Robert Dickson (c.1765 – 20 June 1823) was a fur trader, and later an officer in the British Indian Department in Upper Canada, who played a prominent part in the War of 1812.

In 1797, he married Ista Towin or Totowin (Helen Elizabeth), the daughter of chief Wakinyanduta (Red Thunder) of the Cuthead band of the Yanktonai Dakota.

[1] During the years preceding the War of 1812, Dickson and other British and Canadian traders were angered by American encroachments into the area where they traded, in which they had previously enjoyed a monopoly.

As war appeared imminent, Dickson began recruiting warriors from among the tribes with which he traded, and gathered them at the British military outpost at Fort St. Joseph.

In 1814, he recruited fresh contingents of the Western Indians and led them at the successful defense of Mackinac Island and the Engagement on Lake Huron.