Francois X. Mercier
In 1868 Francois Xavier Mercier (1838-1906) headed for the Yukon River area, where he was involved in the fur trade for 17 years. The French Canadian came to St. Michael as a member of the Pioneer Co., a short-lived fur trading venture. After the company dissolved in 1869, Mercier signed on as a trader for Hutchinson, Kohl and Co., fore-runner of the Alaska Commercial Co. (ACC). In 1872, he became the firm's manager at St. Michael for the Yukon District that encompassed virtually all of interior Alaska. From St. Michael, Mercier oversaw establishment and regular supply of trading posts along the Yukon River, established trading relations with river Natives, and helped the ACC monopolize the interior Alaska fur trade. In 1877 he joined the Western Fur and Trading Co., a San Francisco outfit organized to compete with ACC. He returned to ACC in 1882, and the following year his employer bought out its rival. Mercier left Alaska in 1885, as the fur trading era was giving way to mining. He made his home in Montreal, but continued to travel extensively, including a trip across Bering Strait from Alaska to Siberia. Mercier died in Montreal in 1906.