The Canadians: Alexander Mackenzie

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(♪) IT SEEMS SCARCELY CREDIBLE, HERE ON CANADA'S PACIFIC COAST, IN THIS CITY OF SKYSCRAPERS AND MORE THAN FOUR MILLION PEOPLE, THAT UNTIL JUST OVER 200 YEARS AGO, NO EUROPEAN HAD CROSSED THE NORTH AMERICAN CONTINENT. EVERYTHING WEST OF MONTREAL HAD BEEN INHABITED FOR 30,000 YEARS BY THE NATIVE PEOPLE, WHO BELIEVED THE LAND AND EVERYTHING ON IT BELONGED TO THE GREAT SPIRIT. (♪) THE FIRST EUROPEAN TO REACH THE PACIFIC OVERLAND WAS A YOUNG SCOTTISH FUR TRADER, ALEXANDER MACKENZIE. AS THE FUR TRADE EXPANDED ITS OPERATIONS IN SEARCH OF THE NEW AND UNTAPPED AREAS IN THE NATIVE TRIBAL LANDS OF THE NORTH WEST, ALEXANDER MACKENZIE FOUND HIMSELF IDEALLY PLACED TO SEARCH FOR AN OVERLAND ROUTE TO THE PACIFIC. HE WAS TO MAKE TWO EPIC JOURNEYS IN PURSUIT OF THAT GOAL - JOURNEYS WHICH BROUGHT HIM FAME AND FORTUNE AND PLAYED AN ENORMOUS PART IN THE CREATION OF CANADA. THIS IS HIS STORY. (♪) "I HAD TO ENCOUNTER PERILS BY LAND AND PERILS BY WATER; TO WATCH THE SAVAGE WHO WAS OUR GUIDE OR TO GUARD AGAINST THOSE OF HIS TRIBE WHO MIGHT MEDITATE OUR DESTRUCTION. I HAD ALSO THE PASSIONS AND FEARS OF OTHERS TO CONTROL AND SUBDUE. TODAY I HAD TO ASSUAGE THE RISING DISCONTENTS, AND ON THE MORROW TO CHEER THE FAINTING SPIRITS, OF THE PEOPLE WHO ACCOMPANIED ME." I THINK BACK THEN IF OUR PEOPLE MIGHT HAVE SEEN INTO THE FUTURE AND TO REALLY SEE AND WHAT TYPE OF IMPACT MEETING MACKENZIE AND HELPING HIM OUT - I THINK THAT OUR PEOPLE PROBABLY WOULD HAVE THOUGHT TWICE AND IF THEY WOULD HAVE SEEN ALL OF THE OPPRESSION AND DESTRUCTION AS A RESULT OF IT I THINK THAT THEY PROBABLY WOULD HAVE TOOK HIM AS AN ENEMY AND THEY PROBABLY SHOULD HAVE KILLED HIM AND THEN WE PROBABLY WOULDN'T HAVE ALL THE PROBLEMS THAT WE HAVE TODAY. ALEXANDER MACKENZIE WAS BORN ON LEWIS IN THE SCOTTISH WESTERN ISLES IN 1762. AT THIS TIME THE MACKENZIE CLAN OWNED THE ISLAND, AND ALEXANDER WAS BORN INTO THE FAMILY OF THE CLAN CHIEFTAIN - LORD SEAFORTH. AT THE TIME WHEN ALEXANDER MACKENZIE WAS A BOY IN LEWIS THIS WAS A VERY CRUCIALLY IMPORTANT TIME FOR THE HIGHLANDS IN GENERAL. THERE HAD BEEN MASSIVE UPHEAVALS AND DESTRUCTION OF GAELIC SOCIETY CULMINATING IN CULLODEN. ALEXANDER MACKENZIES FATHER KENNETH HAD FOUGHT ON THE GOVERNMENT SIDE AT THE BATTLE OF CULLODEN ON THAT BITTER APRIL DAY IN 1746. LOYAL TO THE CROWN, THE MACKENZIES HAD PLAYED A PART IN THE BRUTAL CRUSHING OF THE HIGHLAND REBELLION AND THE ETHNIC CLEANSING WHICH FOLLOWED, BRINGING TO AN END A THOUSAND YEAR EPOCH OF GAELIC LIFE IN SCOTLAND. THE BOY MACKENZIE LIVING IN STORNOWAY WOULD HAVE BEEN AMONG THE ELITE, IF YOU LIKE THEY WOULD HAVE HAD WHAT AMOUNTED TO A PRIVATE EDUCATION OF THE DAY. HE WOULD HAVE HAD ACCESS TO ALL THE RESOURCES THAT HIS FAMILY AND THE MACKENZIES HAD. THESE LANDS WERE NO LONGER CLAN PROPERTY, TO BE SHARED. THE MACKENZIES WERE THE NEW MEN OF THE TIME. THEY KNEW THE ENTREPRENEURIAL QUALITIES THAT WERE DEMANDED IF THEY WERE TO PROSPER AND FLOURISH. EVEN CLOSE RELATIVES WOULD HAVE TO MAKE THEIR OWN WAY. IN 1774, AS ECONOMIC CONDITIONS ON THE ISLANDS WORSENED MACKENZIE'S FATHER SAILED FOR NEW YORK, ACCOMPANIED BY HIS 12 YEAR OLD SON. HIS WIFE ISABELLA'S FAMILY HAD MERCANTILE CONNECTIONS IN AMERICA BUT BEFORE THEY LEFT SCOTLAND, ISABELLA, ALEXANDER'S MOTHER DIED. (♪) HE'S LEAVING A COUNTRY THAT'S IN DISARRAY ECONOMICALLY BUT HE GOES TO A NEW WORLD WHICH IS ALSO INCREASINGLY IN DISARRAY BECAUSE HE ARRIVES IN NEW YORK OR PHILADELPHIA JUST AT THE TIME WHEN THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION IS BREAKING. SO HE GOES FROM ONE PROBLEM TO ANOTHER. WITHIN THE YEAR, THE AMERICAN COLONIES HAD BEGUN THEIR STRUGGLE FOR INDEPENDENCE. MACKENZIE'S FATHER ENLISTED ON THE BRITISH SIDE. FOR HIS SAFETY ALEXANDER WAS TAKEN TO MONTREAL TO COMPLETE HIS SCHOOLING. MONTREAL WAS ALREADY THE CENTRE OF THE NORTH AMERICAN FUR TRADE. AT THE AGE OF 15 ALEXANDER STARTED TO WORK AS A CLERK IN THE COUNTING-HOUSE OF A SMALL SCOTTISH-OWNED FUR-TRADING COMPANY, GREGORY AND MACLEOD. HERE MACKENZIE LEARNED THE COMMERCIAL REALITIES OF THE TRADE. HIS LINK WITH THE FAR NORTH-WEST HAD BEGUN. WHAT YOU HAD HAPPENING WAS A REMARKABLE INTERNATIONAL TRADE ROUTE, YOU HAVE SHIPS COMING FROM EUROPE IN THE SEASON WHEN THEY CAN NAVIGATE, BRINGING TRADE GOODS FROM EUROPE UNLOADING THEM IN MONTREAL WHERE THEY'RE BROKEN UP AND DISTRIBUTED INTO THE BOATS THAT CAN GO FURTHER UP STREAM WITH INDIAN PEOPLE THAT WERE TRADING EVEN FURTHER INTO THE INTERIOR. BRINGING THE FURS BACK DOWNSTREAM, USUALLY THE Y BY THE FRENCH WHO HAD PENETRATED THE LABYRINTH OF WATERWAYS WEST OF THEIR CAPITAL MONTREAL IN SEARCH OF THE FURS THAT PROMISED SUCH GREAT WEALTH. BY 1760 THE FRENCH HAD EXPLORED AND DEVELOPED A HUGE AREA. THEY HAD FOLLOWED THE OTTAWA RIVER UP TO AND BEYOND THE GREAT LAKES. (Shawn Patterson) THESE MEN ARE FORGING THE VERY EARLY ROUTES, THEY'RE THE MEN MAKING FIRST CONTACT WITH THE INDIANS, THEY'RE THE MEN ESTABLISHING THE PORTAGE ROUTES, AH, AND YOU KNOW ESTABLISHING THE MAPS THAT MACKENZIE WOULD LATER FOLLOW, THE ROUTES THAT WOULD BE IN PLACE, SO FOR ABOUT THE FIRST TWO THIRDS OF MACKENZIE'S VOYAGES TO BOTH THE ARCTIC AND PACIFIC OCEAN, HE IS FOLLOWING A VERY WELL ESTABLISHED ROUTE. (Dave Brown) THE VOYAGEURS WERE THE WORKING CLASS THEY WERE CERTAINLY A PROUD BUNCH OF MEN, BUT THEY HAD DEFINITELY A ROUGH LIFE YOU KNOW, PADDLING THE CANOE FOR 12 OR 16 HOURS A DAY, AND HOPEFULLY SURVIVE TILL SPRING TO PADDLE THE CANOE AGAIN. SO THEIR OFF-TIME WAS SPENT FISHING, COLLECTING FIREWOOD AND GETTING THROUGH THE WINTER. YOU KNOW THEY DID RELAX, MEN WERE PAID MORE IF THEY KNEW A MUSICAL INSTRUMENT, SO IF THEY BROUGHT A FIDDLE THEY WERE ACTUALLY PAID EXTRA BECAUSE OF THAT ENTERTAINMENT VALUE THROUGHOUT THE WINTER. (♪) MACKENZIE LEARNED HOW THE FUR TRADERS SURVIVED IN THE WILDERNESS, ADOPTING AND RELYING ON NATIVE METHODS, NATIVE TECHNOLOGY, NATIVE INTELLIGENCE. THE KEY TECHNOLOGY WAS THE BIRCHBARK CANOE. THE BARK CANOE EVOLVED PROBABLY 3000 YEARS AGO AND WHEN THE EUROPEANS SHOWED UP ON THE CONTINENT IT WAS SUCH A DURABLE CRAFT SO WELL BUILT THERE WAS REALLY NOTHING WE COULD DO TO IMPROVE UPON IT, OTHER THAN GIVE THE NATIVES BETTER TOOLS. (Shawn Patterson) IF YOU TAKE A MAP AND YOU WERE TO THROW TWO DARTS ANYWHERE ON THE MAP OF CANADA YOU COULD PUT A CANOE IN AT ONE PLACE AND PADDLE TO THE OTHER AND YOU WOULD NEVER EVER HAVE TO CARRY THAT CANOE MORE THAN 13 MILES, THAT'S THE LONGEST PORTAGE ACROSS THE COUNTRY. SO THAT MEANS YOU CAN NAVIGATE FROM THE EAST COAST FROM YOUR MONTREAL SHIPYARDS WHERE ALL THE GOODS ARE ARRIVING, YOU CAN TAKE THOSE GOODS ALL THE WAY UP TO GREAT SLAVE LAKE, ALL THE WAY THROUGH THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS TO THE PACIFIC OCEAN AND YOU NEVER EVER HAVE TO WALK MORE THAN 13 MILES. THAT'S EXTRAORDINARY. WHAT DID THE NATIVE CANADIANS RECEIVE IN RETURN FOR THE FURS WHICH THE EUROPEANS MARKETS PRIZED SO HIGHLY? (Shawn) 70, 80 PER CENT OF OUR TRADE IN THE INTERIOR IN THE EARLY FUR TRADE IS TEXTILES, IT'S CLOTH, BE IT WOOL FROM THE WHITNEY MILLS IN OXFORDSHIRE, BE IT INDIAN COTTON, CANTONESE SILK, THESE ARE ALL THINGS THAT NATIVE PEOPLE ARE QUITE INTERESTED IN. (shot fired) GUNS AND AMMUNITION WERE PARTICULARLY PRIZED. THIS IS THE KIND OF FIREARM THAT ALEXANDER MACKENZIE AND HIS TROOP WOULD HAVE CARRIED ACROSS CANADA, AND IT'S A MUSKET FROM BRITAIN, AND IT'S CALLED A BROWN BESS. THIS PARTICULAR KIND OF FIREARM WAS A USEFUL FIREARM FOR HIM TO HAVE CARRIED ACROSS CANADA BECAUSE IT'S ABLE TO SHOOT A VERY LARGE BALL, CAPABLE OF STOPPING ANYTHING IN NORTH AMERICA - SO HE COULD HAVE TAKEN ALL KINDS OF GAME WITH THIS GUN, AND PROVIDED MEAT FOR HIS TROOP. THE BROWN BESS MUSKET AND ANY FIREARM WOULD HAVE MADE A GREAT DIFFERENCE IN THE LIVES OF THE PEOPLE THAT HE CAME ACROSS AS HE WENT ACROSS CANADA, THE NATIVE PEOPLE WERE QUICK TO SEE THAT THIS KIND OF FIREARM WAS A USEFUL WAY TO TAKE GAME AND SLOWLY ABANDONED THEIR BOWS AND ARROWS AND LANCES AND TRADED FOR THESE FIREARMS. THERE ARE POPULAR MISCONCEPTIONS ABOUT HOW MANY BEAVER IT WOULD TAKE TO BUY A MUSKET. SOME PEOPLE SAY THAT YOU WOULD STAND THE MUSKET ON ITS BUTT AND PILE BEAVER FURS UNTIL IT REACHED THE MUZZLE, BUT THAT'S A POPULAR MISCONCEPTION. THEY WERE VALUED ACCORDING TO THE WAY BEAVER SKINS WERE VALUED AND THEY WERE TRADED FAIRLY. (shot fired) BY 1784, NOW AGED 20, MACKENZIE KNEW ENOUGH OF THE BUSINESS TO MAKE HIS OWN FIRST TRADING TRIP. (♪) UNDER THE TREATY OF 1783 WHICH ENDED THE AMERICAN WAR OF INDEPENDENCE THE FUR-TRADING AREA SOUTH OF THE GREAT LAKES WAS CEDED BY BRITAIN TO THE NEWLY INDEPENDENT UNITED STATES. SO CONTINUED COMMERCIAL SUCCESS DEPENDED ON A SHIFT TO EXPLORATION AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE UNEXPLOITED NATIVE TERRITORY TO THE NORTH WEST. HIS COMPANY MOVED FAST, AND MACKENZIE SOON RECEIVED ASTOUNDING NEWS. THEY HAD MADE HIM A FULL PARTNER ON CONDITION THAT HE WOULD "PROCEED TO INDIAN TERRITORY THE FOLLOWING SPRING". IT WAS HIS FIRST REAL BREAK. HE WAS SO VERY FORTUNATE TO BE AROUND AT A TIME JUST WHEN THE NORTH WEST TERRITORY WAS TO BE OPENED OUT. AS WE KNOW THE FRENCH HAD OPENED OUT A GOOD DEAL OF THE LAND AND THE WATERWAYS, BUT IT WAS THE SCOTS THAT WERE THERE AT THE EARLY STAGES OF OPENING OUT THE NEW RANGE TO THE NORTH WEST AND HE WAS THERE AS PART OF A VAST SCOTTISH CONTINGENT. MACKENZIE CAME UP AND WANTED TO TRADE GOODS. OUR PEOPLE CERTAINLY HAD AN ABUNDANCE OF FUR, AND FOOD, AND FISH, AND BIRDS, AND GAME, AND THINGS LIKE THAT, AND I THINK IN TERMS OF THE TRADE ASPECT OF THE FIRST CONTACT, AND GETTING ALONG WITH EACH OTHER THERE WERE A LOT OF GOOD BENEFITS BECAUSE OUR PEOPLE HAD LIVED A VERY HARSH LIFE, A VERY HARD LIFE. THE FUR TRADERS DEPENDED ON THEIR NATIVE INTERPRETERS AND GUIDES TO AND DECIDE WHICH ROUTE TO FOLLOW. ONE OF THE MOST USEFUL SKILLS THAT MACKENZIE HAD WAS THE ABILITY TO EMPATHIZE WITH ORDINARY PEOPLE BE THEY GAELS IN LEWIS OR THE INDIANS THAT HE CAME ACROSS AND HAD TO WORK WITH. HE KNEW THEY CARRIED A CULTURE OF THEIR OWN. HE KNEW THAT THEY WOULD CARRY THE MEMORIES OF PLACE AND OF HISTORY, SO HE DIDN'T SPURN THE KNOWLEDGE HE WAS SEEKING IT ALL THE TIME. IN THE 1780'S THE FUR TRADERS' NAVIGATIONAL SKILLS WERE COMPARATIVELY CRUDE. TO DETERMINE LATITUDE - HOW FAR NORTH OR SOUTH HE WAS, WAS STRAIGHTFORWARD. MACKENZIE USED A SEXTANT TO TAKE SIGHTINGS OF THE SUN'S POSITION AT NOON, BUT HE HAD, AS YET, NOT LEARNED ANY RELIABLE MEANS OF DETERMINING LONGITUDE - HOW FAR EAST OR WEST HE WAS. THAT WAS TO HAVE PAINFUL CONSEQUENCES FOR MACKENZIE IN HIS SEARCH FOR A ROUTE TO THE PACIFIC. BY 1780, THE LIMIT OF KNOWN TERRITORY WAS THE LAKE OF THE HILLS - NOW KNOWN AS LAKE ATHABASCA. IN THE SUB-ARCTIC TRIBAL LANDS OF THE CHIPEWYAN, A BRANCH OF THE DENE, AN AMERICAN FUR TRADER - PETER POND, HAD FIRST REACHED THE LAKE IN 1780. HE'D SPENT THE WINTER THERE TRADING WITH NOTABLE SUCCESS, AND PROCURING TWICE AS MANY FURS AS HIS CANOES COULD CARRY. (John Rigney) FROM SPEAKING TO THE OLD PEOPLE THIS DELTA WAS SO RICH, THAT TRAPPING MUSKRATS WASN'T WORK, IT WAS LIKE PICKING CARROTS OUT OF YOUR GARDEN. MUSKRATS WERE WORTH A LOT OF MONEY, IN FACT IN TODAY'S DOLLARS A MUSKRAT WAS PROBABLY WORTH TEN DOLLARS AND A GOOD TRAPPER COULD EASILY GET 100 MUSKRATS A DAY SO THE TRAPPERS HAD THE POTENTIAL TO MAKE ENORMOUS PROFITS. FROM THE CHIPEWYAN AND CREE PEOPLE, POND HAD GATHERED GEOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION, WHICH HE INCORPORATED INTO THE FIRST EVER MAP OF THE UNKNOWN TERRITORY TO THE NORTH WEST. BY 1786 MACKENZIE'S COMPANY WAS COMPETING OVER A HUGE AREA WITH THE MUCH LARGER NORTHWEST COMPANY. THEY DIVIDED THE COUNTRY INTO DEPARTMENTS, WHERE EACH OF THE PARTNERS WOULD WINTER - MANAGING THE POST AND TRADING FURS. BUT COMPETITION BETWEEN THE RIVAL COMPANIES WAS COSTING LIVES. TWO MEN HAD BEEN MURDERED, AND EVEN IF THERE WAS NO CONCLUSIVE PROOF, PETER POND WAS IMPLICATED. TO EASE TENSIONS, THE COMPANIES AMALGAMATED. POND WAS RE-APPOINTED TO RUN ATHABASCA, BUT WITHIN WEEKS, THE PARTNERS DECIDED TO GET RID OF HIM. DESPITE HIS YOUTH - THE 23 YEAR-OLD MACKENZIE WAS THE ONE ASSIGNED TO REPLACE PETER POND. POND HAS READ COOK'S ACCOUNT OF HIS VOYAGE TO THE NORTH WEST PACIFIC COAST IN 1778, AND HAD SEIZED ON THE DESCRIPTION OF AN INLET THAT COOK IMAGINED TO BE THE MOUTH OF A GREAT RIVER. IN FACT IT WAS NOT, BUT THE IDEA OF THE RIVER WAS ENOUGH FOR POND. HE IMAGINED THAT THE RIVER FLOWING WEST FROM GREAT SLAVE LAKE WOULD LEAD TO COOK'S RIVER. WE CAN IMAGINE THE DARK WINTER MONTHS - THE TWO MEN TALKING BY THE FIRE, MACKENZIE GETTING SEDUCED BY THIS IDEA - THAT WHOEVER CROSSED THAT EMPTY SPACE, THE UNCHARTED TERRITORY CONNECTING THOSE TWO RIVERS WOULD BE THE FIRST TO REACH THE PACIFIC OVERLAND. SO USING ALL HIS PSYCHOLOGICAL AND DIPLOMATIC RESOURCES, HE PERSUADED THE OLDER MAN THAT HE ALEXANDER MACKENZIE, WOULD INHERIT AND FULFILL THAT DREAM. (Finlay MacLeod) I THINK IN A WAY THAT POND MADE MACKENZIE. WE SOMETIMES TEND TO FORGET THE MAGIC OF MAPS. I THINK MACKENZIE FELL UNDER POND'S INFLUENCE COMPLETELY, AND I THINK IT WAS POND WHO GAVE HIM THE DRIVE OR REALIZED THE DRIVE THAT HE ALREADY HAD AND THE MOTIVATION. IN JUNE OF 1789, AGED 24, MACKENZIE BEGAN HIS FIRST JOURNEY INTO THE UNCHARTED NORTH WEST TERRITORIES IN SEARCH OF A ROUTE TO THE PACIFIC. LEAVING LAKE ATHABASCA HE ENTERED THE DELTA WHERE THE PEACE RIVER DRAINS IN FROM THE WEST AND THE SLAVE RIVER FLOWS NORTH TO GREAT SLAVE LAKE. (John Rigney) IT'S ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE TO PUT A PRECISE ROUTE IN NAVIGATIONAL TERMS ON WHERE MACKENZIE WENT THROUGH THE DELTA BECAUSE THE DELTA CHANGES FROM YEAR TO YEAR, FROM SEASON TO SEASON, FROM DECADE TO DECADE AND IN A CENTURY A RIVER CHANNEL CAN DISAPPEAR AND A NEW ONE CAN OPEN UP. THERE ARE NO PERMANENT STRUCTURES IN THE DELTA BECAUSE NOTHING IS PERMANENT IN THE DELTA. ALTHOUGH HE DIDN'T KNOW IT, HERE WHERE THE SLAVE RIVER BEGINS, MACKENZIE WAS AT A CROSSROADS TO WHICH HE'D HAVE TO RETURN ON ANOTHER VOYAGE. (John Rigney) HE HAD TO MAKE A CHOICE WHICH WAY TO TURN WHEN HE REACHED THIS RIVER - TO TURN RIGHT MEANT TO GO TO THE ARCTIC OCEAN, TO TURN LEFT MEANT TO GO TO THE PACIFIC OCEAN BUT HE HAD NO WAY OF KNOWING AT THE TIME. CONVINCED BY POND'S MAP MACKENZIE CHOSE TO PADDLE NORTH DOWN THE SLAVE RIVER TO GREAT SLAVE LAKE. HE HAD WITH HIM ONE LARGE AND THREE SMALLER CANOES, AND A GROUP OF VOYAGEURS AND NATIVE GUIDES, INCLUDING THE CHIPEWYAN LEADER NESTABECK, ALSO KNOWN AS ENGLISH CHIEF, WHO ACTED AS INTERPRETER. HE TRAVERSED THE LAKE TO ITS WESTERN OUTLET, AND FOUND THE ENTRANCE TO A LARGE RIVER FLOWING WEST. THE RIVER WAS KNOWN TO THE DENE PEOPLE AS DEH CHO, THE GREAT RIVER. CERTAINLY HE WAS ONE OF THE FIRST EUROPEAN PEOPLE TO COME IN CONTACT WITH OUR PEOPLE, THE DENE THROUGHOUT THE MACKENZIE VALLEY HERE. I GUESS AT THE PARTICULAR TIME OUR PEOPLE REALLY DIDN'T KNOW WHAT MACKENZIE WAS UP TO OR WHAT HE WAS DOING OR EVEN IN FACT WHO HE WAS. I THINK THEY WERE PROBABLY A LITTLE BIT STARTLED BY THE FACT THAT HE WAS QUITE OF LIGHTER COMPLEXION FROM OUR PEOPLE AND I THINK FROM SOME OF THE FIRST IMPRESSIONS FROM WHAT I UNDERSTAND IS THAT THEY PROBABLY THOUGHT HE WAS PRETTY SICK AND NEEDED A LITTLE BIT OF HELP. THE NATIVE WOMEN WHO ACCOMPANIED MACKENZIE PLAYED AN ESSENTIAL ROLE. (Alice Rigney) IN THE CHIPEWYAN CULTURE THE WOMEN WERE NOT RESPECTED SO MUCH, THIS IS A FACT, I KNOW. THE WOMEN WERE, THEY DID ALL THE WORK, EVERYTHING, THE HAULING, ALL THE MATERIALS, THE TENTS, YOU KNOW PUTTING IT UP, PUTTING IT DOWN, GATHERING FIREWOOD, COOKING, DOING MOOSE HIDES, SEWING MOCCASINS, THEY DID EVERYTHING. NOW, WITHIN 100 KILOMETERS, THE GREAT RIVER'S COURSE SWUNG ROUND TO THE NORTH, SHATTERING MACKENZIE'S DREAM. THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS STILL LAY TO THE WEST, PARALLEL TO THE RIVER. MACKENZIE STILL HOPED THAT FURTHER NORTH THE RIVER WOULD TURN WEST AND REACH THE PACIFIC AT COOK'S INLET. (from Mackenzie's journal) "AT THREE QUARTERS PAST SEVEN O'CLOCK WE PERCEIVED SEVERAL SMOKES WHICH WE MADE FOR WITH ALL SPEED. WE SOON SAW THE NATIVES RUN ABOUT IN GREAT CONFUSION, SOME MAKING FOR THE WOODS AND OTHERS TO THEIR CANOES. OUR HUNTERS LANDED BEFORE US AND SPOKE TO THE FEW THAT HAD NOT BEEN QUICK ENOUGH TO RUN AWAY." I THINK THAT THERE WAS A LOT OF NERVOUSNESS AND THEY WERE SCARED AND SOME OF OUR PEOPLE EVEN, YOU KNOW, WENT BACK INTO THE BUSH OUT OF FEAR, I THINK, AT INITIAL CONTACT. BUT OBVIOUSLY THERE MUST HAVE BEEN SOME CONNECTION MADE BETWEEN OUR PEOPLE AND HIS CREW THERE MUST HAVE BEEN SOME LEVEL OF TRUST CERTAINLY THAT EACH WERE NOT GOING TO HARM EACH OTHER. AS HE MOVED FURTHER AND FURTHER NORTH UP THE GREAT RIVER, MACKENZIE MADE CONTACT WITH DIFFERENT GROUPS OF THE DENE PEOPLE. HIS ATTITUDE TOWARDS THEM WAS FUNCTIONAL. THEY PROVIDED HIM WITH FOOD, INFORMATION, GUIDES. (Greg Nyali) OUR PEOPLE MUST HAVE CERTAINLY HELPED HIM ALONG IN TERMS OF PROVIDING ALL OF THE FOOD ALONG THE JOURNEY THINGS SUCH AS WHITE FISH AND CONEY, MOOSE WERE IN ABUNDANCE WAY BACK THEN AND WE EVEN HAD BISON SO THEY CERTAINLY HELPED HIM OUT IN TERMS OF PROVIDING HIM FOOD TO SURVIVE. (Steve Kafkwy) HE WAS TERRIBLY ISOLATED, I MEAN HE COULD HAVE A TEMPER TANTRUM ALL HE WANTED ON THE MACKENZIE DELTA OR SOMEWHERE ALONG THE RIVER, IT WOULDN'T DO HIM ANY GOOD, YOU KNOW HE HAD TO COERCE PEOPLE THROUGH OTHER MEANS AND I THINK HE USED EVERY MEANS POSSIBLE. MACKENZIE NOW WATCHED THE NATIVE HE HAS PRESS-GANGED' AS A GUIDE, TAKING LEAVE OF HIS FAMILY, CLEARLY BELIEVING HE WOULD NEVER SEE THEM AGAIN. (from journal) "HE CUT A LOCK OF HIS HAIR, SEPARATED IT INTO THREE PARTS ONE OF WHICH HE FASTENED TO THE HAIR OF THE CROWN OF HIS WIFE'S HEAD, BLOWING ON IT THREE TIMES AS HARD AS HE COULD AND REPEATING SOME WORDS. THE OTHER TWO HE FASTENED WITH THE SAME CEREMONY ON THE HEADS OF HIS OWN CHILDREN." MACKENZIE NEVER STOPPED QUESTIONING THE PEOPLE HE MET FOR CLUES ABOUT A ROUTE TO THE PACIFIC. (from journal) "THE INFORMATION THAT THEY GAVE US RESPECTING THE RIVER SEEMS TO ME SO VERY FABULOUS THAT THEY WOULD WISH TO MAKE US BELIEVE THAT WE WOULD BE SEVERAL WINTERS GETTING TO THE SEA, AND THAT WE SHOULD ALL BE OLD MEN BY THE TIME WE WOULD RETURN. THAT WE WOULD HAVE TO ENCOUNTER MANY MONSTERS WHICH EXIST ONLY IN THEIR OWN IMAGINATIONS." ALTHOUGH MACKENZIE DISMISSED THESE FEARSOME STORIES AS FANTASIES, THE STORIES HAD A VERY DIFFERENT EFFECT ON ENGLISH CHIEF AND HIS DENE GUIDES WHO PLEADED WITH MACKENZIE TO TURN BACK - THEY WERE CROSSING INTO THE TERRITORY OF THE INUIT PEOPLE, TRADITIONAL ENEMIES OF THE DENE - BUT MACKENZIE WAS DETERMINED TO REACH THE MOUTH OF THE RIVER. (Shawn Patterson) THE DENE GUIDES BECOME MORE AND MORE ANXIOUS THE FURTHER AND FURTHER THEY MOVE NORTH THAT THEY'RE GOING TO MEET WITH AN END SIMILAR TO THE SLAUGHTER THAT SAMUEL HEARNE DESCRIBES WITH THE INUIT BUTCHERING EVERYONE IN THE CAMP. THESE STORIES AMONGST THE DENE PEOPLE ARE VERY WELL KNOWN AND THE ANXIETY LEVEL OF THESE MEN IS EXTRAORDINARY. IF YOU CONSIDER THAT MACKENZIE'S SITTING IN THE CANOE LISTENING TO THE INDIANS SPEAK OF THE END THAT THEY'RE GOING TO COME TO IT'S QUITE IMPRESSIVE TO THINK THAT THEY CONTINUE TO PADDLE FORWARD DOWN... DOWN THE RIVER. THESE ARE LOCAL PEOPLE TELLING THEM THAT THEY'RE GOING INTO A VERY DANGEROUS PLACE AND THEY CONTINUE TO DO SO. BUT THE INUIT ENCAMPMENTS THEY FOUND WERE DESERTED. (from journal) "OUR CONDUCTOR SAYS THEY ARE GONE TO WHERE THEY FISH FOR WHALES, AND KILL REINDEER AND THAT HE AND HIS RELATIONS SEES THEM THERE EVERY YEAR." THEY HAD NOW REACHED THE DELTA OF THE GREAT RIVER WHERE IT SPLIT, DIVIDING AND SUB-DIVIDING INTO A LABYRINTH OF DIFFERENT CHANNELS. IN THIS MAZE OF ISLANDS WHERE MILLIONS OF GALLONS OF FRESH WATER FLOW INTO THE OCEAN IT WAS THE RISING OCEAN TIDE THAT FINALLY SHOWED MACKENZIE HE HAD REACHED THE ARCTIC. HE HAD OVERCOME EVERYTHING THAT THE UNKNOWN TERRITORY AND ITS OBSTACLES HAD THROWN AT HIM. AND YET HE HAD FAILED TO REACH HIS GOAL - THE PACIFIC. BUT HE HAD PROVEN THAT THERE WAS NO EASY NORTHWEST ROUTE. IT WAS NOW CLEAR TO HIM THAT WHOEVER WAS TO FIND AN OVERLAND ROUTE MUST TRAVEL WESTWARD AND CROSS THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. BACK AT LAKE ATHABASCA AN ENCOUNTER WITH PHILIP TURNOR THE SURVEYOR FROM THE RIVAL HUDSON'S BAY COMPANY JOLTED MACKENZIE. TURNOR DEMONSTRATED THE LATEST NAVIGATIONAL INSTRUMENTS. HIS MEASUREMENTS NOW REVEALED THAT THEIR TRUE POSITION WAS 700 MILES FURTHER EAST THAN MACKENZIE HAD THOUGHT. MACKENZIE TRAVELED TO LONDON IN THE FALL OF 1791. (from journal) "IN THAT VOYAGE, I WAS NOT ONLY WITHOUT THE NECESSARY BOOKS AND INSTRUMENTS, BUT ALSO FELT MYSELF DEFICIENT IN THE SCIENCES OF ASTRONOMY AND NAVIGATION: I DID NOT HESITATE, THEREFORE, TO UNDERTAKE A WINTER'S VOYAGE TO THIS COUNTRY, IN ORDER TO PROCURE THE ONE AND ACQUIRE THE OTHER." (Finlay MacLeod) I DON'T THINK ANYTHING GIVES A CLEARER INDICATION OF HIS CHARACTER THAN WHAT HE DID AFTER HE CAME BACK FROM WHAT HE CALLED THE RIVER OF DISAPPOINTMENT WHAT HE DID INSTEAD WAS TO COME ALL THE WAY, TO LONDON TO LEARN EVERYTHING HE COULD ABOUT NAVIGATION, TO LEARN EVERYTHING HE COULD ABOUT THE NEWEST INSTRUMENTS TO PREPARE HIM FOR A SECOND ATTEMPT, TO REALIZE HIS DREAM - HE WAS REALLY BESOTTED WITH THE TASK - IT HAD TAKEN OVER HIS LIFE AND HE WASN'T GOING TO STOP WAS HE? - UNTIL HE WOULD ACHIEVE HIS GOAL OR DIE IN THE ATTEMPT. IN MAY 1793 MACKENZIE MADE HIS SECOND ATTEMPT TO REACH THE PACIFIC - THIS TIME HE FOLLOWS THE PEACE RIVER WESTWARDS. HE KNEW THIS WAS NO LEISURELY EXPEDITION: IT WAS A MAD DASH AGAINST THE SHORTNESS OF THE SUB-ARCTIC SUMMER, AND THE OBSTACLES THAT LAY BETWEEN HIM AND THE PACIFIC. FARTHER WEST THE PEACE RIVER SPLIT INTO TWO. MACKENZIE AGAIN TOOK THE NATIVE ADVICE AND FOLLOWED THE SOUTHERN BRANCH, THE PARSNIP RIVER. AS HE FOLLOWED THE SINUOUS PATH OF THE RIVER ACROSS ITS FLOOD PLAIN, HE COULD SEE THE LAND AHEAD BEGINNING TO RISE (from journal) "THE LAKE IS ABOUT TWO MILES IN LENGTH, EAST BY SOUTH AND FROM THREE TO FIVE HUNDRED YARDS WIDE. WE LANDED AND UNLOADED WHERE WE FOUND A BEATEN PATH LEADING OVER A LOW RIDGE OF LAND TO ANOTHER SMALL LAKE. WE EMBARKED ON THIS LAKE WHICH IS OF THE SAME COURSE, AND ABOUT THE SAME SIZE AS THAT WHICH WE HAD JUST LEFT AND FROM WHENCE WE PASSED INTO A SMALL RIVER THAT WAS SO FULL OF FALLEN WOOD, AS TO EMPLOY SOME TIME AND REQUIRE SOME EXERTION TO FORCE A PASSAGE." BUT EVENTUALLY THEY REACHED A MAJOR RIVER FLOWING SOUTH WEST. THIS WAS IN FACT THE FRASER; WHICH WE NOW KNOW FLOWS INTO THE PACIFIC. (Lyle Dickieson) ONE OF THE THINGS THAT HAD BEEN NAGGING WITH MACKENZIE YOU KNOW FOR A LONG WAY WAS, WAS THE FRASER RIVER ACTUALLY PASSABLE ALL THE WAY TO THE OCEAN AND THE FURTHER THEY GOT DOWN THE MORE I THINK THEY STARTED TO HEAR FROM THE NATIVES THAT YOU KNOW THAT WAS A POTENTIAL REAL BAD THING. THE NATIVES CAUTIONED HIM INSTEAD TO FOLLOW AN OVERLAND ROUTE KNOWN AS THE GREASE TRAIL WHICH THE CARRIER HAD USED FOR GENERATIONS TO TRADE WITH THE COASTAL PEOPLE. (from journal) "THESE PEOPLE DESCRIBE THE DISTANCE ACROSS THE COUNTRY AS VERY SHORT TO THE WESTERN OCEAN, AND, ACCORDING TO MY OWN IDEA, IT CANNOT BE ABOVE FIVE OR SIX DEGREES." MACKENZIE HESITATED; HE COULDN'T DECIDE. HE KEPT ON QUESTIONING HIS CARRIER HOSTS ABOUT THE OVERLAND ROUTE. (from journal) "I WAS VERY MUCH SURPRISED BY THE FOLLOWING QUESTION FROM ONE OF THE INDIANS. 'WHAT', DEMANDED HE, 'CAN BE THE REASON THAT YOU ARE SO PARTICULAR AND ANXIOUS IN YOUR INQUIRIES OF US RESPECTING A KNOWLEDGE OF THIS COUNTRY; DO NOT YOU WHITE MEN KNOW EVERYTHING IN THE WORLD?' I REPLIED, THAT WE CERTAINLY WERE ACQUAINTED WITH THE PRINCIPAL CIRCUMSTANCES OF EVERY PART OF THE WORLD; THAT I KNEW WHERE THE SEA IS, AND WHERE I MYSELF THEN WAS, BUT THAT I DID NOT EXACTLY UNDERSTAND WHAT OBSTACLES MIGHT INTERRUPT ME IN GETTING TO IT... THUS I FORTUNATELY PRESERVED THE IMPRESSION IN THEIR MINDS, OF THE SUPERIORITY OF WHITE PEOPLE OVER THEMSELVES." (Steve Kafkwy) ALEXANDER MACKENZIE WAS PART OF THIS THINKING I GUESS THAT PREVAILED AT THE TIME YOU KNOW TO BE BRITISH WHETHER YOU'RE SCOTTISH OR IRISH OR ENGLISH YOU KNOW WAS THE SUPERIOR RACE AT THE TIME, THEY WENT ALL OVER THE WORLD CLAIMING THINGS FOR THEIR QUEEN OR WHOEVER WAS ON THE CROWN AT THE TIME, YOU KNOW - THEY HAD A VERY GOOD PARTY FOR A GREAT MANY YEARS YOU KNOW - AT PEOPLE'S EXPENSE. MACKENZIE FINALLY DECIDED TO TURN BACK UPRIVER AND TAKE THE GREASE TRAIL AFTER ALL. (Finlay MacLeod) I THINK THAT SHOWS THE WHOLE VENTURE HAD CHANGED. IT IS NO LONGER A SEARCH FOR A WATERWAY THAT WOULD OPEN THE FUR TRADE TO THE WEST. I THINK PRIMARILY THE MAN WAS POSSESSED TO A STAGE THAT HE HAD TO GET TO HIS GOAL BY WHATEVER MEANS. (from journal) "AT NOON WE WERE IN A STATE OF PREPARATION TO ENTER THE WOODS. WE CARRIED ON OUR BACKS FOUR BAGS AND A HALF OF PEMMICAN, WEIGHING FROM 85 TO 90 POUNDS; A CASE WITH MY INSTRUMENTS, A PARCEL OF GOODS FOR PRESENTS WEIGHING 90 POUNDS AND A PARCEL CONTAINING AMMUNITION OF THE SAME WEIGHT." THEY FOLLOWED THE TRAIL WEST ACROSS THE LAVA FLOW COUNTRY UNTIL THEY REACHED THE HIGH PLATEAU AND THE PASS WHICH NOW BEARS MACKENZIE'S NAME. (from journal) "BEFORE US APPEARED A STUPENDOUS MOUNTAIN, WHOSE SNOW CLAD SUMMIT WAS LOST IN THE CLOUDS. THE INDIANS INFORMED US THAT IT WAS AT NO GREAT DISTANCE WE CONTINUED OUR ROUTE WITH A CONSIDERABLE DEGREE OF EXPEDITION". MACKENZIE WAS NOW VERY CLOSE TO ACHIEVING HIS GOAL. FROM HERE IT WAS A SHORT DESCENT TO THE BELLA COOLA RIVER AND LESS THAN 30 KILOMETERS TO THE PACIFIC. (from journal) "IN ABOUT TWO HOURS WE ARRIVED AT THE BOTTOM WHERE THERE IS A CONFLUX OF TWO RIVERS THAT ISSUE FROM THE MOUNTAINS. THEY ARE BOTH VERY RAPID AND CONTINUE SO UNTIL THEY UNITE THEIR CURRENTS, FORMING A STREAM OF ABOUT 12 YARDS IN BREADTH. THE WATER OF THIS RIVER IS OF THE COLOUR OF ASSES MILK". (♪) MACKENZIE W ENCOUNTERED A NEW CULTURE. THE PEOPLE OF THE COAST HAD A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT LANGUAGE WHICH NEITHER MACKENZIE' NOR HIS GUIDES COULD UNDERSTAND. (from journal) "THE COMMUNICATION BETWEEN US WAS AWKWARD AND INCONVENIENT, FOR IT WAS CARRIED ON ENTIRELY BY SIGNS, AS THERE WAS NOT A PERSON WITH ME WHO WAS QUALIFIED FOR THE OFFICE OF AN INTERPRETER." (♪) BUT MACKENZIE WAS WELL RECEIVED BY THE PEOPLE HE MET IN THE VILLAGES. HE ASKED FOR A CANOE SO HE CAN CONTINUE DOWN RIVER. (from journal) "I HAD APPLIED SEVERAL TIMES TO THE CHIEF, BUT VERY LITTLE ATTENTION HAD BEEN PAID TO MY APPLICATION UNTIL NOON, WHEN I WAS INFORMED THAT A CANOE WAS PROPERLY EQUIPPED FOR MY VOYAGE AND THAT THE YOUNG CHIEF WOULD ACCOMPANY ME. MACKENZIE HAD REACHED THE PACIFIC, BUT HE STILL NEEDED TO DETERMINE HIS PRECISE POSITION. HE DECIDED TO CONTINUE DOWN THE LONG INLET TOWARDS THE OPEN OCEAN. (from journal) "I BEGAN TO FEAR I SHOULD FAIL IN THIS IMPORTANT OBJECT; PARTICULARLY AS OUR PROVISIONS WERE AT A VERY LOW EBB, AND WE HAD AS YET NO REASON TO EXPECT ANY ASSISTANCE FROM THE NATIVES. TEN HALF-STARVED MEN IN A LEAKY VESSEL AND ON A BARBAROUS COAST 'UNDER THE LAND WE MET WITH THREE CANOES WITH 15 MEN IN THEM. THEY MANIFESTED NO KIND OF MISTRUST OR FEAR OF US... THEY THEN EXAMINED EVERY THING WE HAD IN OUR CANOE WITH AN AIR OF INDIFFERENCE AND DISDAIN." (Robin Fisher) DOWN AT THE COAST MARITIME FUR TRADERS HAVE BEEN AROUND FOR 10 OR 15 YEARS, THEY'VE PROBABLY SEEN EUROPEANS IN BOATS BEFORE AND MACKENZIE IS FEELING VULNERABLE - AS HE IS, WHEN THE NATIVE PEOPLE START POKING AROUND IN HIS CANOES AND YOU KNOW POKING AROUND IN THE GOODS THAT HE'S CARRYING. I THINK THAT THE NATIVE PEOPLE PROBABLY THOUGHT THAT HERE'S A... HERE'S A CANOE, LET'S SAY THAT IT'S ARRIVED ON THEIR TERRITORY, IT'S THEIR PROPERTY, SOMETHING THAT HAD WASHED IN FROM THE SEA AND YOU KNOW, THEY HAD RIGHTS OVER IT. BY COINCIDENCE A BRITISH NAVAL EXPLORER, CAPTAIN GEORGE VANCOUVER, HAD COME UP THE SAME INLET OF THE PACIFIC ONLY SIX WEEKS BEFORE. IT'S FAIRLY CLEAR THAT VANCOUVER HAD BEEN THERE A FEW WEEKS PRIOR AND THE NATIVE PEOPLE REFER TO VANCOUVER'S BOAT CREW BEING IN THAT AREA AND ALTHOUGH IT'S A NEAR MISS FOR VANCOUVER AND MACKENZIE I THINK THE CONNECTION IS MADE FOR NATIVE PEOPLE. (from journal) "ONE OF THEM IN PARTICULAR MADE ME UNDERSTAND, WITH AN AIR OF INSOLENCE, THAT A LARGE CANOE HAD LATELY BEEN IN THIS BAY, WITH PEOPLE IN HER LIKE ME, AND THAT ONE OF THEM WHOM HE CALLED MACUBAH HAD FIRED ON HIM AND HIS FRIENDS, AND THAT BENSINS HAD STRUCK HIM ON THE BACK WITH THE FLAT PART OF HIS SWORD. AT THE SAME TIME HE ILLUSTRATED THESE CIRCUMSTANCES BY THE ASSISTANCE OF MY GUN AND SWORD. HIS IMPORTUNITIES NOW BECAME VERY IRKSOME, AND HE WANTED TO SEE EVERY THING WE HAD, PARTICULARLY MY INSTRUMENTS. WE HAD NO SOONER LANDED THAN WE TOOK POSSESSION OF A ROCK, WHERE THERE WAS NOT SPACE FOR MORE THAN TWICE OUR NUMBER, AND WHICH ADMITTED OF OUR DEFENDING OURSELVES WITH ADVANTAGE, IN CASE WE SHOULD BE ATTACKED. (Shawn Patterson) MORE INDIANS WERE ARRIVING BY THE HOUR AND THERE WAS QUITE OF WHAT YOU MIGHT THINK OF A NATIVE MILITARY FORCE ACCUMULATING THERE AND MACKENZIE SAW THE NUMBERS STARTING TO GROW, IN FACT HE CHOSE THE ROCK WHERE HE DID TO STAY THERE THE NIGHT BEFORE AND THAT IT WAS A GOOD DEFENSIBLE POSITION SHOULD THE INDIANS ATTACK. (from journal) "WHILE I WAS TAKING A MERIDIAN, TWO CANOES, OF A LARGER SIZE, AND WELL-MANNED, APPEARED FROM THE MAIN SOUTHWEST CHANNEL - OUR YOUNG INDIAN, WHO UNDERSTOOD THEM, RENEWED HIS ENTREATIES FOR OUR DEPARTURE, AS THEY WOULD SOON COME TO SHOOT THEIR ARROWS AND HURL THEIR SPEARS AT US. IN RELATING OUR DANGER, HIS AGITATION WAS SO VIOLENT THAT HE FOAMED AT THE MOUTH. MY PEOPLE WERE PANIC STRUCK, AND SOME OF THEM ASKED IF IT WAS MY DETERMINATION TO REMAIN THERE TO BE SACRIFICED? MY REPLY WAS THE SAME, THAT I WOULD NOT STIR UNTIL I HAD ACCOMPLISHED MY OBJECT. THE TWO CANOES NOW APPROACHED THE SHORE AND IN A SHORT TIME FIVE MEN, WITH THEIR FAMILIES LANDED VERY QUIETLY FROM THEM. MY INSTRUMENTS BEING EXPOSED, THEY EXAMINED THEM WITH MUCH APPARENT ADMIRATION AND ASTONISHMENT. I NOW MIXED UP SOME VERMILION IN MELTED GREASE, AND INSCRIBED IN LARGE CHARACTERS ON THE SOUTHEAST FACE OF THE ROCK ON WHICH WE HAD SLEPT LAST NIGHT, THIS BRIEF MEMORIAL 'ALEXANDER MACKENZIE FROM CANADA BY LAND, THE 22nd OF JULY, 1793' I TOOK FIVE ALTITUDES. THE MEAN OF THESE OBSERVATIONS IS EQUAL TO 128 DEGREES TWO MINUTES WEST OF GREENWICH." HE HAD DETERMINED HIS POSITION WITH REASONABLE ACCURACY. HIS CALCULATION PUT MACKENZIE ONLY 40 KILOMETERS FARTHER WEST THAN THE TRUE LONGITUDE. (Finlay MacLeod) I THINK BY THE TIME HE'D GOT TO THE PACIFIC THAT HE HAD REALLY STRETCHED HIS OWN MENTAL CAPABILITIES TO THE UTMOST. I THINK THAT HE HAD REALLY RISKED HIS SANITY AND WHEN HE TRIES TO WRITE HIS JOURNALS HE HAS DIFFICULTY DOING SO. (from journal) "LAST FALL I WAS TO BEGIN COPYING IT, BUT THE GREATEST PART OF MY TIME WAS TAKEN UP IN VAIN SPECULATIONS. ALTHOUGH I AM NOT SUPERSTITIOUS, DREAMS AMONGST OTHER THINGS CAUSED ME MUCH ANNOYANCE. I COULD NOT CLOSE MY EYES WITHOUT FINDING MYSELF IN COMPANY WITH THE DEAD." (Finlay MacLeod) I THINK SOMETIMES HE WAS QUITE LUCKY TO HAVE RECOVERED. HE WAS ONLY A YOUNG MAN, HE WAS HARDLY 30 AND HE HAD ALREADY SPENT A GOOD DEAL OF HIMSELF IN ACHIEVING WHAT HE HAD DONE. HE HAD WON HIS PLACE IN HISTORY. FAME AND FORTUNE BECKONED. MACKENZIE WAS KNIGHTED. THE GREAT RIVER AND MANY OF THE OTHER PLACES HE HAD VISITED WERE NOW GIVEN HIS NAME. (Steve Kakfwi) WHY IS THE RIVER NAMED AFTER HIM, IT DOESN'T MAKE ANY SENSE WHATSOEVER. IT DENIES THAT PEOPLE OCCUPIED THIS LAND, PEOPLE USED THIS LAND, THAT THE RIVER WAS KNOWN AND USED FOR THOUSANDS OF YEARS, THAT PEOPLE HAVE NAMES FOR PLACES. I THINK IT'S YOU KNOW COLONIALISM AT IT'S WORST YOU KNOW, IT'S THE ARROGANCE OF THE BRITISH EMPIRE AS IT WAS AT THE TIME I GUESS KIND OF PEAKING THEN IT'S KIND OF FALLEN APART IT DOESN'T EVEN EXIST ANY MORE, BUT THEY LEAVE THEIR NAMES ALL OVER THE PLACE. ALEXANDER MACKENZIES' LOVE AFFAIR WITH THE NORTH WEST WAS OVER. (a letter from Mackenzie) "I BEGIN TO THINK IT IS THE HEIGHT OF FOLLY IN A MAN TO RESIDE IN A COUNTRY OF THIS KIND, DEPRIVED OF EVERY COMFORT THAT CAN RENDER LIFE AGREEABLE, ESPECIALLY WHEN HE HAS A COMPETENCY TO ENJOY LIFE IN A CIVILIZED SOCIETY WHICH WILL OR OUGHT TO BE THE CASE FOR ME."

Info

Channel: Historica Canada

Views: 108,125

Rating: 4.7355371 out of 5

Keywords: Explorer, Mackenzie River, exploration

Id: xZjw8wudzwg

Channel Id: undefined

Length: 44min 57sec (2697 seconds)

Published: Wed Mar 04 2015