James Murray Yale was born in Lachine, Upper Canada, in 1796.
At the age of 19 he joined the Hudson's Bay Company and was sent to New Caledonia. It was at this time that fierce fighting took place between the man from the Hudson's Bay Company and its rival the North West Company. During one of these attacks, in 1817, Yale was taken prisoner and held for 5 months at Great Stave Lake.
Between 1821 and 1824 Yale was put in charge of Fort George on the Fraser River.
After that, he served in Fort Alexandria and Fort St. James.
In 1827 Yale accompanied George Simpson on an exploration down the Fraser River. When they arrived at Fort Langley, Yale stayed at the fort and served as a clerk and assistant to the Chief Trader, Archibald McDonald.
Mr. Yale was less than 5 feet tall and was sometimes called "little Yale", but his superiors described him as "a young gentleman in whom we can repose the utmost confidence".
On February 20, 1833, Yale replaced Archibald McDonald as Chief trader, McDonald was an able and dedicated Chief trader but Yale proved to be even more dedicate..
In 1847, Ovid Allard established a Hudson's Bay Company post in a location along the Fraser river called "The Falls". He named the fort "Fort Yale", after James Murray Yale.
The company thought that marriage between whites and natives would improve relationship with the natives. Yale set an example and married the daughter of the Kwantlen Chief. They had two daughters, Aurelia and Bella. The Chief's daughter however was not happy at the fort and left her husband and went back to her own people.
Later Yale married an other native, the daughter of the Katzie Chief. He stayed at Fort Langley until his retirement in 1859. As third Chief Factor in charge of Fort Langley, he ruled the fort for over 25 years.
