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| Sir Alexander Mackenzie |
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 |
https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/sir-alexander-mackenzie-explorer
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Mackenzie_(explorer)
He must have been incredibly virile to father children at that age. His wife could have been his grand daughter going by the gap in their age. A doughty explorer though.
ReplyDeleteFourteen seemed a bit young but since so many died in childbirth, I guess starting young was not unusual. Lots of kids have been sired by men his age, He certinly did not let grass grow under his feet, always on the move
DeleteVery interesting. Used to carry his comments on the Sturgeon-Weir while we were on the canoe trips. Felt pretty cool to be sitting at Scoop Rapids reading what he had to say about it.
ReplyDeleteYour fellow canoers must have thoght that was pretty neat to hear history of someone who was exactly where they were.
DeleteI remember studying his exploits on behalf of British corporate interests but this is the first I've heard of his child bride.
ReplyDeleteHe would have been 81. And 84 when the third kid was born. Reminds me of an NSFW joke. At least she was still young when he died and left her with a good name and relatively well off.
DeleteSure he was a great Explorer. The pioneers, people like this, made strong the new countries in his época.
ReplyDeleteI read your account with interest, at least until I found out about the 14-year-old bride. I know taking a child bride wasn't taboo then as it is now; but even knowing that, I have a hard time not judging Mackenzie as a dirty old man. Ick! But, as you say, he left her well off; which was no small thing for a 22-year-old girl at that time. (But still, ICK!)
ReplyDeleteOne of my FB friends says she may be related through a daughter from a First Nations woman he sent to Scotland to be educated and who amrried their Scots ancestor. I'd be happier about that realtionshio than from the girl 70 years his juniour. I agree ICK.
DeleteTundra Bunny here...
ReplyDeleteHave you ever been to Churchill, MB? If not, it's well worth a visit in fall so you can see polar bears from the relative safety of a Tundra Buggy. I went on a university field trip there back in 1987 and we got to see where HBC moored their ships offshore (huge iron rings embedded in a large rock). Samuel Hearne chiselled his name and July 1, 1767 on another large rock nearby and it gave me chills to just see it. On the way back, some belugas followed us and one kept surfacing beside me, so I reached out to pet it and was so surprised to discover its skin was very warm! The beluga surfaced a few times more, so I guess it enjoyed me petting it too!
T.B. Looking at Samuel Hearne's name carved in a rock would have been such a thrill. I have not been to Churchill, (nor have I seen a polar bear nor eaten raw seal's liver). My grandfather and his brother-in-law traveled there in the early 1960s. The company of a friend, Murad Al-katib, AGT Foods and Ingredients Inc. tried to resurrect the railway a few years ago but it simply couldn't pay for itself.
DeleteI spent a year in Inuvik and almost a year in Cambridg Bay working for Here Before Christ (July 1972-March 1974). I loved the north and could have stayed but got lonesome for cows. Also my fiancee said she would put me through Grad School if I came south.