Blue View - Canada’s Greatest Explorer

Alexander Mackenzie was, arguably, Canada’s greatest explorer. In 1789, at the tender age of 25, he set out on the first of two epic journeys through the far northern wilderness in an attempt to find a river route to the Pacific… the fabled Northwest Passage. Such a route would provide a direct trading route to the vast riches of the Orient and eliminate the need for the months long, hazardous voyage around Cape Horn. He successfully found and mapped routes to both the Arctic Ocean and the Pacific, and in so doing, became the first European to cross the North American continent north of Mexico. He not only inspired later explorers like Lewis and Clark, but set off a chain of events that resulted in the Louisiana Purchase.

Early Years

Alexander was born in Scotland in 1764. Because of the violent aftermath of the Jacobite Rebellion, his family moved to New York when he was ten - ironically, just in time for the beginning of the American Revolution. His father and uncle were Loyalists and joined the British army, but sent Alexander and his two sisters out of harm’s way to relatives in Montreal to finish their schooling.

Career

He studied for a year, but at age 15, quit and became a clerk at a small fur-trading company.  Alexander showed a real talent for the business, and, at age 20, was made a partner and put in charge of the trading post at Île-à-la-Crosse. In 1787, his company merged with the much larger North West Company, where he soon rose again to become partner and was sent out on a series of explorations to find new trading routes.

In 1787 he was sent to the furthest outpost on the continent, a trading post on Lake Athabasca. Soon after, he was made head of operations for the area, and led the construction of Fort Chipewyan on the west shore of the lake. He dreamed of finding the storied Northwest Passage, and thought it possible that the largest river flowing from the Great Slave Lake might, indeed, provide a route to the Pacific. The hope was that this river would flow westerly, eventually reaching Prince William Sound, which had just recently been explored and charted by Captain Cook - in what would later become Alaska.

1789 Expedition

On June 3rd of 1789, Alexander set out from Athabasca Lake along the Athabasca River towards Great Slave Lake and, hopefully, onward to the Pacific. With him in the canoe were four voyageurs, and a Denesuline chief named Awgeenab who was their guide and interpreter. (Voyageurs, if you’re not familiar with the term, were the long-haul truckers of the time. They were men who made their living hauling supplies by canoe to all the far flung trading posts throughout Canada, then hauling the furs and pelts back to the Great Lakes. Their strength and endurance is legendary - not only did they have to paddle heavily laden canoes many hours each day, they also had to be able to carry a minimum of 180 pounds of goods several miles at a time over portages. Legend has it that many were able to carry 400-500 pound packs!).

Alexander and his crew made their way to Great Slave Lake, then started downriver along the largest river (later named the Mackenzie in his honor) that flowed out of the lake. The going was difficult as the river was still clogged with ice and totally uncharted.

Unfortunately, it soon became apparent that the river flowed north, not west. Nonetheless , the group continued on to its terminus, averaging an amazing 75 miles a day, and reached the Arctic Ocean, 1500 miles later in just two weeks. Disappointed, the party started the much more difficult, upriver slog back, and returned to Fort Chipewyan on September 12.

Alexander’s determination to find a route to the Pacific was not lessened by his apparent failure. The next year, he traveled back to England, bought a compass, sextant and chronometer for navigation and learned how to use them. He also bought a telescope before returning to Fort Chipewyan.

1793 Expedition

In the summer of 1792, Alexander began planning his second and what would turn out to be his most famous expedition. He sent a party of men 500 miles downstream on the Peace River to build a small stockade, then set out to join them in October. They dug in and spent the long, cold winter in this new outpost, named Fort Fork, waiting for the spring thaw to make the river navigable again.

On May 9, 1793, Alexander left Fort Ford with Alex Mackay as second in command, six voyageurs, two Athabascan interpreters and a hunting dog. From there, they traveled upstream, and the paddling was slow and difficult. When they entered the Peace Canyon in what is now British Columbia, they encountered the first of many rapids and falls requiring portaging. As they continued upstream, the rivers got smaller, and they spent more time hauling their canoes and supplies over land.

Eventually, they crossed the Continental Divide into the Pacific watershed and found the Fraser River. This was a pleasant, easily navigable river… right up to a large waterfall. Fortunately, the local Dakehl people stopped him a mile or two upstream of the hazard and warned him of the danger ahead - otherwise this story might have had a much different ending. When he discussed his intention to travel to the “big stinking lake”, their name for the salty, fish smelling Pacific, they advised him to backtrack upriver and follow an overland trail to another river, then follow it downstream. At this point, the men were down to only 30 days of provisions, and Alexander limited them to just two meals a day - something the voyageurs found “particularly offensive”.

The group paddled five days back upstream to the trail, and, leaving their canoe behind on the Fraser River, began the trek. It turned out to be a 12 day, 177 mile portage, but they finally made it to the Bella Coola River. The local Nuxalt people kindly loaned him canoes, and Alexander and his men reached the Pacific on the 22nd of July, at the present day village of Bella Coola.

All along the route, he tried his best to befriend the First Nations people he met. Most encounters were friendly, but not all were pleasant. When entering a village, he would make a show of laying his musket down and continuing unarmed, although he often had a pair of pistols under his coat. He would give candy to the children and offer trade goods to the men and women.

His reception at Bella Coola was particularly unfriendly. Interestingly, the British naval explorer George Vancouver had sailed into the bay and made contact with the local Heiltsuk people just six weeks prior. The chief told Alexander that the man “Makubah” (probably Vancouver) had struck him with the flat of his sword. Fortunately, Alexander was able to befriend the chief.

The group rested for a few days, reprovisioned and, after leaving a little graffiti, started back. It took them another month to reach Fort Fork. In all, they traveled 2300 miles to the Pacific and back.

This was a tremendous journey, and the North West Company rewarded Alexander with a bonus and additional shares in the company. Still, his route was far too difficult to ever become a viable trade route.

Legacy

He published his journal and notes, Voyages from Montreal to the Frozen and Pacific Oceans, in 1801, and it was an international success. The book not only described the two routes taken, it also included copious notes on the flora, fauna and minerals observed along the way. Two people of note that read the book were Napoleon Bonaparte and Thomas Jefferson.

Napoleon had just acquired the entire Mississippi River valley and Louisiana via a secret treaty with Spain. Quite likely influenced by Alexander’s book, he soon realized what a bountiful acquisition he’d made, and began making plans to send an army to New Orleans to occupy his new territory. Jefferson discovered Napoleon’s plans, and was justifiably upset at the thought of having a French army under the command of the great Napolean Bonaparte as a neighbor. He sent his Secretary of State, James Madison, to France to see whether Napolean would be willing to sell the Louisiana Territory to us. Plan B would be to strike up an alliance with Britain.

Fortunately, for us, the timing was perfect. Napoleon had just suffered a major setback in the West Indies, and was strapped for cash. He readily offered to sell the Louisiana Territory to us for $15 million, an event that became a major turning point in U.S. history. Jefferson, soon after,  sent Lewis and Clark out on their grand expedition of discovery… making sure they had a copy of Alexander Mackenzie’s book with them.

See you next week…