Alexander Mackenzie (explorer)

Scottish explorer

• Born: c. 1764
• Birthplace: Stornoway, Scotland
• Died: March 12, 1820
• Place of death: Mulnain, near Dunkeld, Scotland

By crossing Canada in 1793, Mackenzie became the first nonindigenous person north of Mexico to reach the Pacific Ocean via an overland route.

Early Life

The third of four children, Alexander Mackenzie was born on a farm on the island of Lewis. His mother, Isabella Maciver Mackenzie, died when he was still young. When a depression struck the island of Lewis, Alexander’s father, Kenneth, took him to New York in 1774. Hardly had they arrived when the early stages of the American Revolution broke out. Kenneth joined the King’s Royal Regiment of New York—he was to die suddenly in 1780—and young Alexander was left in the care of aunts in New York’s Mohawk Valley.

By 1778, Tories were so unpopular in the Mohawk area that Alexander was sent to school in Montreal. There he was attracted by the money and adventure afforded by the fur trade. Since Great Britain had acquired Canada in 1763, opportunities for British nationals abounded. In 1779, still a teenager, Mackenzie entered the employ of the fur-trading firm of Finlay and Gregory, which later became Gregory, MacLeod, and Company.

Life’s Work

Alexander Mackenzie had worked in the Montreal office for five years when Mr. Gregory sent him to the company’s trading post at Detroit. Soon Mr. MacLeod, impressed with young Mackenzie’s capabilities, offered him a partnership on the condition that he go to posts in the Far West in what would become Alberta and Saskatchewan.

Although the area was rich in furs, competition among the fur-trading companies was keen and often violent. Mackenzie was in charge of the company post at Île-à-la-Crosse (Saskatchewan) from 1785 to 1787. In that latter year, Gregory, MacLeod, and Company amalgamated with the larger North West Company. Mackenzie received one share in the enlarged company, which had a total of twenty shares. He was sent to a post on the Athabasca River as second-in-command to Peter Pond, a trapper who had already killed at least two people. Pond was the source of much misinformation. He calculated Lake Athabasca to be 700 miles west of its true location. He explored the region and incorrectly believed that the large river flowing from the Great Slave Lake emptied into the Pacific Ocean. Although Pond returned to the East in 1788, Mackenzie was greatly influenced by him, stating that “the practicality of penetrating across the continent” was the “favorite project of my ambition.” From this ambition resulted two great expeditions.

Acting on instructions from the North West Company, Mackenzie embarked on his first voyage on June 3, 1789, with four other white men and a small party of American Indians. Upon leaving the Great Slave Lake, he entered the river that was to bear his name. When it became apparent that the river was flowing north to the Arctic Sea and not to the Pacific, Mackenzie decided to continue to its mouth, recording in his log that “it would satisfy people’s curiosity, though not their intentions.” The journey down the full length of the Mackenzie River (1,075 miles) was completed in only fourteen days. Seeing the tides and the saltwater, Mackenzie was, contrary to some reports, well aware that he had reached the Arctic Sea or some arm of it. Mackenzie’s expedition started back up the river, which, according to myth, he called River Disappointment. The men returned safely to Fort Chipewyan on Lake Athabasca on September 12, 1789, having explored one of the greatest rivers on Earth. Although his exploration was of no practical use to the North West Company, Mackenzie’s efforts were appreciated; he was awarded another share in the North West Company, giving him a one-tenth interest in the business.

Even before the first expedition was completed, Mackenzie was planning a second, although four years were to pass before he could undertake it. In the interim (in 1791-1792), he went to London to receive instructions on using astronomical apparatus, as the maps he had were useless. Despite the relative lack of equipment, even by the standards of the day, Mackenzie’s observations in plotting his position on the next expedition were remarkably accurate. On October 10, 1792, he left Fort Chipewyan with the intention of spending the winter farther west and assembling a crew. At the junction of the Peace and Smoky Rivers he build Fort Fork (later Peace River, West Alberta). Having assembled a modest-sized crew of nine, including two American Indian interpreters, the expedition departed Fort Fork on May 9, 1793, in canoes, each twenty-five feet long and capable of carrying three thousand pounds.

Mackenzie headed due west up the Peace River. Its headwaters were shallow and exceedingly rocky, making travel difficult. Many members of the expedition urged turning back and abandoning the mission, but Mackenzie would not yield. After crossing the watershed of the Peace River over the Continental Divide to the Frazer River, he was advised by indigenous peoples to take the shorter overland route instead of following the Frazer to its mouth. The overland route was more difficult, however, for the party was required to use a pass at about 6,000 feet (1,800 meters) above sea level. When they descended into the Bella Coola River valley, the explorers met friendly Indians. From a high point at the Indian village, Mackenzie wrote on July 17, “I could perceive the termination of the river, and its discharge into a narrow arm of the sea.” Proceeding farther, they encountered unfriendly Indians whose presence prevented any extensive exploration of the area. Nevertheless, they did canoe into the North Bentinck Arm at the mouth of the Bella Coola. There, on a large rock, Mackenzie wrote, “Alexander Mackenzie, from Canada, by land, the twenty-second of July, one thousand seven hundred and ninety-three.” The following day they began the return trip to Fort Chipewyan, which they reached on August 24, having traveled more than 2,300 miles.

Both expeditions are noted not only for their length but for their speed as well. Mackenzie was a man of considerable physical strength and stamina. Given the difficulties involved, he was also not easily discouraged. He expected the same from others, and they met those expectations. It is noteworthy that the wisdom of his leadership brought both expeditions back safely. At twenty-nine years of age, Mackenzie was the first white person to cross English-speaking North America—but these efforts exacted a heavy price. Mackenzie spent the winter of 1793 at Fort Chipewyan on Lake Athabasca, where he experienced a deep depression and nearly had a nervous breakdown.

The rest of his life was almost an anticlimax. Mackenzie left the West in 1794 and unsuccessfully tried to implement a plan for a unified fur trade that would include the North West Company; its longtime rival, the Hudson’s Bay Company; and the British East India Company. If the plan had been adopted, it would have unified the collecting and marketing of furs in the British Empire.

Mackenzie’s interest in this trade plan was diverted for a time when he was offered a partnership in McTavish, Frobisher, and Company, which controlled a majority of the North West Company stock. Mackenzie and McTavish continually argued about Mackenzie’s plans for the fur trade. When the partnership expired in November of 1799, Mackenzie left for England. There he wrote an account of his travels. His book, popularly known as Voyages, was published in 1801. This work attracted such immediate attention that he was knighted only two months after its publication.

Voyages also outlined Mackenzie’s grand plan for the fur trade. Mackenzie even presented the plan to the British colonial secretary. Returning to Montreal in 1802, Mackenzie tried again to implement his trading plan through his involvement with yet another fur-trading company, but to no avail. Thwarted, Mackenzie briefly entered politics and was elected to the House of Assembly of Lower Canada, serving from 1804 to 1808. He seldom attended sessions and returned to Great Britain several times, making his permanent home there in 1810.

On April 12, 1812, at the age of forty-eight, Sir Alexander Mackenzie married the wealthy fourteen-year-old Geddes Mackenzie (no relation). At their estate at Avoch, Scotland, a daughter and two sons were born. By this time his health began to fail, and he went to Edinburgh for medical attention. On the return trip to Avoch, Mackenzie died suddenly at an inn near Dunkeld, on March 12, 1820.

Significance

In some ways, Sir Alexander Mackenzie’s life could be accounted a failure. He was unable to help the Montreal-based North West Company to outflank its more centrally based rival, the Hudson’s Bay Company, by finding a water route to the Pacific Ocean. When he did reach the Pacific, the route was not practical. His dream of uniting the fur trade under one cooperative venture came to nothing.

In other, more significant, ways, however, Mackenzie was a success. He explored to its full extent one of the greatest rivers on Earth. He crossed North America twelve years before Lewis and Clark. Through his expeditions, and through his book, Voyages, Mackenzie greatly enlarged knowledge of British North America. These explorations greatly strengthened Great Britain’s territorial claims in the area. His efforts not only amassed a personal fortune but also gained for him recognition in the many geographical features named for him, most notably the Mackenzie River and the district of Mackenzie in Canada’s Northwest Territories. They remain monuments to this intrepid explorer.

Bibliography

Daniells, Roy. Alexander Mackenzie and the North West. New York: Barnes and Noble Books, 1969. Although concentrating on his explorations, this book has a chapter treating Mackenzie’s later life and a chapter assessing his achievements. Six maps; illustrated.

Gough, Barry M. First Across the Continent: Sir Alexander Mackenzie. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1997. Biography of Mackenzie, portraying him as a hardheaded businessman who traveled to Canada to garner profits in the fur trade.

Hayes, Derek. First Crossing: Alexander Mackenzie, His Expedition Across North America, and the Opening of the Continent. Vancouver, B.C.: Douglas & McIntyre, 2001. A detailed account of Mackenzie’s expedition, placed within the context of the Canadian fur trade. Contains numerous illustrations, maps, and photographs.

Mackenzie, Alexander. The Journals and Letters of Sir Alexander Mackenzie. Edited by Kaye Lamb. Toronto, Ont.: Macmillan of Canada, 1970. This book is one of a series published for the Hakluyt Society. It includes Mackenzie’s diary for both expeditions and all of his letters. Contains an excellent bibliography.

‗‗‗‗‗‗‗. Voyages from Montreal, on the River St. Laurence, Through the Continent of North America, to the Frozen and Pacific Oceans, in the Years 1789 and 1793: With a Preliminary Account of the Rise, Progress, and Present State of the Fur Trade of That Country. Edited by William Combe. London: T. Cadell, Jr., and W. Davies, 1801. Published in New York and Philadelphia in the same year, this is Mackenzie’s original work. About one-fourth of the book is devoted to a discussion of the fur trade, one-fourth to the first expedition, and one-half to the second expedition.

Sheppe, Walter. First Man West: Alexander Mackenzie’s Journal of His Voyage to the Pacific Coast of Canada in 1793. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1962. This is Mackenzie’s diary with Sheppe’s intermittent explanations. Contains true maps of Mackenzie’s route.

Smith, James K. Alexander Mackenzie, Explorer: The Hero Who Failed. New York: McGraw-Hill Ryerson, 1973. Quotes much primary source material. Appraises Mackenzie, taking into account the social and economic setting. Gives some treatment of his later life. Well illustrated.

Vail, Philip. The Magnificent Adventures of Alexander Mackenzie. New York: Dodd, Mead, 1964. This book reads easily. It discusses Mackenzie’s early life as well as his explorations but devotes only four pages to his life after 1793.