When Thomas unexpectedly inherited the Selkirk title and estates in 1799, he used his money and political connections to purchase land and settle poor Scottish farmers in Belfast, Prince Edward Island, in 1803 and Baldoon, Upper Canada in 1804.

[2] He travelled extensively in North America, and his approach and work gained him some fame; in 1807 he was named Lord-Lieutenant of Kirkcudbright, Scotland, and in 1808 was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of London.

governing committee) allowed him to acquire a land grant called Assiniboia to serve as an agricultural settlement for the company.

As part of the agreement for the land grant, Selkirk agreed to supply the Hudson's Bay Company with 200 men each year.

[7][8] Selkirk and his men responded to the Battle of Seven Oaks by seizing the trading post at Fort William that belonged to the North West Company.

In the aftermath, Selkirk was ordered to appear in court in Montreal and was charged with four separate offences, all of which related to the alleged unlawful occupation of Fort William.

[9] Selkirk reportedly spent most of his acquired fortune defending himself (unsuccessfully) in court, shortly before his death in 1820 at Pau, France.

The Lord Selkirk Highway runs from the international boundary between Manitoba and North Dakota, where it connects with Interstate 29 in the United States, to the city of Winnipeg.

The Métis existed prior to the confrontations with Lord Selkirk's men but their armed resistance to foreign encroachment became a rallying point for their shared identity.

She invited the American officers into the drawing room, told the butler to make tea and to find some whisky for the sailors who were waiting outside.

After drinking a toast to Lady Selkirk, they returned to their ship and presented their captain with his sack full of coal and silverware.

Lefevre wrote about their ride the following day : "Everything that I had hitherto beheld appeared insignificant compared with the scenery which now presented itself...under our feet extended a long plain of meadowland, through which the Gave serpentined in a quick and bubbling stream.

The foreground was bounded by a long ridge of hills covered with the vines festooning from their summits to their feet; backed by forest and bounded by the Pyrenees stretching along the horizon, resembled, by their rugged summits, the back bone of the globe...The sight of all this grandeur determined the party upon making Pau their winter quarters.

Winter was severe and Selkirk's health declined until he could go only as far as the place Royale in front of their lodgings in a sedan chair to bask in the sun and admire the snow-capped Pyrenees.

[14] On his death, his heir and successor Dunbar was only 10 years old and thus Selkirk's estates were put into a trust and managed by four executors named in his will.

The Board of Trustees consisted of Andrew Colville (Colvile) of Achiltrie and Crommie, John Hallbrith (Halkett) of Waring, Adam Maitland of Dundrennan, and Sir James Montgomery, 2nd Baronet.