Alexander Ross
Ross, Alexander (1783-1856), a Canadian explorer and historian. He played an important role in the early development of the Red River Valley, in what is now Manitoba; he served as a member of the Council of Assiniboia (the administrative district that included the valley), 1835-50, and as district sheriff, 1839-52. Ross was born in Scotland. He came to Canada in 1805 and became a schoolteacher. He worked for John Jacob Astor's Pacific Fur Company, 1810-12, and then for the North West Company and the Hudson's Bay Company before settling in the Red River Valley in 1825.
Ross wrote Adventures of the First Settlers on the Oregon or Columbia River (1849); The Fur Hunters of the Far West (2 volumes, 1855); The Red River Settlement (1856).