Fort McMurray, a fur-trading post built by the North West Company in 1790 on the west bank of the Athabaska river, opposite the mouth of the Clearwater river, and named originally Fort of the Forks. It was taken over by the Hudson's Bay Company in 1821, and about 1875 was rebuilt. Its name was then changed to Fort McMurray, after William McMurray, a chief factor of the Hudson's Bay Company.

Source : W. Stewart WALLACE, ed., The Encyclopedia of Canada, Vol. II, Toronto, University Associates of Canada, 1948, 411p., p. 372.