More than any other man, John McLoughlin (1784-1857), Canadian pioneer and trader, opened Oregon to permanent settlement by proving its agricultural potential.

John McLoughlin was born in Quebec of Irish and Scottish parents. He studied medicine in Quebec and Scotland, returning to Canada as a licensed physician. In 1814 he became a partner in the North West Company, a fur-trading firm, and was assigned to the Rainy Lake District in Ontario.

In 1821, when the North West Company merged with the Hudson's Bay Company, McLoughlin was sent as factor of the Columbia District. At this time Oregon was subject by treaty to joint occupation by England and the United States, although when McLoughlin arrived no Americans were there. His duty to monopolize the fur trade and to make maximum profits coincided with British interests in Oregon, but McLoughlin never allowed duty to override his humanitarian impulses.

In 1825 he established Ft...