Lieutenant-Colonel James Farquharson Macleod (c. September 25, 1836 – September 5, 1894), born in Drynoch, Isle of Skye, Scotland, was a militia officer, lawyer, North-West Mounted Police officer, magistrate, judge, and politician in Alberta.

[1] Macleod immigrated with his family from Scotland in 1845, when his father purchased a farm at Richmond Hill, Ontario.

Before law school during the summer of 1856, against the wishes of his parents, Macleod joined the Volunteer Militia Field Battery of Kingston as a lieutenant and his enthusiasm was such that his brother-in-law William Augustus Baldwin persuaded Governor General Sir Edmund Walker Head to offer Macleod a commission in the British army.

[1] In 1870, he obtained a commission as brigade major with the Wolseley expedition which was sent to quell the Red River Rebellion.

After returning from the Red River in 1871, Macleod was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel and became the commanding officer of the 45th West Durham Battalion.

On July 28, 1876, Macleod married pioneer Mary Isabella Drever, who he first met in Spring 1871.