Alexander Caulfield Anderson

Alexander Caulfield Anderson (10 March 1814 – 8 May 1884) was a British Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) fur-trader, explorer of British Columbia and civil servant.

Anderson joined HBC in 1831 and emigrated to Canada from Europe. He was placed in leadership roles of various forts in British Columbia, including the founding of outposts. In the late 1840s he explored various route possibilities for HBC to connect interior forts with the Pacific Ocean. He retired in 1854, but moved to Victoria, British Columbia, to work as a civil servant. In 1876 he was appointed as dominion inspector of fisheries and proposed building British Columbia's first hatchery.

In 1882, he was stranded on a sand bank for one night, causing his health to deteriorate. He died two years later. Various geographical locations in British Columbia and Washington state are named for him.

Early life Anderson was born near Calcutta, India. His father was Robert Anderson and his mother was Eliza Charlotte Simpson. The Anderson family moved to Essex, England, in 1817.

Leadership in HBC Anderson was transferred to the New Caledonia department within HBC, which administered the north-central part of British Columbia, and remained there for five years. On his first assignment, an early onset of winter caused him and his party to retreat to Jasper, and a lack of supplies caused them to retreat again to Edmonton. An investigation cleared him of mismanagement of this situation. In 1842 he was put in charge of the annual brigade to York Factory. He was then appointed to Fort Alexandria and remained there until 1848. In 1871 he wrote an essay entitled The dominion at the west; a brief description of the province of British Columbia, which won a provincial prize.

In 1876 he was appointed as British Columbia's first dominion inspector of fisheries, in charge of British Columbia's coastal and inland waters. He remained in this position until his death. He was also appointed to a joint commission on Indian land in British Columbia, but became frustrated with the assignment and his appointment ended in 1878. He wrote a partly-autobiographical manuscript called "History of the northwest coast" which was given to Hubert Howe Bancroft. In 1877 he proposed building British Columbia's first salmon hatchery. Construction on this hatchery began in 1884.

Personal life, death and legacy Anderson married Eliza Birnie in August 1837. They had 13 children.

In 1882, he was forced to spend a night on a sand bar while travelling and his health deteriorated from the event. He died on 8 May 1884, at the age of 70.

Geographical locations named for Anderson include Anderson Lake, Anderson River and Anderson Island.