In
1862,
Douglas accepted Mcdonald’s proposal to build a road from the
North Bentinck Arm near the
Bella Coola River to a point on the
Fraser River near
Quesnel, with the condition of being allowed to levy a toll on goods and cattle.
1 Mcdonald was allowed to charge for the weight of goods and number of cattle using
the road for an initial term of 5 years.
2 Douglas made several such agreements that created the infrastructure to access the
Cariboo gold rush.
3
Mcdonald was the first person to teach English in Japan from
1848 to 1849. He did this while
comfortably confined,
the consequence of appearing as a shipwrecked sailor to gain access to Japan, a country
closed to foreigners until
1853.
4 Following his time in Japan, Mcdonald travelled much of Asia, Australia, and Europe
before spending five years in Eastern Canada. After moving to the colony of
British Columbia with his half-brother, Mcdonald established a packing business and road company,
and, following the failure of both, he participated in several exploration expeditions
and assisted his cousin, Christina, in a
Kamloops-based trading company in
1875.
1 He retired to a cabin near
Fort Colvile in
1875, and his account of his time in Japan was published posthumously in
1923.
6
Mcdonald was the son of Scottish HBC trader, Archibald Mcdonald, and Princess Raven
of the Chinook Tribe, who died shortly after his birth.7 Ranald never married or fathered any children.8