François-Xavier Mercier (1838 - 1906)
François Mercier was born in 1838 in St. Paul l'Emmite, a small town northeast of Montreal. He travelled to St. Paul, Minnesota in 1856 at age eighteen and started working for the Northwest Company as a fur trader. For three years he worked out of Fort Benton in Montana, and Fort Union in North Dakota. Mercier returned to Canada in 1866 and two years later travelled to San Francisco. There he met other men who would join him in forming the Pioneer Company.1) They were former explorers for the telegraph expedition and ex-Hudson’s Bay Company employees and had considerable experience and skill with fur trading and extensive knowledge of the north and its people.2) François’ brother Moise Mercier had been prospecting in California and he also joined the Pioneer Company.3)
The Pioneer Company was just one of the fur trading companies drawn north by the Alaska purchase in 1868. Mercier and his companions arrived in Alaska in 1868 and Mercier travelled up the Yukon River in June to the mouth of the Tanana River and founded Noukelakayet station about fifteen miles down from the mouth on the north bank of the Yukon River. Captain Raymond referred to this settlement as Fort Adams or the American Station.4) This was the first American trading post in the Yukon River valley.5)
Most of the men involved in the Pioneer Company returned to San Francisco in 1869 and François Mercier joined Hutchin, Kohl and Company who had purchased the Alaskan holdings of the Russian American Company in 1867. In 1872, Mercier became the general agent of the firm for the St. Michael (Yukon) District. This territory extended from the Kuskokwim River to the Canadian border. He remained in this position until 1875.6) He was instrumental in bringing the Oblate missionaries north. A lifelong friendship developed between the Mercier family and Isidore Clut, a future bishop of the Mackenzie Catholic diocese. Moise Mercier returned to Quebec in 1875 and was involved in the colonization of the area north of Montreal. He became the mayor of Sainte-Veronique de Turgeon.7)
In 1877, François Mercier left the Hutchin, Kohl company to work for the rival Western Fur and Trading Company. He established Fort Mercier on the north side of the Yukon River 1.5 miles upstream from the Tozitna River in 1877. In 1880, he established Belle Isle post, at present-day Eagle, and he lived there during the winter of 1882-83. The Western Fur and Trading Company was purchased by the Alaska Commercial Company in 1883.8) The purchase price of $175,000 included the steamer St. Michael, that had been on the river since 1879.9)
François Mercier remained with the Alaska Commercial Company until 1885 when he left Alaska for San Francisco and his home in Montreal.10) He received a medal in recognition of his work in the fur trade and recognition from the Vatican for his support of northern missionaries. The medal included an honorary title from France for his contributions to the knowledge of northern geography.11)
After his retirement, Mercier travelled and lectured in the United States and France. He travelled across the Bering Strait on behalf of the Geological Society of Paris.12) Mercier was living in Montreal in 1897 and was reported to be losing sleep over the idea that he walked over all the gold that others were now digging.13) François Mercier died at his home at the age of 68.14)