Ross, Alexander (1783-1856), was a Scottish-born explorer, fur trader, and author. He explored much of the Oregon region, which then extended from present-day Alaska to California.
Ross was born on May 9, 1783, in Morayshire, Scotland. He moved to Canada in 1804 and became a schoolteacher. In 1810, he went to work for John Jacob Astor’s Pacific Fur Company. The next year, he aided in the building of Fort Astoria, which was the first white settlement in the Oregon region. From 1811 to 1813, Ross was at Fort Okanagan. There, he took an Okanagan Indian woman as his wife. Ross was a member of the group that founded Fort Nez Perce, also called Fort Walla Walla. He was in charge of that fort for five years. Beginning in 1824, Ross did extensive exploration of what is now Idaho.
In 1825, Ross moved to the Red River area, near the present site of Winnipeg. He received a grant of land there. He served as sheriff of Assiniboia (now southern Manitoba) in 1835 and as justice of the peace from 1839 to 1851. He died at the Red River colony on Oct. 23, 1856.
Ross wrote extensively. He was one of western Canada’s early historians. His works include Adventures of the First Settlers on the Oregon or Columbia River (1849), The Fur Hunters of the Far West (1855), and The Red River Settlement (1856).
