"Joseph William Mackay, or as he was ordinarily called
Joe Mackay, was a man of great personality and force of
character. He arrived from the Red River country in
1844 and joined the Hudson's Bay Company's service at
Fort Vancouver in that year, serving in that part of
the country, California and in various other places in
the North West.
He was transferred to Fort Victoria
shortly after its establishment and remained there
until the discovery of coal at Nanaimo, or as the name
was and is pronounced by the natives Snanimooh. This
was about 1849 and Mackay, who was amongst his other
attainments, an amateur geologist, was instrumental in
the discovery and was sent there to superintend
operations.
He was one of the few who spoke the native
language* fluently, and he was therefore a great
service to the Company for it must be remembered that
the Chinook jargon was generally unknown to the natives
in those days, in spite of the oft repeated pretended
Chinook expressions made use of by various writers of
recent times. He was looked up to by the natives
generally as one who could best understand them and
redress their grievances. I saw an old Indian in 1858
being dragged off to jail, calling out most piteously
for "Maqui".
...He died in 1901. The late Mrs Mackay who survived
her husband many years died in 1914. As Miss Holmes
she arrived in 1859, accompanied by her mother, Mrs
Porter, whose husband had preceded her some months and
had acted as Clerk of the House of Assembly.
*By the expression "native language" I mean the
language which is spoken with certain dialects all
along the East Coast from Sooke to Comox and possibly
beyond those limits."
Anderson, James Robert. "Notes and Comments on Early Days and Events in British Columbia, Washington, and Oregon" ch.12-14, page 204(8). ADD.MSS.1912. BOX 8/18, B.C. Archives.
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