Vale UM.Versity Libra

39002030661475

Cage, Walter N.
Sir Alexander ..ior-in-i: and his j.ifrjence
i-n tl;e history of the Korth 'Vest.
(Queen's ^Juiv. bulletin, no,4S, Juno, 19.i£;/

ILfllBI^^IET

"BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENTS OF HISTORY AND
POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC SCIENCE IN QUEEN'S
UNIVERSITY, KINGSTON, ONTARIO, CANADA. YME UNIVERSITY,
SEP 23 19??
NO. 43, JUNE, 1922 tlBRA^^

SIR ALEXANDER MACKENZIE AND HIS INFLUENCE
ON THE HISTORY OF THE NORTH WEST

BY
WALTER N. SAGE

The Jackson Press, Kingston

BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENTS OF HISTORY AND
POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC SCIENCE IN QUEEN'S
UNIVERSITY, laNGSTON, ONTARIO, CANADA.

No. 1, Tke Colonial Policy >f Chatham, by W. L. Grant
No. 2, Canada and the M(^t Favored Nation Treaties, by
O. D. Skelton.
No. S. The Status of Women in New England and New Franee,
by James Douglas.
No. 4, Sir Charies Bagot: An Incident in Canadian ParUs>
mentary History, by J. L. Morison.
No. 5, Canadian Banlt Inspection, by W. W. Swanson.
No. 6, Should Canadian Cities Adopt Commission Govern
ment, by William Bennett Munro.
No. 7, An Early Canadian Impeachment, by D. A. McArthnr.
No. 8, A Puritan at the Court of Louis XIV, by W. L. Grant
No. 9, British Supremacy and Canadian Autonomy: An Ex
amination of Early Victorian Opinion Concerning
Canadian Self-gOTemment, by J. L. Morison.
No. 10, The Problem of Agricultural Credit in Canada, by
H. MichelL
No. ill, St. Alban in History and Legend: A Critical Examina
tion; The King and His Councillors: Prolegomena to
a History of the flouse of Lords, by L. F. Rushbrook
Williams.
No. 12, Life of the Settler in Western Caimdi^ Before the War
of 1812, by Adam Shortt.
No. 13, The Grange in Canada, by H. MicheiL
No. 14, Thie Financial Power of the Empire, by W. W. Swansoa.
No. 15, Modem British Foreign Policy, by J. L. Morison.
No. 16, Federal Finance, by O. D. Skelton.
No. 17, Craft-Gilds of the Thirteenth Century in Paris, by F.
B. Millett
No. 18, The Co-operative Store in Canada, by H. Michell..
(Continued oa inside back page]

SIR ALEXANDER MACKENZIE^
AND HIS INFLUENCE ON THE HISTORY OF THE
NORTH WEST.

THE first white man to reach the Pacific Ocean overland by
crossing the North American continent north of the '
Spanish possessions was Alexander Mackenzie, a bourgeois
or partner of the Canadian North West Company. On the face
of a rock, on the shores of Bentinck Arm, at Point Menzies
on the British Columbia, cdast, the following simple statement
was inscribed: /
\ 'Alexander Mackenzie, from Canada, by land, the twenty-
second of July, one/thousand seven hundred and ninety-three.'
If Mackenzie nad;accomplished nothing else than this, his
niche . in the Haly of JFame would have been secure. Bulj the
discovery of the/overland route to the Pacific was merely the
crowning achievement of a life of hardship and adventure.
Four years pr/vious, in ^789, Mackenzie -had discovered the'
great river which now bears his name, and had traced it
from its source in the Great Slave Lake, to its outlets in the '
Arctic Oceap. From the time of his admission to a partner
ship in the/fur-trading firm of Gregory, and Macleod in 1785,
until 1794; when he fina;lly left the North Country for good,
Mackenzie travelled many thousands of miles over the canoe
routes ^nd portages between Grand Portage on Lake Superior
and th^ Lake pf the Hills, as Lake Athabasca was then termed.
But Mackenzie, though a partner in the North West Company
\
^BiM.io'graph4cal note. ' \
I The following abbreviations have been used in the preparation of
this! paper, whiph was originally delivered before the History and Social
Science Section of the Washington Educational Association at Belling-
hahi,;Wash., U.S.A.
Voydges for Mackenzie, Alexander. — Voyages from Montreal on the
~ ,f, I River St. Laurence through the Continent of North America to
' the Frozen and Pacific \Oceans in the years 1789 and 1793. —
London: 1801.
Davidson for Davidson; Charles ' Gordon. — The North West Company. —
Berkeley, Cal., 1918.
Masson for Masson, — Les Bourgeois de la Compagnie du Nord-Ouest. — .
Quebec: 1889-90.
Bi-yce for Bryce, George, — Mackenzie, Selkirk, Simpson (Makers of
Canada Series). — Morang, Toronto: 1911.

and later in the so-callpd X Y Company, was, in his early
years, by no means satisfied to remain a mere fur-trader,. He
could not bring himself to settle down to the hum-drum life of
a trading fort. The lure of the vast unknown was upon him,
and on two occasions he set out to explore the huge hinterlands
of North America. On each occasion he reached an Ocean,
and opened up territory hitherto unknown.
When he undertook the first of the voyages Alexander •
Mackenzie was only twenty-six years of age. He reached the
Pacific at the age of thirty. He left the North Country, when
under thirty-two years of age, with his great discoveries made.
After that time the fur-trader triumphed over the explorer,
and the politician ovdr both ; for Mackenzie becan|e the focus-,
sing, point for the opposition to the firrti of M'TaviSh,
' Frobisher and Conjpanyi who were the backbone of the North
West Company. He was, by this time, the greatest figute
next to Simon M'Tavish, 'le Marquis', in the- Canadian fur-
Itrade, but even M'Tavish's reputation was not so well known
ihtfernationally as Mackenzie's.

' Early Days in the Fur Trade.
It will be well here to outline very briehy the earl|- cdreier
of Alexander- Mackenzie — for he did not become Sir Alexander
Mackenzie until 1802, when he was kiiightied on accouiii of
his great achievements.. He was born in 1763 at Storiiaway,
in the Island of Lewis, Scotland, and se^ms to have received
a fair education, although our knowledge of the facts of his
early life is very incomplete. He came to Canada at the age
of sixteen, arriving in the year 177!9. He attached himself to
Mr. John Gregory, a Montreal mei^chaht, with whom he tells
us he remained five years.^
During this period 1779-1784, the Canadian fur-trade was
largely in the hands of a group of traders headed by the firms
of M'Tavish and Coinpany, Todd and McGill, and. Benjamin
and Joseph Frobisher. These traders, representing nine
distinct interests, in 1779 formed an agreement for ohe year,°
''¦'Voyages, p. xix
^Davidson, p. 9.

^nd in 1783-4 the North West Compaiiy was founded. This
Company was 'purely a partnership with transferable shares
and not a chartered company,' ' and its stock was divided into
sixteen equal shares.
It so happened that two of the possible partners in the'
North Wes,t Company, Peter Pond and Peter Pangman, were
not satisfied with the new arrangement and began to try tO'
make other plans. Pond was at length brought back into the
North West Company's fold, but Pangman entered intb suc
cessful negdtiations with Alexander Mackenzie's employers,
Messrs. Gregory and Macleod. A rival concern was launched,
and in it, at the instance of Mr. Gregory, Alexander Mackenzie
became a partner.
Mackenzie proceeded at once tb Grand Portage, on Lake
Superior, situated about i forty miles south-west of Fort Wil
liam, Ontario, in American territory. Grand, Portage was
then the depot of the Western Canadian fur-trade, and there
Mackenzie received his first assignment for the upper country
trade. He was placed in charge of the outfit for English
River — as the Churchill was then termed. For the opponents
of the North West Company were determined to compete with
their rivals throughout the entire fur-hunting teri-itory, even
as far north as Lake Athabasca.
Thus Alexander Mackenzie set off for the Northland in
1786, accompanied by his cousin, Roderick Mackenzie, and the
two cousins started at once to build up a reputatipn as fur-
traders. Alexander Mackenzie went on further into the
interior than did Roderick, but each of them was very suc
cessful. One point of interest to note is how well the
Mackenzies managed to get along with their rivals of the
North West Company. , Unfortunately Mr. Ross, who had
been placed in charge of Athabasca by Mackenzie's concern,
met an iirjitimely death, as a result of an altercation with
Peter Pond, who was representing tl^e North West Company
in that region.^*
The result of Ross's death was the amalgamation of the
two rival concerns in 1787. A new North West Company was
^"This was the second imurder case in which Pond was involved, the
first being that, of Waden, or Wadin, in 1780 or early in 1781, see
'Voyages, p. xvi, 'and Davidson, p. 41. • ,
^Davidson, p. 13.

formed, including the rival company with Alexander
Mackenzie as one of the new partners. Mackenzie was then
sent to Athabasca, where he arrived in the autumn of 17'87.
Peter Pond was still nominally left in charge, but Mackenzie
seems to bave been the real ruler of the district,
II. : : '
The Arctic Voyage, 1789
It was while he was in Athabasca that Mackenzie first
formed his project of attempting to find his Way by river to
the northern ocean. It is more than probable that he expected
to find the long-sought northwest passage. He certainly tells
us in his Voyages, that 'the first voyage has settled
the dubious point of a practicable North West pas
sage ; and I trust it has set that long agitated
question at rest and extinguished the disputes respecting'
it forever.' * This voyage clearly showed there wks no north- '
west passage south of 70° north latitude. Roderick Mackenzie'
tells us that as early as 1788 his cousin had informed him 'ill
confidence that he had determined oh undertaking 'al vbyage of
discovery the ensuing Spring by the ¦water communication
reported to lead f forn Slave Lake to the Northern Ocean.' ^
During the spring of 1789 Mackenzie was preparing for
his first voyage of discovery. Accordingly he sfeht Roderick
Mackenzie to Grand Portage in his place; and got his affairs
in order for the great undertaking.
The start was finally made on the morning of June 3,
1789, from Fort Chipewyan, the new fort on Lake Athabasca,
built by Roderick Mackenzie in 1788. Alexander Mackenzie'^
party consisted of four Canadians, one German, and two,
women, the" wives of two of the Canadiari boatmen, . With
them went several Indians including one kriown as the English ,
chi^f. One of Mackenzie's most trusted henchmen, Le Ro'ux,
accompaiiied the party to Great Slave Lake, and wais comrhis-
sioned to build a, fort on the northern shore of that lake. '^
It is beyond the scope of this paper to fdllow ih detail
the 'dash for the Arctic Sea.' The curioiis inay find it giveh^
in full in Mackenzie's Voyages; and they will be found fasci-
^Preface, p. v.
^Masson, Bourgeois, vol. I, p. 27. ,

rlating reading. Mackenzie was as successful as an author as he
wa,s as an explorer, and his - narrative is wonderfully inter
esting. It begins simply thus: 'June 1789, Wednesday 3.
'We erhbarked at .nine in the morning, at Fort
Chepewyan, on the SOuth side of the Lake of the Hills, in
latitude 58.40 North and longitude 110.30 West from Green
wich, and compasis has sixteen degrees variation East, in a
,cahoe made of birch bark.'' s
' ' The course of the explorers was across Lake Athabasca,
down Slave' River to Great Slave Lake, which was reached on
June 9.' ' This lake was found to be still full of ice and the
mosquitoes were bad. After several days' delay Mackenzie'
crossed the' Lake and on June 25th parted with M. Le Roux
who remained behind to trade with the Indians. Foiir day^
were spent in trying to find the outlet to Great Slave Lake,
and finally, on Monday, June 29th, the party entered the great
river which now bears Mackenzie's name. From then on
Mackenzie's bourse was along the river to the Arctic Sea,
which was reached on July 12th, 1789.
During the voyage to the sea Mackenzie was continually
on the lookout for mburitain ranges, and rivers flowing from
the West. Although in the Voyages he does not tell us defi-
nite.ly, , it may be inferred that he was looking for a river
which would take him to the Pacific, in case the newly found
great river did not do so.* Thus he chronicles the discovery
of the rnouth of Liaird River, which he calls the River of the
Mountain, on July 1st. The next morning the Rocky Moun
tains, were sighted. These mountains 'appeared to be Sprin
kled with -white stones, which glistehed in the sun,
and were called . by tbe Indians manetoe aseniah,
or spirit 'stones.'" Mackenzie suspected that the -white
patches were talc, but as they had disappeared by the returri
journey he concluded that they 'Were only snbw fields which
had rn^lted as tlie season advanced. The mouth of the Great
Bear Lake River, flowing in from the east, was passed on
'Mackenzie, 'Voyages, vol.i, p. 2.
^Mackenzie, Voyages, p. 7. ,
'Dr. G. C. Davidson's discovery of a ne-w map. by 'Mackenzie' in the
Colonial Office proves this. See infra; ' ^Voyages, p. 29.

July 5," and the rapids of the Mackenzie were encountered on
July 6 and 7, but proved to be of little difficulty. Three days
later the party arrived at the head of the delta at the mouth
of the river.
There is little evidence to show that Mackenzie realized
that he had now almost arrived at the Arctic Ocean.. An
observation taken on July 10 showed the latitude of 67°, 47''
which, as Mackenzie naively remarks, 'was farther North
than I expected,' but he puts the blame on the variation of
the compass. Although his provisions were running short,
Mackenzie determined to follow the further course of the
waters which he believed 'emptied themselves into the Hyper
borean Sea.' He encountered difficulties with the Indians at
this point, the guide appearing most unwilling to proceed fur
ther. However, Mackenzie determined to keep on, and, on
July 12, reached the mouth of the middle branch of the
Mackenzie River. An observation gave 69° 1' North latitude,
and it was noticed that the 'lake was quite open to the West
ward,' but very shallow, so shallow that it was impossible to
proceed. Apparently without knowing it, Mackenzie had
arri'\/ed at the Arctic Ocean.
The party remained from July 12 to July 16 exploring
the islands, including Whale Island,' in the vicinity, and the
appearance of the tide was noted on July 15, when it was
observed that the 'water had fiowed' under the baggage.^^ The
next day, apparently owing to lack of provisions, Mackenzie
turned back. He gives no reasons in his journal for so doing,
but merely states: 'We accordingly made for the river and
stemmed the current.'
The return to Fort Chipewyan was comparatively
uneventful. The outstanding bit of information was obtained
on July 26th from a Dog-rib Indian, who told Mackenzie that
'the Hare Indians had informed him that there was a river
on the other side of the mountains to the south'west. This
river was larger than the Mackenzie, and emptied into the
Belhoullay Toe," or White Man's Lake. The next day
Mackenzie got further information about the mysterious river
^"Voyages, p. 39.
"p. 65. i2Davidson, p. 56.

of the West. He met more Indians, One of whom drew him a
map on the sand. Mackenzie thus describes the map:
'This singular map he immediately undertook to delineate,
and accordingly traced out a very long point of land between
the rivers, though without paying the least attention to their
courses, which he represented as running into the great lake
at the extremity of which, as he had been told by Indians of
other nations, there was a BelhoiiWay Couin, or White Man's
Fort. This I took to be Unalascha Fort, and consequently the
river to the west to be Cook's River; and that the body of water
pr sea into which this river discharges itself' at Whale Island,
communicates with Norton Sound.' "
Mackenzie was unable to get this Indian, or any other, to
accompany him across the mountains tp the other river, which
seems to have been, without doubt, either the Yukon or one of
its itributaries, possibly the Porcupine. So the leader had to
abandon his project and resume his journey up the Mackenzie
River. '
. At length, on September 12th, Fort Chipewyan was again
rjpclri, sfler a voyage of discovery lasting one hundred and
two days. Mackenzie had not reached the Pacific, but he had
discovered a mighty river, and arrived at the Northern Ocean.
One of the latest writers on Mackenzie's voyages, Dr. G.
C. Davidson, maintains that it is 'an interesting qUestion
whether Mackenzie realized that he had actually reached this
Northern Ocean.' ^* In fact, Mackenzie calls the body of water
he found there a 'lake,' and seems to suggest that it empties
into the Hyperborean Sea. To be sure, he mentions the tide,
but tides are indicative of inlets and arms of the ocean, as well
as I the ocean itself. Dr. Davidson has discovered a map in the
Colonial Office on which there appears this inscription on the
west side of the river : 'By the Indian Account the Sea is but
a shprt way to the Wpstward.^^ Among the notes 'pinned to
the map' is 'the following:
'Athabasca is 2750 miles to the North and West of
Montreal, the distance from this to the North Sea in Latitude
69i° North, and Longitude about 135° West from Greenwich '
by the Slave Lake and Mackenzie's River is ^ 1540 miles. It
^^'Voyages, p. 85.
i*Davidson, p. 59. i^Davidson,. p. 60.

8
was in the summer of 1789 that I went this Expedition, in the
hopes pf getting into Cook's River. Though I was. disap
pointed in this it proved without doubt that there is not a
north-west passage below this latitude, arid I believe it will
generally be allowed that no passage is practicable in a Higher
Latitude, being eternally covered with ice.' ^'^
'This statement', Dr. Davidson concludes, 'indicates that
Mackenzie supposed that the river which drains Great Slave
Lake emptied into the Pacific 'Ocean.'
' This certainly seems a reasonable explanation,
III.
To the Pacific hy Land; 1792-3.
Three years after the first voyage Alexander Mackenzie
undertook his second attempt to reach the Pacific. These
intervening years had been spent for the most part in pre
paration for the new attempt, although Mackenzie had not
been unmindful of his duties and interest as a fur-trader» In
the spring of 1790 he had left Fort Chipewyan and proceeded
to Grand Portage. There he was rather chagrined to find that
his voyage had excited but little interest, In July of that year
he wrote to Roderick Mackenzie :
'My expedition was hardly spoken of, but that is 'wrhat I
expected.' ^^ What the bourgeois of the North West Company
were chiefly interested in was the reorganization of the^ Com
pany. In the reorganized company of t'wenty shares,
Alexander Mackenzie held two shares, one pf which he bought
f rom /MacBeath for three hundred and fifty pounds, Halifax
currency, 'over and above the stock on hand.' ^^
The winter of 1791-2 was spent by Mackenzie iri England,
gaining the mathematical knowledge and purchasirig technical
equipment necessary for the new venture. During his abs.ence
the astronomer, Turner, sent out by the Hudspn's Bay Coni
pany at the request of the Colonial Office, had 'wintered at Fort
Chipewyan, and found by accurate observation the distance
of Lake Athabasca from the Pacific , to be not fifty leagues as
"Davidson, p. 61.
I'^Masson, Bourgeois, vol. r, p. 35.
i^Masson, Bourgeois, vol. i, p. 39.-

9
Pond had supposed, but rather over three hundl-ed leagues.
So When Alexander Mackenzie returned to Fort Chipewyan
in 1792, probably the late summer or early autumn, though
the .exact date is not recorded, he was well equipped for his
new undertaking, and he possessed a better idea of the
amourtt of territory to be covered. ;
Accordingly, on October 10, 1792, leaving Roderick
Mackenzie in charge of Fort Chipewyan, Alexander Mackenzie
started out for his winter quarters on the Peace River. On
November!, 1792, he reached the wintering place six miles
above the mouth of the Smoky River.^" There the explorer
and his party remained until spring, Mackenzie filling in time,
observing the habits and customs of the Indians, attempting
to get information from them concerning the land beyond the
mountains, and noting all occurrences of importance in his
journal. 'At length, on May 8, 1793, Mackenzie despatched six
canoes laden with provisions, letters, and furs, to Fort Chipe-
'wyan. The next day he and his party embarked in a single
canoe for the new adventure. Mackenzie's companions on this
occasion were afe follows : one Scotchhian, Alex^ander Mackay,
Mackenzie's trusted lieutenant; six French Canadians, two of
'whom, Joseph Landry and Charles Ducette, had accompanied
the chief on his previous voyage, and two Indians as hunters
and inter-preters. There was no guide. Apparently there was
no Indian available who was acquainted with the country
beyorid the mountains,
Mackenzie's path to the Pacific lay along the Peace River.
It was a toilsome journey, but steady progress was 'made. On
May 12 some Indiajis told Mackenzie that he should reach
the Rocky Mountains in ten days' tirne.^" He notices in his
journal for that day that the land on both feides of the river
was 'very much elevated' and 'on the western -side' it presented
'white, steep, and lofty cliffs.' " The same day an old Indian
told Mackenzie of 'another large river beyond, the Rocky
Mountains,' and described to him 'a fork of it between the
mountains.' He directed Mackenzie to take the southern

i^Davidson, p. 63.
^"Voyages, p. 157. ^ip. isg.

10
branch ; 'from thence,' he said, 'there was a carrying place of
about a day's march for a young man to get to the other' river,'
By Sunday, May 19th, 1793, formidable rapids were
encountered, and the party met with some danger. The canoe
was injured, and had to be repaired. It looked for k while
as if the rapids were insurmountable, but in the end British
pluck triumphed, and the party kept on going up stream in
face of obstacles which would have daunted less determined
men. At length the mountains were crossed, and on May 3l
Mackenzie and his fellow-travellers arrived at the forks of
the Peace River, where the Finlay from the N.N.W. and the
' Parsnip from the E.S.E. meet to form the main stream.^^
Mindful of the old Indian's advice, Mackenzie, much against
his will, followed the southern branch. It was well he did so,
for the Finlay would only have taken him to the Pacific by a
much longer route and a portage to the Skeena River, which
would easily have been missed. By this time the party was
exhausted and disheartened, and it needed all Mackenzie's and
Macl^ay's persistence and firmness to keep the voyageurs and
Indians to their task. The crew were for following the Finlay
branch, partly, apparently, because Mackenzie had determined
to follow the other, but they were overruled, and the canoe
proceeded up the Parsnip branch.
In face of great difficulties the explorers went on toiling
up the river. It was desperate work, and we read ori June :
2 that 'the men were so oppressed with fatigue, that it was
necessary that they should encamp at six in the afternoon.' ^^
The usual day began with' sunrise (or even before) and ended
with sunset. For some reason Mackenzie missed the mouth
of the Pack River, which would have taken him to McLeod's
Lake and finally, by Summit Lake, to Giscome Portage, the
natural trail across the height of land which separates the
headwaters of the Peace River from the main stream of the
Fraser. ^*
On June 9, some Indians appeared, who possessed iron
utensils which they had, apparently, procured by intertribal

^Woyages, p. 185. ^Woyages, p. 188.
2*See Davidson, p. 64.

11
trade from the Coast Indians,^^ These Indians told Mackenzie
that 'he cPuld proceed by a series of portages from the head
of the Parsnip River to a small river emptying into a large
one .flowing towards the mid-day sun.' ^^ This latter river, the
Indian, stated, 'did not empty itself into the sea,' " The river
was, of course, the Fraser.
Thtis encouraged, Mackenzie's party proceeded, and on
June 12, 1793, reached a small lake which the explorer took
to be to be the 'highest and Southermost source of the Uni j ah
or Peace River, latitude 54° 24' North, longitude 121° west of
Greenwich.' ^*
After a short portage ariother river, which Simon Fraser
later, named the Bad River, was reached, and on June 17, after
many adventures the explorers launched their canoe in the
main stream of that great river, the Eraser.^" Two days later,
on June 19, the mouth of the Nechaco River was passed,
apparently unnoticed. As the weather was foggy, Mackenzie
can probably be excused for his failure to discover -the most
obvious route to the Pacific via the Nechaco River, Fraser
Lake and Burns Lake to the Bulkeley and Skeena Rivers (i.e.,
following the line of the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway from
Fort ^George to the mouth of the Skeena).
On June 21, some new information was obtained from a
band of Carrier Indians who, at first, seemed extremely
hostile, but were soon pacified by the present of some beads,
looking glasses, 'and other- alluring trinkets.' '° The Indians'
, account of the Fraser was sufficiently terrible to cause even
Mackenzie some alarm.
'According to their account,' he states, ^^ 'this river, whose
course is very ^extensive, runs towards the mid-day sun ; and
that at its mouth, as they had been informed, white men were
building houses. They represented its current to be uniforrnly
strorlg, and that in three places it was altogether impassable
from the falls and rapids, which poured along between per-.
pendicular rocks that were much higher, and more rugjged.

"Voyages, pp. 198-201.
^'Davidson, p. 65, based on Voyages, pp. 203-4.
"Voyages, p. 204. ^^'Voyages, p. 216.
^^Voyages, p. 228. ' ^"'Voyages, p. 244. ^^'Voyages, p. 245.

12
than any we had yet seen, and would not admit of any passage
over thera.'
Fortunately for Mackenzie the Indians were able to inform
him that there was another route to the sea, much more direct
and less difficult, Mackenzie was naturally loath to abandon his
progress down the great river, which he later, on August 16 on
his return, called by the Indian name the Tacoutche Tes^e and
falsely identified with the Columbia River. . But the season
was advancing, and supplies were short,''^ Above all Mackenzie
knew that he had tp recross the mountains and brave once more
the known dangers of the Peace River before the fall of
winter. It was a long way back to Fort Chipewyan on Lake
Athabasca, . , , . ;
Accordingly, on June 23, the bow of the much-battered
canoe was turned up-stream, and on July 3 the party arrived
at the mouth of a river running in from the west. This river,
now known as the Blackwater, was termed, by Mackenzie the
West Road River. Along it the canoe made its way ,for a
short distance, when it was decided to abandon the water
route and proceed by foot overland.^^ This was accordingly
done, and a long march began which ended on July 17, '\yhen
the upper waters of the Bella Coola River were, reached. , The
next day, July 18, two canoes were obtained from the Indians,
and the party began the last lap of the long journey to the
Pacific. , ,
On the 19th Mackenzie visited the great chief of the Bella
Coola region, further progress having for the moment been
stopped by the curiosity of the natives. The chief was laid up
with a pain in his chest, which Mackenzie promptly relieved
by giving him a few drops of Turlington's Balsam on a piece
of sugar. The, chief was much gratified and later presented
Mackenzie with a roasted salmon. He showed the ex;p,lorer
his treasures, 'a garment of blue cloth, decorated with brass
buttons, and another of a flowered cottpn,',^^ whiqh Mackenzie
took to be Spanish. There was also any amount of copper and
brass and iron in the possession of the chief and his warriors.
Mackenzie thus describes their treasures : "^
^^He had no more than 30 days' provisions remaining, and only, 150
rounds of ball ammunition and 30 pounds of powder; ibid., pp. 255-6.
mbid., p. 284, July 4. ,
3*p. 333. 35pp. 333.4. » ,

¦ 13
'Copper a,rid| brass are in great estimation among them,
and of the former they ha've great plenty,; they point their
arrows and spears with it, and wprk it up into personal orna
ments, such as collars, ear-rings, and bracelets, which they
wear.pn their wrists, arms and legs. I presume that they find
it the mPst advantageous article to trade with the more inland
tribes. They also abound in iron. I saw some of their twisted
collars of that metal which weighed upwards of twelve pounds.
It is generally beat in hars of fourteen iiiches in length, arid
one incli three quarters wide; The brass is in thin squares.
Their copper is iii larger pieces and some of it appeared to
be old stills cut up. They have various trinkets, but their iron
is manufactured only into poniards and daggers. Some of
"the former have very npat handles, with a silver coin of a
quarter or eighth of a dollar fixed on the end of them. The
blades of the latter, are from ten to twelve inches in length,
and about four inches broad at the top, from which they
gradually lessen* into a' point.'
After this visit to the chief Mackenzie and his party
resumed their voyage, and finally, on July 21, t^iey reached
Bentinck Arm and Point Menzies, and there, on July 22,
Mackenzie recorded on the South East face of the rock on
which the party h^d slept the night,^^ surrounded by none too
, friendly. Indians, the brief inscription already quoted." The
long journey was over.. The Pacific had been reached over
land from, Canada.
The return journeS?^ began at once on July 23, and on
August 4 the Fraser River 'wap again reached. Thirteen days
later, August 17, the party was again on the waters of the
Parsnip, and on the main stream of the Peace by August 19.
Finally, on August 24, Mackenzie and his fellow-voyagers
were back, at the Fort where they had spent the 'vvinter, and
from which they had started the 9th of May.
Mackenzie concludes the narrative of his Voyages thus
sirnply: ^f , ' „ -,,;,.: t ¦
' . , , dere my voyages of discovery terminate., ; Their
toils and jtheir dangers, their solicitudes and sufferings, have
^^This encampment Mackenzie named 'Porcupine Cove.'
^^ Supra, p. 411. ssp. 397.

14
not been exaggerated in my description. On the contrary, in
many instances, language has failed me in the attempt to
describe them, I received, however, the rewaij-d of my labours,
for they were crowned with success.
'As I have now resumed the character of a trader, I shall
not trouble my readers with any subsequent concern, but
content myself with the closing information that, after an
abseiiee of eleven months, I arrived at Fort Chipewyan, where
I remained for the purposes of trade, during the succeeding
winter.' Thus simply ends the account of one of the greatest
vpyages of discovery ever made. IV.
Later Days and Death.
Mackenzie, the fur-trader, now again takes the place of
Mackenzie, the explorer, and little remains to be told. In the
spring of 1794, Mackenzie left Fort Chipewyan for Grand
Portage, and never agiin returned to the North Country.'
At Grand Portage Mackenzie found that the affairs of
the North West Company were very unsettled. Some of' the
Montreal traders headed by Forsyth, Richardson and Com^
pany, were ready to break away from the parent company and
to form a new North West Company. This was done in
1795-6, and the so-called X Y Company was established.
Alexander Mackenzie, although on bad terms with Sirnon
M'Tavish of M'Tavish, Frobisher and Company, I'emained
with the old Company until 1799, when the engagement
between Mackenzie and the Company expired and was hot
renewed.^" In that year Mackenzie retired to England, where his
Voyages appeared in 1801. He was knighted in 1802, and in
the same year he brought forward a scheme for forming civil
and military establishments at Nootka, also on the Columbia
River and at Sea Otter Harbour, in 55° North latitude. These
schemes came to nought, and Mackenzie returned tb Canada
in 1802 to place himself a't the head of the opposition to the
^''Masson, Bourgeois, vol. i, p. 48.

15
North West Company, The new North West Cpmpany, kno'wn'
as 'Sir Alexander Mackenzie and Company' or the 'X Y Com
pany', was fighting for life against M'Tavish's old North
West Company. Bitter rivalry between the two companies
continued until M'Tavish's death in 1804, when a reurrion took
plaCe. Of the one hundred shares in the reunited company,
twenty-five, or one-quarter, were assigned to the X. Y,
Company. '
In 1808 Sir Alexander Mackenzie left Canada for good,
and returned to Scotland. Four or five years later *" he mar
ried a namesake of his, Miss Geddes Mackenzie. Lady
Mackenzie was the owner, in her own right, of the property
of Avoch and this property she made over to her husband.
Mackenzie's death occurred very suddenly in 1820, at the
early age of fifty-seven. He was taken ill 'when travelling
from London to Perthshire,, and died at Mulnain in that county
on March 12, 1820. , V,
General Estimate of Mackenzie. His influence on North
• ' ' West History. , >
Mackenzie had done great things for l^orth West
America, His journeys had led him to two oceans, and he had
demonstrated beyond all shadow of doubt, that there was no
North West Passage south of 70° North Latitude. He had
proved that the mythical Strait of Anian, which was supposed
to connect the Pacific Ocean and Hudson's, Bay, had no possible
existence. He had opened up Territories hitherto unknown,.
and had discovered two mighty rivers — the Mackenzie and the
Eraser, and had traced the former to its outlet in the Frozen
Ocean, "
But all this he did as a fur trader,, and not as an official
bf the British Crown, It is noteworthy that he never took
possession of the Territories he discovered in the name of His
Majesty, King George III, He possessed no Royal Warrant
for that purpose, although his unsuccessful attempt in 1802
to interest the British people in his scheme for forming civil
^"1813; so Masson; 1812 according to Bryce, p. 101.

16
and military establishments on the Columbia River at Noot.ka,
seems to show that he was alive to the necessity of establishing
British rights of sovereignty on the North West Coast.
Mackenzie's exploration, and the publication of the
Voyages in 1801, aroused much interest concerning North
West America. We are told by Bryce" that Napoleon had a
copy of the Voyages smuggled into France, and translated for
the perusal of Marshal Bernadotte. The Corsican was at this
time dreaming of a great American Empire, and he was
planning to entrust to '^Bernadotte the task of establishing the
Tricolour in North West America and of attacking Canada
from the rear. Fortunately for North America these scTipmes
came to nought, but Bernadotte years after confessed that he
could, for a time, almost fancy himself 'Taking your Canada
en revers from the upper waters.' "'^ Nor was Bernadottia
alone influenced by the narrative. Lord Selkirk also has left
on record his debt to Mackenzie's Voyages. It was frorri this
book that the founder of the Red River Settlement admitted
th^t he, first obtained information concerning Rupert's Land.
But above all, the exploration of Sir Alexander Mackenzie
prepared the way for the journeys of Simon Fraser and David
Thompson, both employees of the North West Company,
Fraser in 1805 founded the first fort west of the. Rocky
Mountains, and in 1806 explored the head'vyater^ of the, Par
snip River, crossed the height of land to the Bad River, arid
reached the North. Fork of the Great River, wh,ich he,, like
Mackenzie, took to, be the Cplumbia, but really is the Fraser.
This he. followed to the junction of the Nechako River, where
one year later he founded Fort George. Thence he proceted,eid
up the Nechaco and Stuart Rivers ;and Stuart Lake. As far as
the junction of the Nechaco and the Fraser Rivers, Simon
Fraser 'was follp'wing Mackenzie's course and' he ¦ took
almost malicious pleasure in pointing out errors in. Sir
Alexander's narrative. Fraser discovered the South, Fprk^o:?
the Fraser River on their journey, and prided himself riot a
little that Mackenzie had missed it. In his. jpurrial he re-
cprded his feelings as, follows: 'This, river is not mentipned;
by Sir A. M. K. which surprises me not a little, it being full
*iBryce, pp. 94-7. *Hbid., p. 97.

17 :
in sight and; a fine large river, and in the state' we saw it, equal
in size, to that of the Athabasca River, and forms what. Mr.
McDougall in his journal of last Spring calls the Great Fork.
It flows in from the right, and as far as I can judge, about
10 or 12 miles above the first- Portage. ;Sir A. M. K. appears
to have been very inaccurate in the courses, or there, must have
been a vast difference in the compass he made use of, and the
one we had, which is old and perhaps npt very good.' *^_ .
Two years .later in 1808 Fraser made his celebrated
descent of the Great River and ascertained that it was not
the Columbia. How he managed to brave the dangers of the
caiions of the Fraser will always remain a source of wonder
to subsequent generations. In his journal he describes how
he and his party took their lives in their hands and shot the
Great Caiion in their canoes. At length the: calmer waters
of the lower Fraser were reached, and on July 2, 1808, the
party reached the site of the present city of New West
minster. A few hours later Simon Fraser came in sight of a
gulf or bay of the sea which the Indians called Pas-hil-roe,
and which has been identified as the Gulf of Georgia. At that
point hostile Indians were encountered and the exploring
party turned back. Fraser was deeply disappointed that he
did not see the Main Ocean, but he had explored a rriighty
river and traced its course to its mouth.
David Thompson, a fellow-employed of the North West
Cpmpany, was at this time tracing the course of the Colunibia
River and its Tributaries. In 1807, the year before Eraser's'
descent of the Great River, Thompson had built 'Kootanae
Hause' on the upper waters of the Columbia. During the next
two years he explored the Kootenay River and established
posts on the Flathead and Pend d' Oreille Lakes. In 1811 he
endeavoured to forestall the Astorians in their attempt to
found a trading post at the mouth of the Columbia River, but
failed. He arrived at Astoria on July 15, 1811, only to find
the Pacific Conjipany in possession.
But in the meantime the North West Company had not
been idle in the territories through which Sir Alexander
Mackenzie had blazed the way in 1793, Forts had been
*3Quoted by Howay and Scholefield, British Columbia, vol. i, pp. 247-^.

18
founded at McLeod Lake in 1805, Fort St. James on Stuart
Lake in 1806, Fort Fraser, 1806, and Fort George, 1807,
Mackenzie's Company was well established in this Northern
region to which the name of New Caledonia was given.
These forts formed the bases of a profitable trade with the
Indians, and showed that the explorations of Sir Alexander
Mackenzie had opened up a new world beyond the Rockies to
Canadian fur-traders, ' Walter N, Sage,

No. 19, TKe Chronicles of Thomas Sprott, by Walter Sage.
No. 20, The Country Elevator in the Canadian West, by W. C.
Clark.
No. 21, The Ontario Grammar S<:hooIs, by W. E. Macpherson.
No. 22, The Royal Disallowance in Massachusetts, by A. 6.
Dorland.
No. 23, The Language Issue in Canada; Notes on the Language
Issue Abroad, by O. D. Skelton.
No. 24, The Neutralization of States, by F. W. Bautogartner.
No. 25, The NeutraUzation of States, by F. W. Baumgartner.
No. 26, Profit-Sharing and Producers' Cooperation in Canada,
by H. MichelL
No. 27, Should Maximum Prices be Fixed? by W. C. Oark.
No. 28, Sir George Arthur and His Administration of Upper
Canada, by /\Vklter Sage.
No. 29, Canadian Federal Finance— II, by O. D. Skelton.
No. 30, English Courtesy Literature Before 1557, by Fred. B.
Millett.
No. 31, Economics, Prices and the War, by W. A. Mackintosh.
No. 32, The fEmployment Service of Canada, by Bryce M.
Stewart.
No. iv^, Allenby's First Attempt on Jerusalem: A Chapter in
4 iSgottish Military History, by J. L. Morison.
No. 34, John Morley: a Study in Victorianism, by J. L. Mori
son.
No. 35, Elizabethan Society— A Sketch, by J. B. Black.
No. 36, The Condensed Milk and Milk Powder Industries, by
F. W. Baumgartner.
No. 37, Nationality and Common Sense, by J. L. Morison.
No^. 38, Kapuskasing— An Historical Sketch, by Watson
Eirkconnell.
No. 39, Palestine in Transition from War to Peace, by A. E.
Prince.
N«. 40, Business Cycles and the Depression of 1920-21, by W.
, .. C. Clark.
i^o^ 41, Captain John Deserontyou and the Mohawk Settle
ment at Deseronto, by M. Eleanor Herrington.
No. 42, First Days of British Rule in Canada, by William
Smith. -
No. '0r, Sir Alexander Mackenzie and His Influence on the
¦ ' History of ithe North West, by Walter N. Sage.

YALE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY

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