James McDougall was a nineteenth-century fur trader and explorer, who is remembered for his participation in opening up present-day British Columbia, Canada to European settlement as part of a North West Company expedition to the region, led by Simon Fraser.
McDougall was third-in-command on Fraser's team, functioning as junior clerk to John Stuart.
The first of these resulted from a trip undertaken by Fraser and McDougall up the Parsnip River in the autumn of 1805, in order to determine an ideal route for reaching the Fraser from the Peace River canyon, which was a major portal at the time into the territory west of the Rocky Mountains.
Their travels resulted in the establishment by Fraser of the first post and permanent European settlement west of the Rockies, at present-day McLeod Lake.
Following Fraser's expedition, McDougall stayed in New Caledonia to assist Stuart as a trader at the Fort St. James' post for a period of some years.