a Scottish fur trader and an explorer who charted much of what is now the Canadian province of British Columbia (B.C.). He also built the first European settlement in B.C.. Fraser was employed by the Montreal-based North West Company. By 1805, he had been put in charge of all the company's operations west of the Rocky Mountains. He was responsible for building that area's first trading posts, and, in 1808, he explored what is now known as the Fraser River, which bears his name.
