Joseph William McKay

Joseph William McKay (Mackay) (31 January 1829 – 17 December 1900) was a fur trader, businessman, politician and explorer who had a long career in the employ of the Hudson's Bay Company in Canada.

[1] He began working for the Hudson's Bay Company in Fort Vancouver in 1844 at the age of 15 and was sent by Governor Simpson to serve as an apprentice seaman on a Pacific coast vessel.

[2] The following September he accompanied the British naval officers Captain Henry W. Parke and Lieutenant William Peel on their reconnaissance of Oregon Territory.

[2] Shortly after the beginning of the Fraser River gold-rush in the summer of 1858 McKay was sent by Douglas to search for a route to the gold-fields between Howe Sound and Lillooet Lake.

In 1865, in conjunction with John Rae, McKay conducted a survey of the country between Williams Creek and Tête Jaune Cache in anticipation of the HBC's proposed telegraph line from Fort Garry (Winnipeg) to New Westminster (B.C.).

[1] McKay worked for the dominion government, being appointed census commissioner for British Columbia in 1881 and Indian agent two years later, first for the northwest coast and then for the Kamloops and Okanagan agencies.

McKay was described as an "...undersized man in cowhide coat and breeches, jack-boots & large-peaked cap; like an overgrown jockey.

Records relating to McKay's career as a chief trader for the Hudson's Bay Company including correspondence, a journal, notes regarding festivals and traditional beliefs of the B.C.

Plaque crediting MacKay as builder of the Nanaimo Bastion and founder of Nanaimo