Thomas Douglas, Earl of Selkirk (1771-1820) was a Scottish aristocrat, land baron, author, and member of the United Kingdom's House of Lords. Douglas was concerned about the poverty he saw in the Scottish Highlands where property-less farmer struggled to survive. He thought by moving many farmers to British North America, the farmers in Scotland and in what would become Canada could live in prosperity. He purchased from the Hudson's Bay Company the land for the Red River Settlement in the Red River Valley. Learn more in this National Library of Canada website.