Sir Alexander Mackenzie was a
ScottishThe Scots people and an ethnic group indigenous to Scotland.An ethnic group, historically they emerged from an amalgamation of Picts, Gaels and Brythons....
explorer.
Mackenzie was born in Stornoway on the isle of
LewisLewis is the northern part of Lewis and Harris, the largest island of the Western Isles or Outer Hebrides of Scotland. The total area of Lewis is ....
in the
Outer HebridesThe Outer Hebrides, comprise an island chain off the west coast of Scotland...
,
ScotlandScotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
. In 1774 his family moved to
New YorkNew York is the most populous city in the United States, and the center of the New York metropolitan area, which is among the most populous urban areas in the world. A leading global city, New York exerts a powerful influence over worldwide commerce, finance, culture, fashion and entertainment...
, and then to
MontrealMontreal is the second-largest city in Canada and the largest city in the province of Quebec. Originally called Ville-Marie , the city takes its present name from Mont-Royal, the triple-peaked hill located in the heart of the city, whose name was also initially given to the island on which the...
in 1776 during the
American RevolutionThe American Revolutionary War , also sometimes known as the American War of Independence, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen united former British colonies in North America, and concluded in a global war between several European great powers...
. In 1779 he obtained a job with the
North West CompanyThe North West Company was a fur trading business headquartered in Montreal from 1779 to 1821. It competed with increasing success against the Hudson's Bay Company in what was to become Western Canada...
, on whose behalf he traveled to
Lake AthabascaLake Athabasca is located in the northwest corner of Saskatchewan and the northeast corner of Alberta between 58° and 60° N.-History:...
and founded Fort Chipewyan in 1788. He was sent to replace
Peter PondPeter Pond was born in Milford, Connecticut. He was a soldier with a Connecticut regiment, a fur trader, a founding member of the North West Company, an explorer and a cartographer.-Biography:...
, a partner in the
North West CompanyThe North West Company was a fur trading business headquartered in Montreal from 1779 to 1821. It competed with increasing success against the Hudson's Bay Company in what was to become Western Canada...
. From Pond he learned that the
First NationsFirst Nations is a term of ethnicity that refers to the Aboriginal peoples in Canada, who are neither Inuit nor Métis. There are currently over 600 recognised First Nations governments or bands spread all across Canada, roughly half of which are in the provinces of Ontario and British Columbia...
people understood that the local rivers flowed to the northwest. Acting on this information he set out by canoe and discovered the
Mackenzie RiverThe Mackenzie River originates in Great Slave Lake, in the Northwest Territories, and flows north into the Arctic Ocean. It is the longest river in Canada at and, together with its headstreams the Peace and the Finlay, the second longest river in North America at in length. The Mackenzie and...
on July 10, 1789, following it to its mouth in the hope of finding the
Northwest PassageThe Northwest Passage is a sea route through the Arctic Ocean, along the northern coast of North America via waterways amidst the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans...
to the
Pacific OceanThe Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. Its name is derived from the Latin name Tepre Pacificum, "peaceful sea", bestowed upon it by the Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan. It extends from the Arctic in the north to Antarctica in the south, bounded by Asia and...
. As he ended up reaching the
Arctic OceanThe Arctic Ocean, located in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Arctic north polar region, is the smallest, and shallowest of the world's five major oceanic divisions.
The International Hydrographic Organization recognizes it as an ocean, although some...
, it is conjectured that he named the river "Disappointment River" as it did not lead to
Cook InletCook Inlet stretches from the Gulf of Alaska to Anchorage in south-central Alaska. Cook Inlet branches into the Knik Arm and Turnagain Arm at its northern end, almost surrounding Anchorage....
in
AlaskaAlaska is the largest state of the United States of America by area; it is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...
as he had expected. The river was later renamed the Mackenzie River in his honour.
In 1791 he returned to Great Britain to study the new advances in the measurement of
longitudeLongitude , identified by the Greek letter lambda , is the geographic coordinate most commonly used in cartography and global navigation for east-west measurement...
. 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 RiverThe Peace River is a river in Canada that originates in the Rocky Mountains of northern British Columbia and flows through northern Alberta.-History:...
. He crossed the
continental divideA continental divide is a drainage divide on a continent such that the drainage basin on one side of the divide feeds into one ocean or sea, and the basin on the other side either feeds into a different ocean or sea, or else is endorheic, not connected to the open sea...
and found the upper reaches of the
Fraser RiverThe Fraser River is the longest river within British Columbia, Canada, rising at Fraser Pass near Mount Robson in the Rocky Mountains and flowing for 1,375 km , into the Strait of Georgia at the city of Vancouver. It is the tenth longest river in Canada...
, but was warned by the local natives that the lower portion of the river was unnavigable and populated by belligerent tribes. He was instead directed to follow an established trading route by ascending the
West Road RiverThe West Road River or Blackwater River is a major tributary of the Fraser River, flowing generally north-eastward from the Ilgachuz Range and across the Fraser Plateau in the Chilcotin and Cariboo regions of central British Columbia, Canada...
, crossing over the
Coast MountainsThe Coast Mountains are a major mountain range of western North America, extending from southwestern Yukon through the Alaska Panhandle and virtually all of the Coast of British Columbia. They are so-named because of their proximity to the sea coast, and are often referred to as the Coast Range...
, and descending the
Bella Coola RiverThe Bella Coola River is a major river on the Pacific slope of the Coast Mountains in southern British Columbia. The town of Bella Coola, which is the historic and ancient capital of the Nuxalk people, is at its mouth on North Bentinck Arm...
to the sea. He followed this advice and reached the Pacific coast on July 20, 1793 at
Bella Coola, British ColumbiaBella Coola is a community of approximately 600 at the western extremity of the Bella Coola Valley. Bella Coola usually refers to the entire valley, encompassing the settlements of Bella Coola proper , Lower Bella Coola, Hagensborg, Saloompt, Nusatsum, Firvale and Stuie...
, on
North Bentinck ArmNorth Bentinck Arm is short inlet about in length in the Central Coast region of British Columbia, Canada. It is a sidewater of Burke Channel and is linked via that waterway and Labouchere Channel to Dean Channel, which is one of the largest inlets of the BC Coast.A spot on North Bentinck Arm is...
, an
inletGeologically, a fjord is a long, narrow inlet with steep sides, created in a valley carved by glacial activity.-Formation:Fjords are formed when a glacier cuts a v-shaped valley by abrasion of the surrounding bedrock. Many such valleys were formed during the recent ice age...
of the Pacific Ocean. Thus, he completed the first recorded transcontinental crossing of
North AmericaNorth America is the northern continent of the Americas, situated in the Earth's northern hemisphere and in the western hemisphere. It is bordered on the north by the Arctic Ocean, on the east by the North Atlantic Ocean, on the southeast by the Caribbean Sea, and on the west by the North Pacific...
north of
MexicoThe United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
. He had unknowingly missed meeting
George VancouverCaptain George Vancouver RN was an officer in the British Royal Navy, best known for his exploration of the North-West Coast of North America, including the shores of the modern day Alaska, British Columbia, Washington and Oregon...
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
HeiltsukThe Heiltsuk are a Indigenous First Nations of the Central Coast region of the Canadian province of British Columbia, centred on the island communities of Bella Bella and Klemtu. The government of the Heiltsuk people is the Heiltsuk Nation...
nation. At his westernmost point on
Dean ChannelDean Channel is the upper end of one of the longest inlets of the British Columbia Coast, from its head at the mouth of the Kimsquit River. The Dean River, one of the main rivers of the Coast Mountains and one of the few rivers to pierce that range from the Chilcotin Plateau, enters Dean Channel...
, (on July 22 1793), hemmed in by Heiltsuk war canoes, he inscribed "Alexander Mackenzie from Canada, by land, the twenty-second of July, one thousand seven hundred and ninety-three!" on a rock using a reddish paint made of vermilion and bear grease, and turned around to return to "Canada". The rock, near the water's edge in
Dean ChannelDean Channel is the upper end of one of the longest inlets of the British Columbia Coast, from its head at the mouth of the Kimsquit River. The Dean River, one of the main rivers of the Coast Mountains and one of the few rivers to pierce that range from the Chilcotin Plateau, enters Dean Channel...
, still bears similar words, which were permanently inscribed later by surveyors. The site is now
Sir Alexander Mackenzie Provincial ParkSir Alexander Mackenzie Provincial Park is a provincial park in British Columbia, Canada. Located at the mouth of Elcho Harbour on Dean Channel, it enshrines the farthest point west reached by Alexander Mackenzie and the rock he marked to commemorate his journey.-External links:*...
.
He was knighted for his efforts in 1802, and served in the
Legislature of Lower CanadaThe Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada was the lower house of the bicameral structure of provincial government in Lower Canada until 1838. The legislative assembly was created by the Constitutional Act of 1791...
from 1804 to 1808. In 1812, he married and returned to
ScotlandScotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
. Mackenzie died in 1820 of
Bright's diseaseBright's disease is a historical classification of kidney diseases that would be described in modern medicine as acute or chronic nephritis. The term is no longer used, as diseases are now classified according to their more fully understood causes....
aged 56. He is buried in
AvochAvoch is a harbour-village located on the Black Isle, on the Moray Firth. The village's name is pronounced "Och" ....
, on the
Black IsleThe Black Isle is an eastern area of the Highland local government council area of Scotland, within the county of Ross and Cromarty. The name nearly always includes the article "the"....
,
Ross and CromartyRoss and Cromarty is a vaguely or variously defined area in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland. There is a registration county and a lieutenancy area in current use...
.