Reverend John McDougall

John McDougall was a pioneer methodist missionary in the present day provinces of Saskatchewan and Alberta. He arrived the area in 1862, the eldest son of the Reverend and Mrs. McDougall. John's father George was also a pioneer Methodist missionary, but passed away unexpectedly in the late winter of 1876.

John McDougall's connection to the Saskatchewan treaties was as a witness to the Treaty Six negotiations at Fort Pitt in 1876. These recollections are included in his Opening The Great West published by the Glenbow-Alberta Institute. John McDougall's father was charged by the Canadian government to announce treaty plans to the Aboriginal peoples in Saskatchewan and Alberta. According to McDougall the treaty became necessary after:

"The government had sent out some surveyors and telegraph stringers up into the Saskatchewan country. One day they were met with a bunch of Indians who demanded to know their business. Under the circumstances these white men could not give a sufficient reason for their presence and purpose. So it is said one of the Indians turning the animal pulling the lead cart around and started him eastward and said to the whitemen, "Go", and they went."