Other Events and Attributes:

• Reference Number: 127
• Reference Number: GRA-GRA
• Residence: British Territory
• Retired: Wabasha, Wabasha, Minnesota, USA
• Immigration: Abt 1794, York Facotry, On Hudson's Bay, Prince Ruper's Land
• Occupation: 1802, St Peter's River, Dakota, Minnesota, USA; A fur trader.
• Occupation: Abt 1810, A fur Trader, Graham's Island, Benson, North Dakota, USA
• Milit-Beg: 1813
• Milit-End: 06 Sep 1814
• Occupation: Between 1815 and 1820, A fur trader; After the war we know that he worked as a trader for the Hudson's Bay Company.
• Residence: 1816, On the Red River
• Occupation: 01 Feb 1817, A fur trader
• Occupation: 1818, A Fur Trader
• Occupation: 1820, A Fur Trader
• Residence: 26 Jun 1827, Prairie du Chien, Crawford, Wisconsin, USA
• Residence: 1835, A Fur Trader, Mendota, Dakota, Minnesota, USA
• Occupation: 15 Aug 1835, Mendota, Dakota, Minnesota, USA; He was a Trader.
• Residence: 16 Aug 1837, Mississippi River, Mendota, Dakota, Minnesota, USA
• Residence: 05 Jul 1839, Mendota, Dakota, Minnesota, USA
• Reference Number: 1843, Wabasha, Wabasha, Minnesota, USA; He named the town of Wabasha MN (originally Wabashaw), after his wife's grandfather, Chief Wapashaw I.
• Occupation: 09 Feb 1843, Wabasha, Wabasha, Minnesota, USA; acting postmaster

Notes:

Birth:
in the Highlands, (according to the source)

Education:
He was well educated as demonstrated by his letters written while employed by the Hudson's Bay Company in Canada. It has also been reported that his parents were members of the Scottish nobility and that his emigration was a protest against society of the day.

Residence:
Afterthe 1812 war he was initially barred from entering the USA.

Retired:
In 1834 he retired to the Wabasha, MN where his three youngest daughters lived and for a number of years was engaged in carrying the mail between Prairie du Chien and points as far north as the Red River of the North.

Occupation:
He built a trading post on Graham's Island in Devils Lake, North Dakota and the whole island is a State Park named after him. The historical documents are contradictory as to the exact time he lived on the island and built his trading post. Most history references indicate that he lived in this area after 1815, however some say that it was much earlier. His granddaughter (Marie McLaughlin) said that, at the time, he was an independent trader and not associated with any company, which would mean it was about 1809/11 because later fur traders were required a license and were governed by trading companies. However a grandson said that his mother (who was born in 1805) was 12 at the time they left the island which would mean that he left the island in 1817. It is possible that he was on the island about 1810 and then again after 1815. One history book written in 1884 said that remnants of his old post were still visible on the island. The Indians called him 'Big Foot' and the island 'Big Foot's Island'.

Milit-Beg:
During the 1812-1815 war Graham fought on the side of the British and in 1813 as a lieutenant was part of a force that was defeated by the American army lead by Col. Croghan at Lower Sandusky, Ohio.

Milit-End:
forced Major Zachary Taylor to retreat during his attempt to recapture the fort at Prairie du Chein Wis. In recognition of his role in this action he was promoted to a Captain.

Residence:
He operated a trading post along the Red River at a place known as Graham's Point, which later became the site of Fort Abercrombie.

Occupation:
Lord Selkirk wrote a letter to Graham acknowledging Graham's letters of Oct 11 and Dec 7 [1816] where he discussed the success Graham had in trading to date and gives specific instructions on what he wanted Graham to do in the future. Selkirk felt that Graham should remain at the trading post over the winter to ensure there was no conflict between the various bands of Indians.

Occupation:
His work later took him to the upper Red River near Traverse Lake where he operated a trading post for the HBC which at some point, as a Canadian company, was barred from doing business in the USA.

Occupation:
The letters show there was friction between the company and Graham because furs were not as plentiful as they expected. About 1820, Graham left the HBC and joined the Northwest Company to set up a trading post near Traverse Lake.

Residence:
Their only son, Alexander, was born in Prairie du Chein, Wisconsin in 1821 and we know that he || which was quoted in a short narrative of Graham's life in a Minnesota History book.

Residence:
"Duncan Graham was one of the most remarkable persons on the list of Bishop Loras, who refers to him as Dom. Etienne Graham."

Residence:
In 1839 he was present at the baptisms of his daughter Sarah and son Alexander at St Peter's Church at Mendota.

Buried:
Originally, on 6 Dec. 1847 his body was placed in the Jean Baptist Faribault family vault at Mendota joined by his wife in 1848. In what must have been a huge operation, the remains of all relatives and near relatives were moved to the family plot at the Calvary Cemetery, Faribault, MN in the winter of 1865 because the new railway line needed the land occupied by the vault. His grave marker read "Duncan Graham, Born in Scotland". That grave marker no longer existed in 2008, as it may have been made of wood.

Duncan married Susanne Istagiwin Hazahotawin Pennishon between 1796 and 1802 in Minnesota, USA. Susanne (daughter of Jean Pennishon and Winona Wapasha) was born about 1785 in Rum River, Mille Lacs, Minnesota, USA; died on 02 Mar 1848 in Mendota, Dakota, Minnesota, USA; was buried in 1865 in Calvary Cemetery, Faribault, Rice, Minnesota, USA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

1. Marie Elizabeth Graham was born on 15 Jul 1804 in Sauk Rapids, Benton, Minnesota, USA; died on 08 Apr 1876 in Elizabeth, Otter Tail, Minnesota, USA; was buried in 1879 in Calvary Cemetery, Faribault, Rice, Minnesota, USA.
2. Lucy Nancy Graham was born in Sep 1805 in Mendota, Dakota, Minnesota, USA; died on 26 Sep 1888 in Fort Totten, Benson, North Dakota, USA; was buried on 29 Sep 1888 in St Felix Cemetery, Wabasha, Wabasha, Minnesota, USA.
3. Sarah Marie Graham was born in 1811 in Minnesota, USA; died about 1841 in Wabasha, Wabasha, Minnesota, USA; was buried in 1841 in St Felix Cemetery, Wabasha, Wabasha, Minnesota, USA.
4. Jane Graham was born in 1817 in St Peter's River, Dakota, Minnesota, USA; died in 1881 in Lake Pepin, Goodhue, Minnesota, USA.
5. Alexander Graham, Sr. was born on 15 Oct 1821 in Minnesota Territory, USA; died about 1865.