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| Sir Alexander Mackenzie |
Alexander Mackenzie was born into a prominent mercantile
family in Stornoway Scotland in 1731. He moved with his father and Uncle to New
York city in 1774. His family fought on the side of the British and Alexander
moved to Montral for his safety in 1778 where he joined the North West Company
of fur traders.
In 1788, he founded Fort Chipewyan on the shores of Lake Athabasca.
On July 3rd, 1789, he set out by canoe on the great river draining
lake Athabasca hoping it would lead to the Pacific Ocean. On July 14th,
he reached the Arctic Ocean on what is now named after him, the Mackenzie River.
His party turned around, reaching Fort Chipewyan on 12 September. In just over
three months, they had travelled more than 3,000 miles (over 4,800 km) through
the Canadian wilderness. While it opened up a new understanding of Canadian
geography, Mackenzie was greatly disappointed that the river was of no value to
the fur trade.
In 1791, Mackenzie returned
to Great Britain to study the new measurement of longitude.
He returned to Canada in 1792 and set out to find a route to the Pacific.
In October 1792, he moved from Fort Chipewyan to
Fort Fork, a new post on the Peace River. He
was accompanied by two native guides (one named Cancre), his cousin, Alexander
MacKay, six Canadian voyageurs (Joseph Landry, Charles
Ducette, François Beaulieu, Baptiste Bisson, Francois Courtois,
Jacques Beauchamp), and a dog simply referred to as "our dog".
With a better understanding of western geography, on 9 May 1793 his
party left Fort Fork and followed the Peace, Parsnip, and McGregor Rivers.
He started down the Fraser but was warned by locals it was
impassable so backtracked and set out over land, crossing the Coast Mountains
and descending the Bella Coola River to the North Benedict Arm. He wanted to go
farther to open water but was stopped by the Heiltsuk First Nations who had had
a recent run in with Captain George Vancouver six weeks earlier and were in no
mood for Europeans.
On a rock with vermillion and grease, he wrote the now
famous inscription, Alexander Mackenzie from Canada by Land 22nd
July 1793.
The expedition safely made the journey back to Fort Fork in
just one month. In total, they had travelled 2,300 miles (over 3,700 km) to the
Pacific and back. Although the route was too rough for trading furs and
goods, Mackenzie’s historic expedition made him the first European to cross
North America north of Mexico.
He returned to Upper Canada and in 1794, he explained to John
Graves Simcoe, lieutenant governor, his vision for the North West
Company, Hudson's Bay Company, and East India Company to
cooperate in expanding the fur trade throughout the Canadian northwest and
along the Pacific coast. His suggestions were ignored at the time
but in 1821, the North West Company and the Hudson’s Bay Company amalgamated.
In 1799, he returned to England and in 1801 published his
memoirs, Voyages from Montreal to the Frozen and Pacific Oceans (1801).
Mackenzie was knighted in 1802. He retired to Scotland. In 1812, he married
Geddes Mackenzie, who was only 14. Together, they had a daughter and two sons.
Mackenzie died in 1820.
United States President Thomas Jefferson presented an
American edition of Mackenzie’s book to Meriwether Lewis, who would carry it to
the Pacific on his famed expedition with William Clark in 1804–6.
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| The exploration of Canada's North West |
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By Manitoba Historical Maps - Map of the North Part of
America on which is laid down
Mackenzie’s Track from Montreal to the North Sea
(1809), |
