One of Canada’s premier explorers, thi¬s partner of the North West Company expanded the fur trade west of the Rocky Mountains during years of intense corporate rivalry. He established a Euro-Canadian presence in what became British Columbia, founding the first non-Indigenous settlements at Fort McLeod and Fort St. James. Aided by Indigenous guides, in 1808 he became the first outsider to traverse the treacherous rapids in passing down the Fraser River. Fraser’s determination, the skill of French-Canadian voyageurs, and the knowledge he gained from Indigenous peoples allowed him to explore the river to the Strait of Georgia.