBC’s Columbia Department—a 700,000 square mile area from Russian Alaska to Mexican California and the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific Ocean with outposts in Hawaii. This was also the collection point for furs being shipped to London, England.With its role as the administrative headquarters and principal supply depot for this expanse of land, Fort Vancouver became one of the most important fur trade posts in North America. McLoughlin developed trading posts and friendly relations with the Indians.
He not only carried on activities associated with the fur-trading industry, but he also developed agriculture and husbandry, and opened up markets for the exportation of lumber, salmon, and flour at a time when the region was still looked upon as merely a great trapping ground.
The power wielded by Dr. John McLoughlin was thus great; but it was not as extensive as it appeared on the surface. McLoughlin was himself subject to orders from the HBC’s directors in far-off London, and from George Simpson, governor of the firm’s dominion in North America. Sometimes these orders extended to the minutest details of the trade.
Dr. John McLoughlin had to resign in 1845 for helping save the lives of the new American settlers at his company’s expense (the last 100 miles of the Oregon Trail were the most perilous). He was also at odds with his bosses for other reasons, some of them of his own making. He moved to Oregon City in 1846. He was the FIRST to govern the Oregon Country from 1824-1843.
Instructions for logging waymark: A photograph is required of you (or your GPS receiver, if you are waymarking solo) and the statue.