McGill Library
McLennan Library Building3459 rue McTavish
Montreal, Quebec
H3A 0C9
Person
MacDonell, Aeneas, ?-1809
?-1809
It is unknown where and when Aeneas MacDonell (also spelled McDonell) was born, he was killed in 1809 at the fight at Eagle Lake. MacDonell was the brother of Alexander McDonell, who was the brother-in-law of William McGillivray. In 1809, the Hudson’s Bay Company was in Eagle Lake and in mid-September, a party of workers for the North West Company commanded by MacDonell camped close to the post. An Indigenous man who sold his furs to the Hudson’s Bay Company was about to leave for his camp with the goods he had purchased from the company, when MacDonell stole the man’s canoe and goods because of a prior debt contracted with the North West Company. When two men went to assist the Indigenous man, MacDonell wounded one of them with a sword and the other man threatened to shoot MacDonell. Men from both camps intervened and MacDonell had continued to attack those opposed to him, injuring another person with his sword. A man named John Mowat shot and killed MacDonell and agreed to surrender and was sent to Montreal for trial.
Revised on June 10, 2024, by Leah Louttit-Bunker