McKay, Alexander (1770?-1811), also spelled MacKay, was a Canadian fur trader and explorer. In 1793, he accompanied Alexander Mackenzie on the first overland crossing of northern North America by European Americans (see Mackenzie, Sir Alexander ). In 1810, McKay became a partner in American businessman John Jacob Astor’s Pacific Fur Company. McKay helped found Astoria, the first English-speaking settlement in Oregon, in 1811. That same year, he took part in a trading mission in the ship Tonquin along the Pacific coast north of Astoria. Against McKay’s advice, the ship’s crew abused the American Indians living along the coast. The Indians took revenge by killing McKay and all but one of the ship’s crew. McKay was born in what is now the state of New York. He died around June 15, 1811.
