Joseph William McKay: A Métis Business Leader in Colonial British Columbia
()
About this ebook
An intriguing look at the accomplishments and contradictions of Joseph William McKay, best known as the founder of Nanaimo, BC, and one of the most successful Métis men to rise through the ranks of the Hudson’s Bay Company in the late nineteenth century.
When examining the history of British Columbia, one would be hard-pressed to find an Indigenous person who so successfully navigated the echelons of colonial power as did Joseph William McKay (1829–1900). McKay was Métis, born in Quebec, and began his career in Oregon during the dispute over the international boundary in 1845–46. After moving north, he met his mentor James Douglas and, at age twenty-three, was given the job of building the city of Nanaimo from the ground up and establishing its coal mines.
McKay made several exploratory trips with Douglas during the Gold Rush, and he surveyed the route for the Overland Telegraph, which ran throughout BC. He rose through the ranks of the Hudson’s Bay Company, eventually earning the appointment of Chief Factor, the company’s highest rank. This was at a time when few Indigenous employees of HBC were permitted to rise beyond the rank of postmaster.
After leaving the company in 1878, McKay began a second career in the Department of Indian Affairs. He was a federal Indian Agent and later the Assistant Commissioner of Indian Affairs for British Columbia. A product of his time who had found personal success working within the colonial system, McKay is a complicated figure when viewed through a twenty-first-century lens. He advocated on behalf of Indigenous Peoples when he tried to prevent the trespass of CPR crews and European settlers on their ancestral land. Between 1886 and 1888, he personally inoculated more than a thousand Indigenous people with the smallpox vaccine. Yet, he also participated in a system that did untold harm to First Nations, Métis, and Inuit people. This fascinating new biography sheds light on an accomplished and complex man.
Greg N. Fraser
Greg N. Fraser is an educator with a long-time interest in the history of western Canada. For thirty-three years, he taught Canadian, BC, and Indigenous history in the Vernon and Nanaimo school districts as well as a first-year Canadian history course at Okanagan University-College. Since retiring from full-time teaching, he has continued his career at the post-secondary level, including a course on Canadian prime ministers at Vancouver Island University Elder College, where he was on the board for ten years. Joseph William McKay: A Métis Business Leader in Colonial British Columbia is his first book.
Related to Joseph William McKay
Related ebooks
Stagecoach North: A History of Barnard's Express Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe New England Merchants In The Seventeenth Century Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBritish Columbia in the Balance: 1846–1871 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Great American Land Bubble: The Amazing Story of Land-Grabbing, Speculations, and Booms from Colonial Days to the Present Time Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Stranger Among Saints: Stephen Hopkins, the Man Who Survived Jamestown and Saved Plymouth Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Crockett Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThompson's Highway: The Literary Origins of British Columbia, Volume 6 Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5John Muir: West Coast Pioneer Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe American Colonies: Asking Tough Questions Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSouth of Boston: Tales from the Coastal Communities of Massachusetts Bay Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Moorhead Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsGold in British Columbia: Discovery to Confederation Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCarving the Western Path: By River, Rail, and Road Through B.C.'s Southern Mountains Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCarrying Coal to Columbus: Mining in the Hocking Valley Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Boothbay Region Revisited Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsChesapeake, Virginia Rating: 1 out of 5 stars1/5Pittsburg Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHidden History of East Meadow Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsQueens Rating: 1 out of 5 stars1/5Tobacco Valley Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBayside Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLegendary Locals of New Britain Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAmerican History in 50 Events: History by Country Timeline, #1 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Crescent City and Del Norte County Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHistoric Photos of Long Island Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHobbs and Lea County Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMadison Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCanal Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsOh, Say Did You Know?: The Secret History of America's Famous Figures, Fads, Innovations & Emblems Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
History For You
The Secret History of the World Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Library Book Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Richest Man in Babylon: The most inspiring book on wealth ever written Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Devil's Chessboard: Allen Dulles, the CIA, and the Rise of America's Secret Government Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Prisoners of Geography: Ten Maps That Explain Everything About the World Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5100 Things You're Not Supposed to Know: Secrets, Conspiracies, Cover Ups, and Absurdities Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Indifferent Stars Above: The Harrowing Saga of the Donner Party Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Grief Observed Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Time Traveler's Guide to Medieval England: A Handbook for Visitors to the Fourteenth Century Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The End of the Myth: From the Frontier to the Border Wall in the Mind of America Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Longitude: The True Story of a Lone Genius Who Solved the Greatest Scientific Problem of His Time Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Great Reset: And the War for the World Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Surprised by Joy: The Shape of My Early Life Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Lessons of History Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Whore Stories: A Revealing History of the World's Oldest Profession Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Devil in the Grove: Thurgood Marshall, the Groveland Boys, and the Dawn of a New America Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Vanderbilt: The Rise and Fall of an American Dynasty Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5King Leopold's Ghost: A Story of Greed, Terror, and Heroism in Colonial Africa Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Power of Geography: Ten Maps That Reveal the Future of Our World Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Nicomachean Ethics of Aristotle Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Great Awakening: Defeating the Globalists and Launching the Next Great Renaissance Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Becoming Cliterate: Why Orgasm Equality Matters--And How to Get It Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The ZERO Percent: Secrets of the United States, the Power of Trust, Nationality, Banking and ZERO TAXES! Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Oregon Trail: A New American Journey Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for Joseph William McKay
0 ratings0 reviews