or Finan (died 3 Dec. 1851, aged 69), fur trader and figure of legend. (known as Big Finnan of the Buffalo; Big Finnan; Finnan of the Buffalo; Finnan McDonald (Buffalo); spellings Finan and Finnan) Born in Scotland. Parents: Angus Ban McDonald (see Angus Ban Macdonell tenant of Muniall) and his wife Nelly (Eleanor or Ellen) McDonell, who emigrated with their family to GC in 1786, when Finnan was about four years old. Angus Ban McDonald died 5 Dec. 1822, aged 78, and is buried at St. Raphael’s. Angus Ban’s wife was still alive in 1825. Finnan McDonald was the brother of Col. James Mcdonald of the Glen, who was prominent in GC, and of the fur trader John Mcdonald le Borgne. Another brother, Archibald (d. 1 Nov. 1862, aged 89), who lived at Glen Roy, GC, is said to have been married to a sister of Fr Alexander Macdonell, the bishop of Upper Canada.

     The spellings Finnan and Finan are both commonly found for this man. For Glengarrians, the spelling of his name as Finnan must always seem preferable because of the spelling of the name of the cathedral in Alexandria. However, the Dictionary of Canadian Biography, while it did not allot him a biography of his own, uses the spelling Finan in its various minor references to him, as did W. S. Wallace, the 1930s historian of the Nor’Westers. But whatever the spelling, Finan or Finnan is a name which has always been a rare one among Glengarrians.

     On the basis of the dates involved, Finnan must have grown up at St. Raphael’s, GC, and shared his family’s pioneer experiences there. His brother John provided money for his schooling but later complained vigorously that Finnan was allowed to neglect school and that the opportunity thus provided was wasted. John thought that Finnan’s failure to rise to the better ranks in the fur trade was owing to his defective education.

     Finnan McDonald served with the NWC from 1804. From 1807 to 1812, he was with David Thompson on the Columbia River. He entered the HBC in 1821 as a clerk. Thereafter he served in the Columbia River department. In GC at least, Finnan is especially remembered for the incident of 1827 in which out in the western fur country he wrestled for his life with a wounded buffalo which had attacked him. Strange to say, despite the location in the wilds, written descriptions of the incident were left by two eyewitnesses of distinction in their own right, Edward Ermatinger the fur trader and David Douglas the eminent scientist, the latter of whom gave Finnan medical treatment immediately afterwards. It was from this incident that Finnan got his “Buffalo” name.

     Finnan McDonald retired from the fur trade in 1827 and re-settled in GC. There, he bought in 1828 Lot 8 and a portion of Lot 7 in the Gore of Charlottenburgh, near Williamstown. The accepted historical image of Finnan does not suggest someone who would write political letters to a newspaper. But the image may be wrong in this respect, and perhaps in others for that matter. At any rate, the Cornwall Observer of 11 July 1836, published a one-sentence letter from someone calling himself Finnand M’Donell (sic for both names), from a place called “Glen.” The letter is copied in full here: “That the Glengarrians have pledged themselves to support their Venerable and Right Reverend Bishop, may be judged when Sheriff M’Donell was 740 votes a-head of the excommunicated O’Grady’s tool Grant; and if our enemy, Chisholm exalted himself in parliamentary honors, it was not by means of the intelligence of Glengarry, but through the dupes into whose heads he has been pouring falsehoods against the Bishop.” The references here are, in part, to Bishop Alexander Macdonell, Donald Macdonell (1788-1861), Dr James Grant, and Col. Alexander Chisholm of Alexandria. And incidentally, the name used by the letter writer, Finnand M’Donell, thus spelled in its two words was quite close enough to that of our man by 1830s standards to pass for his.

     But whatever exactly were the origins of the letter, Finnan of the Buffalo, the subject of the present entry, was probably the Finnian [sic] McDonald who is listed a captain in the 1st Regiment of GC Militia at the time of the suppression of the 1837 Rebellion. Like his brother James, Finnan of the Buffalo became involved in the prolonged work on the settlement of the estate of their brother John, who died intestate in 1828. It was perhaps in connection with this troubled estate settlement that Finnan was imprisoned in Toronto in 1849. Finnan McDonald died on Lot 8 in the Gore of Charlottenburgh, presumably at his home there. Roman Catholic. He was buried at St. Raphael’s. His gravestone there having deteriorated badly was destroyed or buried in cemetery renovations a couple of generations ago.

     He was married to Margaret (Peggy) Poundaray, the daughter of an Indian chief from the area of Spokane. (eleven children) Unlike some of his colleagues, he did not repudiate his country wife when he returned to “settled” life. Married first by country custom, he had the marriage revalidated at St. Raphael’s, GC, on 25 March 1830. She died 18 March 1841, aged about 43, and is buried at St. Raphael’s

     A few years after Finnan’s death his son Donald McDonald (Gore) gave a holy water font to St. Mary’s Church, Williamstown, in memory of Finnan.

     Finnan McDonald is probably the best-remembered and most-celebrated of all GC’s “strong men,” one of those shantymen, fighters, pioneers and others who were “giants” in body or strength and and are accordingly renowned in the GC story. Finnan was a large, strong man, but quiet and reserved, though with some appearance of uncouthness, and perhaps even of eccentricity. He was not successful as a GC farmer, while his wife lacked the hard-won techniques of a GC farmwife. He spoke in a mixture of English and Gaelic, with French and Indian words thrown in.

     John A. Chisholm, the Cornwall lawyer and mayor, was Finnan’s great-grandnephew and interested in his story. For several years beginning in 1922, Chisholm carried on a correspondence with an American historian, T.C. Elliott of Walla Walla, state of Washington, on the life of Finnan. They worked together on a manuscript on Finnan’s life but it seems not to have been published. The correspondence, which contains much valuable information which Chisholm acquired on Finnan, is preserved in the files of the Oregon Historical Society, at Portland. Chisholm’s papers in these files contain transcripts from the St. Raphael’s Church records, from Finnan’s family bible (owned at that time by one of Finnan’s Bertrand family descendants at South Lancaster), from the land registry files for GC, and from the gravestones at St. Raphael’s (including as much as could still be read on Finnan’s gravestone), together with traditional and interview material.

Wallace, MDict * There is a surprisingly extensive printed literature on Finnan: besides other sources cited here, see esp. Ross Cox, The Columbia River (1831, 1957); Edward Ermatinger’s journal in Proceedings and Transactions of the Royal Society of Canada (1912); J. A. Meyers in Washington Historical Quarterly (1922); Merle Wells in Vol. 5 of L. R. Hafen, ed., The Mountain Men and the Fur Trade of the Far West (1965-1969); Hugh P. MacMillan in The Beaver (Spring 1972); and Rowland Bond, Early Birds in the Northwest (1973); see Bibliography of Glengarry: index for further details on these works, other refs. * the most important source for the GC portion of his life is the file on Finnan in the T. C. Elliott Collection, Oregon Historical Society, as described in text above (the material on his brother Archibald is also from this source) * letters of Farquhar D. McLennan and W. S. Wallace, of March 1933, Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library, University of Toronto; included is Fr John Macdonald’s record of Finnan’s burial, as copied in 1933 by Fr D. A. Campbell, of St. Raphael’s * Dictionary of Canadian Biography: various minor refs. * MacGillivray & Ross 49-50 with portrait * see Reports of Cases in notes to entry for his brother John * education: John Mcdonald le Borgne to his brother James, 27 Aug. 1825, Glengarry Life 1986 * Boss 242 * holy water font: Sinnsearchad 203 & Archibald MacDonell and others, History of St. Mary’s Roman Catholic Church Williamstown, Ontario: 1847-1997 (1997) 115 * Wtown 200 11 (from Standard Freeholder) * McKenna GN (22 Aug. & 3 Oct. 2001, 14 April 2004) * South Lancaster Walking Tour (South Glengarry LACAC, n.d.) 29-30 * re rarity of Finnan name: Elliott (1871 census) under M(a)cDonald/Donell yields only one example of the name (p. 181) under any spelling * GC strong men: Bibliography of Glengarry 52, 155 * death of his daughter Mrs Emily Bertrand, Lancaster column, Cornwall Standard 15 April 1915 (she was probably the last to die of his children) * letter from Finnan, 14 April 1822, acquired by Glengarry Historical Society, Glengarry News 19 May 1993 & GHS Newsletter May 1993