Alexander Ross emigrated to Canada from Moray County, Scotland in 1805. He was well educated, and started off his adult life as a teacher. There was not much fortune to be made in this occupation however, and after five years he purchased some land in upper Canada and turned to farming. He was not long in this career, either, for the tales of fortunes to be made as a fur trader led him to embark on a promising venture for a settlement along the Columbia River; and he was among the passengers that sailed from New York aboard the Tonquin in 1810.

Ross arrived on the Columbia River in March, 1811 as an employee of the Pacific Fur Company. He assisted in building Fort Astoria, and later that year helped to construct the first Fort Okanogan. During this period he occupied himself by studying Indian languages and characteristics, and by keeping an extensive journal. The North West Company, the Pacific Fur Company's rival at the time, was steadily encroaching on the area. However, instead of complaining at this encroachment, Ross seemed to sympathize with the competitors, who were mostly Scots, and took more and more to criticizing John Jacob Astor in his journal.

When Astoria was sold to the North West Company in October 1813, Ross had no problem adjusting to the new British owners. His only stipulation was an agreement in writing that he would be promoted at the end of seven years. During his service with the North West Company, he set out on a "project of discovery" (as he called it) to the North Cascades, where he believed the prospect was good for extending the fur trade. This was in the year 1814, and his diary of the journey has become a valuable source of information on the early exploration of the area—though it has been lamented that his attention to detail was not greater.

In 1821, just as his promotion after seven years' service was due, the North West Company merged with its rival, the Hudson's Bay Company—which put an end to Ross' expectations of moving up in his career. He prepared to cross the mountains and quit the service, but was stopped at the Boat Encampment by a letter from Deputy Governor George Simpson (head of the Hudson's Bay Company), requesting him to head an expedition to Snake Country that fall. He accepted the postition, and during the years 1823-1825 led a crew of Canadians, Iroquois and Hawaiians through what is now Oregon; trapping and exploring. In 1825—after the excitement of exploration had worn off—he, his Okanogan wife, and their children joined Governor Simpson at the Red River Settlements (present-day Winnipeg), where he became a leader in the community—reportedly heading a movement to bring a Presbyterian minister to the area and being appointed as sheriff of Assiniboia. He died in 1856.

Source: Ross, Alexander. "Journal of Alexander Ross—Snake Country Expedition, 1824." Quarterly of the Oregon Historical Society 14 (December 1913): 366. Editorial notes by T˙ C˙ Elliott (June 4, 2002).; Early Western Travels, Volume 7. Edited by Reuben Gold Thwaites. Cleveland, OH: A˙ H˙ Clark Co˙, 1904.; North Cascades National Park Service Parknet (May 31, 2002).; Alexander Ross Electricscotland.com (May 31, 2002).; Alexander Ross Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center (May 31, 2002).