Miles Macdonell
Miles Macdonell (c. 1767 – 28 June 1828) was the first governor of the Red River Colony, a Scottish settlement in the Red River area of present-day Manitoba and North Dakota.
Born in Inverness, Scotland, Macdonell came from a military family and served in the King's Royal Regiment of New York, rising to captain by 1796. At Lord Selkirk’s invitation, he traveled to London in 1803 to lead Selkirk’s planned colony on the Red River. Selkirk, a shareholder in the Hudson’s Bay Company, had bought land to help destitute Scots and to block rivals.
Macdonell led the first group of colonists, mainly evicted Highlanders, starting in 1812. The settlers sailed from Stornoway in 1811, spent the winter at York Factory, and reached the Red River in August 1812. They immediately faced opposition from the North West Company (NWC), a powerful fur-trading rival.
On 11 June 1815, NWC forces attacked and fired upon the colonists and demanded Macdonell’s surrender. To avoid bloodshed, he gave himself up and was taken to Montreal, where charges were laid but not tried.
During about ten years with the Red River Colony, Macdonell played a leading role in the clashes between the Hudson’s Bay Company and the North West Company. He eventually returned to his farm at Osnabruck, Upper Canada. Historians criticize his leadership, noting traits such as stubbornness and an inability to win loyalty, as well as decisions like the Pemmican Proclamation, which weakened the colony and helped its rivals.
In later years he lived with his brother near the Ottawa River and died at Pointe-Fortune in 1828. The Miles Macdonell Collegiate in Winnipeg was named in his honor.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 11:00 (CET).