Alexander Mackenzie (explorer)

For other people named Alexander Mackenzie, see Alexander Mackenzie (disambiguation).
Sir Alexander Mackenzie

Alexander Mackenzie painted by Thomas Lawrence (c.1800), courtesy National Gallery of Canada
Born 1764
Stornoway, Lewis, Outer Hebrides, Scotland
Died March 12, 1820 (aged 53–54)
Scotland
Cause of death Bright's Disease
Occupation explorer
Signature

Sir Alexander Mackenzie (or MacKenzie, Scottish Gaelic: Alasdair MacCoinnich, 1764 – March 12, 1820) was a Scottish explorer. He is known for his crossing of Canada to reach the Pacific Ocean in 1793.

Contents

Early life

Mackenzie was born in Stornoway on the isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides, Scotland. Some sources report Mackenzie's birth as being in the year 1764, others 1762; the exact date is unknown. In 1774, his family moved to New York and then to Montreal in 1776 during the American War of Independence. By 1779 he was working for Finley and Gregory, a fur trading Company later administered by Normand Macleod. In 1787 this company merged with the rival North West Company.

Exploration of Northwest Canada

1787 Mackenzie River expedition to the Arctic Ocean

On behalf of the North West Company Mackenzie travelled to Lake Athabasca where, in 1788, he was one of the founders of Fort Chipewyan. He had been sent to replace Peter Pond, a partner in the North West Company. From Pond, he learned that the First Nations people understood that the local rivers flowed to the northwest. Acting on this information, he set out by canoe on the river known to the local Dene First Nations people as the Dehcho, (Mackenzie River) on July 10, 1789 following it to its mouth in the hope of finding the Northwest Passage to the Pacific Ocean. As he ended up reaching the Arctic Ocean on 14 July,[1] [2] it is conjectured that he named the river "Disappointment River" as it did not lead to Cook Inlet in Alaska as he had expected.[3] The river was later renamed the Mackenzie River in his honor.

1792-1793 Peace River expedition to the Pacific Ocean

In 1791, Mackenzie returned to Great Britain to study the new advance in the measurement of longitude. Upon his return in 1792, he set out once again to find a route to the Pacific. Accompanied by native guides, French voyageurs and a dog called "Our Dog", Mackenzie left Fort Fork following the route of the Peace River. He crossed the continental divide and found the upper reaches of the Fraser River but was warned by the local natives that the Fraser Canyon to the south was unnavigable and populated by belligerent tribes.[5] He was instead directed to follow a grease trail by ascending the West Road River, crossing over the Coast Mountains and descending the Bella Coola River to the sea. He followed this advice and reached the Pacific coast on July 20, 1793 at Bella Coola, British Columbia, on North Bentinck Arm, an inlet of the Pacific Ocean. Thus, he completed the first recorded transcontinental crossing of North America north of Mexico. He had unknowingly missed meeting George Vancouver at Bella Coola by 48 days. He had wanted to continue westward out of a desire to encounter the open ocean but was turned back by the hostility of the Heiltsuk nation. At his westernmost point on Dean Channel, (on July 22, 1793), hemmed in by Heiltsuk war canoes, he inscribed "Alex MacKenzie / from Canada / by land / 22d July 1793" on a rock using a reddish paint made of vermilion and bear grease and turned around to return to "Canada".[6]:418 The rock, near the water's edge in Dean Channel, still bears these words which were permanently inscribed later by surveyors. The site is now Sir Alexander Mackenzie Provincial Park and is designated a National Historic Site of Canada.[7]

Later life

In 1801 the journals of his exploratory journeys were published.[8][9] He was knighted for his efforts in the following year and served in the Legislature of Lower Canada from 1804 to 1808. In 1812, he married and returned to Scotland. Mackenzie died in 1820 of Bright's disease, at an age ranging from 53 to 56, (his exact date of birth unknown). He is buried in Avoch, on the Black Isle, Ross and Cromarty.

Legacy

The Alexander Mackenzie rose, (explorer series) developed by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, was named in his honor.[10]

Many others have set out to replicate his famous crossing of Canada by canoe.

References

  1. ^ *Crowsnest Highway Timeline
  2. ^ *Alexander Mackenzie Becomes the First European to Cross the Continent of North America at Its Widest Part
  3. ^ *Biography of Mackenzie, Sir Alexander at the Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online
  4. ^ Alex MacKenzie From Canada by Land 22d July 1793
  5. ^ Journey of Sir Alexander Mackenzie - Bella Coola Grizzly Tours - Mackenzie Heritage Trail, BC
  6. ^ Morton, Arthur S; (Lewis G Thomas) (1973) [1939]. A History of the Canadian West to 1870-71 (2nd ed ed.). Toronto: University of Toronto Press. ISBN 0-8020-4033-0. 
  7. ^ First Crossing of North America. Canadian Register of Historic Places. Retrieved 23 November 2011.
  8. ^ Alexander Mackenzie, [1] Voyages from Montreal Through the Continent of North America to the Frozen and Pacific Oceans in 1789 and 1793 Vol. I (1902 ed.)
  9. ^ Alexander Mackenzie, [2] Voyages from Montreal Through the Continent of North America to the Frozen and Pacific Oceans in 1789 and 1793 Vol. II (1903 ed.)
  10. ^ http://www.canadianrosesociety.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=63&Itemid=55 Alexander Mackenzie rose

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