Hugh Monroe

Hugh Monroe (1798-1892) was a Canadian trapper, guide, and interpreter. He worked for Hudson's Bay Company, American Fur Company, and independently throughout his life. He traveled with Chief Lone Walker of the Piikani Nation and was given the name "Rising Wolf" (Mah-kwi-i-po-ats – Wolf Rising), an ancestor of Lone Walker, with Rising Wolf Mountain later named after him.

Biography

Monroe was born on July 9, 1798, in Trois-Rivières, Quebec. His father, Hugh Monroe (spelled Munro at the time), was a captain in the British Army and his grandfather was Capt. John Munro, a prominent loyalist. His mother, Angelique de la Roche, née Leroux, was the daughter of a royal family who was part of the French Emigration.

He attended English school in Montreal before moving on to a priest's college for four years, learning to speak both English and French. He began hunting at an early age and later and developed an interest for the outdoors. He later worked for Hudson's Bay Company where he worked as an apprentice-clerk in uncharted areas of modern-day Alberta.

Monroe traveled with the Pi'ikanni Nation under the care of Chief Lone Walker for two years and became a liaison between them and Hudson's. During his time with the Pi'ikanni, he became known as Makwi-poachsin ("Rising Wolf"). He worked with Hudson's until 1823 when he began working independently as a trapper and guide. From 1853-1854, Monroe served as a guide and interpreter for Governor Isaac Stevens who was the first to make a treaty with the Blackfoot Confederacy the following year in 1855. He was also referred to as the "White Blackfoot." He is the grandfather of William Jackson for whom Jackson Glacier is named.