Robert Campbell, 1804–79, American fur trader and merchant, one of the mountain men, b. Ireland. He came to the United States c.1824. Having been advised to lead an outdoor life because of a lung ailment, he joined (1825) a fur trapping expedition. He trapped and traded in the Rocky Mts. until 1832, when he and William Sublette formed a partnership, which offered competition to the American Fur Company. Suffering reverses, they confined their activities to the mountain territory. The partnership was dissolved in 1842, and Campbell returned to St. Louis, where he amassed a fortune in merchandising, real estate, and banking. In 1851 and again in 1869 he served as Indian commissioner.

Robert Campbell, 1808–94, Canadian fur trader and explorer, b. Scotland. Employed as a young man by the Hudson's Bay Company, he was sent in 1834 to the Mackenzie River region, where he remained until 1852. He discovered the Pelly River in 1840, descending it in 1843 to its confluence with the Lewes River to form the Yukon. Here he established Fort Selkirk in 1848. Later (1850–51) he followed the Yukon to its junction with the Porcupine River at Fort Yukon. He worked as a trader for Hudson's Bay until 1871, when he was discharged, and spent his last years as a rancher in Manitoba. He wrote The Discovery and Exploration of the Pelly River (1883).

See C. Wilson, Campbell of the Yukon (1970).

Robert Campbell: see Rob Roy.