ALEXANDER MACKENZIE
I
Of the early explorers of the north none is more celebrated than
Alexander Mackenzie, the first man to penetrate from the interior to
the Frozen Ocean, and the first in the farther north to cross the
continent. Among the leaders of the north-west he is pre-eminent as
a discoverer, and of the early northmen his name is the most often
mentioned. His journeyings--that to the Arctic made in the year
1789, and that across the continent in 1792 and 1793--are told of in
a splendid volume, published in London in the year 1801, entitled,
_Voyages from Montreal and the River St. Lawrence, Through the
Continent of North America to the Frozen and Pacific Oceans, in
the Year 1789 and 1793_. Its publication was soon followed by the
conferring of knighthood on the author.
[Illustration: ALEXANDER MACKENZIE.
From Mackenzie’s _Voyages from Montreal Through the Continent of North
America_, etc.]
The earliest explorations of the interior of this continent were all
of them by water. By water the first missionaries pushed their way up
the St. Lawrence and through the Great Lakes, and then crossing over by
short portages to the Mississippi, journeyed down that great highway
of more modern times until they came to the Gulf of Mexico. Later,
missionaries and explorers and traders, still from Montreal, followed
the water trail up the Great Lakes to the Grand Portage, and thence
pressed westward until they reached Lake Winnipeg, the Saskatchewan,
and all that broad country which lies east of the northern Rocky
Mountains. The frail birch canoe carried their scanty provisions and
their goods for trade, and returned laden to the gunwale with rich
packages of furs. Later still, when the people of the United States
began to push westward, it was down the Alleghany and the Ohio--still
largely by water--that their journeyings were conducted.
Alexander Mackenzie was a fur trader, and he made his way westward,
by the usual route, to the Grand Portage, Lake Winnipeg, then up
the Saskatchewan and across to Fort Chipewyan, on the Lake of the
Hills--now known as Athabaska Lake. Though the journey was long, it
was full of interest; the country had been seen by few white people,
it abounded in life of many descriptions, all wild, and for the most
part undisturbed. He reached Fort Chipewyan with ninety or a hundred
men, and without any provision for their sustenance; but the lake was
full of fish, its shores abounded with game. The autumn fishing was
successful, and the cold during the winter intense, so that fish were
caught in great numbers and frozen, remaining good until spring. During
the spring and fall vast flocks of wild fowl resorted to the lakes,
and immense numbers were killed, so that for short terms the geese
supported the life of the traders.
In 1783 and 1784 the Northwest Fur Company had been established, in
opposition to the Hudson’s Bay Company, and included among its partners
many of the most celebrated traders of the north. Mackenzie had for
five years been employed in the counting house of Messrs. Gregory and
McLeod, and was admitted a partner in the Northwest Fur Company, and
went to the Indian country in 1785. How enormous the trade that this
company carried on is shown by a list of the returns for a single year,
which gives 106,000 beaver skins, 2,100 bear, 4,600 otter, 17,000
musquash, 32,000 marten, 6,000 lynx, 600 wolverine, 1,650 fisher,
besides a less number of fox, kitfox, wolf, elk, raccoon and deer
skins, and buffalo robes. Mackenzie was astronomer as well as trader.
He was also an observer who considered the economic possibilities of
the country, its fauna and its flora, and especially the game, as well
as the human inhabitants.
Mackenzie started from Fort Chipewyan, on the south side of the Lake of
the Hills, June 3, 1789, in a birch-bark canoe. His crew consisted of
four Canadians, a German, and two Indian women. An Indian interpreter,
known as English Chief, and his two wives journeyed in a small canoe,
while two young Indians followed in a third. English Chief had been one
of the followers of a chief who was with Mr. Hearne on his explorations
to the Coppermine River. A fourth canoe, in charge of one of the clerks
of the company, Mr. Le Roux, accompanied them, carrying a load of
trade goods and presents, together with a part of the provisions and
ammunition of the expedition. Their route was without much adventure
until they reached Slave Lake, still covered with ice, somewhat melted
near the shore. The gnats and mosquitoes which had troubled them during
the first few days that they had been on their way, here left them.
Mackenzie says: “The Indians informed me that at a very small distance
from either bank of the river are very extensive plains frequented by
large herds of buffaloes: while the moose and reindeer keep in the
woods that border on it. The beavers, which are in great numbers, build
their habitations in small lakes and rivers, as in the larger streams
the ice carries everything along with it during the spring. The mud
banks in the river are covered with wild fowl, and we this morning
killed two swans, ten geese, and one beaver, without suffering the
delay of an hour; so that we might have soon filled the canoe with
them, if that had been our object.” That same day they reached the
house erected on Slave Lake by Messrs. Grant and Le Roux in 1786, and
here they stopped and pitched their tents, as it seemed likely that the
ice would detain them for some time. The nets were set and many fish
were caught. Berries were already ripe, and the women were occupied
in gathering them, while wild fowl were breeding, and they collected
some dozens of their eggs. On Monday, June 15, the ice broke up near
them, and cleared a passage to the islands opposite; and at sunset they
embarked and crossed to them, where they stopped to gum their canoes,
and the next day set out again, following the shores of the lake. Ice
interrupted their passage from time to time. They supplied themselves
with food by means of their nets.
On the 18th, two of the hunters killed a reindeer and its fawn. The
ice continued to hinder them, but they worked along slowly. On one of
the islands that they passed reindeer were seen, and seven killed.
The island was named Isle de Carre Boeuf. Here occurs a somewhat
unusual usage of the term pemmican, described to be “fish dried in
the sun, and afterward pounded for the convenience of carriage.” The
more common meaning of the term is, flesh dried and pounded and mixed
with grease--as buffalo pemmican, elk pemmican, caribou pemmican. On
Tuesday, the 23d, the explorer met with a little camp--three lodges--of
Red-Knife Indians, so called from their copper knives. They informed
the explorer that others of their people were near at hand. These
Indians--now known as Yellow-Knives--are of Athabaskan stock, thus
allied to the Hare, Dog-Rib, and Chipewyan peoples, also to the Navajos
and Apaches of the south. They possessed some furs, and Mr. Le Roux
secured from them eight packs of good beaver and marten skins. They
seemed to know little or nothing about the country to the north, and
Mackenzie’s inquiries brought forth no useful information.
The ice in the lake was still troublesome, though breaking up fast. On
Monday, June 29, they entered the river by which Slave Lake discharges
to the north, and made good progress down it. On both sides of the
river the Indians reported that there were extensive plains, which
abounded in buffalo and moose-deer. By this time the wild fowl had
begun to molt, and the Indians no longer troubled to shoot them, but
pursued them in their canoes, killing them with sticks or capturing
them alive. On the 1st of July, keeping on down the river, they made a
cache of provisions on an island. By this time they had come in sight
of high mountains to the west, barren and rocky at the top, but well
wooded on the slopes.
On July 3 the current was stronger, and their progress still more
rapid. They saw frequent signs of camps, but none of very recent
occupation; but on the 5th, smoke was seen on the north shore of the
river, and as the canoes drew nearer, natives were discovered running
about in apparent alarm. Some took refuge in the woods, others hurried
to their canoes. The hunters landed, and calling out to the Chipewyans
in their own tongue, assured them that the party was a friendly one,
and after some difficulty the Indians became convinced that there was
no danger. These were five families of two different tribes, the Slave
and the Dog-Rib. Mackenzie offered them the pipe, though it was quite
apparent that they were unacquainted with tobacco, and also gave them a
drink of grog, which also seemed new to them. However, they appreciated
the beauties of knives, beads, awls, rings, hatchets, etc., and soon
became so trustful that “They became more familiar even than we
expected, for we could not keep them out of our tents; though I did not
observe that they attempted to purloin anything.
“The information that they gave respecting the river had so much of
the fabulous that I shall not detail it; it will be sufficient just to
mention their attempts to persuade us that it would require several
winters to get to the sea, and that old age would come upon us before
the period of our return; we were also to encounter monsters of such
horrid shapes and destructive power as could only exist in their wild
imagination. They added, besides, that there were two impassable falls
in the river, the first of which was about thirty days’ march from us.”
While these stories did not affect Mackenzie, they did influence his
Indians, who were already tired of the voyage, and anxious to turn
back, and it required some effort to convince them that it was better
to go on. One of the natives was persuaded to accompany them as a
guide, and though he afterward wished to withdraw, he was not allowed
to, and with some ceremony he finally took his unwilling departure
with the white men. These people used bone knives, were tattooed on
the face, wore a goose-quill, or a small piece of wood, through the
nose, and used vessels woven of wattap--the roots of the spruce or
tamarack--in which they boiled their food by hot stones. Arrows were
pointed with horn, flint, iron, or copper, and their axes were made of
stone. From the neighboring Red-Knives and Chipewyans, by barter for
skins, they obtained small pieces of iron, from which also they made
knives. Their awls were of iron or horn.
The guide whom they took from this country was anxious to return to
his people, and had to be watched constantly to prevent his escape.
As the explorers passed on northward they were constantly in sight of
the ridge of snowy mountains to the west. “Our conductor informed us
that great numbers of bears and small white buffaloes frequent those
mountains, which are also inhabited by Indians.” These white buffalo
have been thought to be white goats; probably they were the white sheep
(_Ovis dalli_) which inhabit the mountains to the west of the Mackenzie
River.
The next day more natives were met with, who, as usual, fled on
the approach of the white men. One old man, however, did not run,
but approached the travellers, “and represented himself as too far
advanced in life, and too indifferent about the short time he had to
remain in the world, to be very anxious about escaping from any danger
that threatened him; at the same time, he pulled his gray hairs from
his head by handfuls to distribute among us, and implored our favor
for himself and for his relations. Our guide, however, at length
removed his fears, and persuaded him to recall the fugitives, who
consisted of eighteen people.” These joyfully received the presents
of beads, knives, and awls, which were offered them, and overwhelmed
the explorers with hospitable attentions, giving them food, which was
gladly accepted. They told of dangers to be met with farther down the
river, and some of the natives accompanied Mackenzie’s people to point
out the safest channel of the rapids, which they declared to be just
beyond; but as a matter of fact there were no rapids. The river was
about three hundred yards broad, and Mackenzie’s soundings gave fifty
fathoms of water.
Along the river there were almost continuous encampments of Indians,
all of whom were spoken to, and all of whom traded food, such as hares,
ptarmigan and fish, to the travellers. The last parties met with were
Hare Indians, who told wonderful stories of danger and of fearful
things to be met on the river; and these terrors were not distant, for
according to the Indians, behind an island opposite their camp dwelt a
spirit in the river which swallowed every person that approached it.
Unfortunately, Mackenzie had no time to cross to the island, to see
whether it would swallow him.
The people met a little farther along were more attractive than those
seen earlier, many of whom had been sick, while these were “healthy,
full of flesh, and clean in their persons.” Their ornaments and
utensils did not differ greatly from those farther up the river. They
had a little iron, which they obtained from the Eskimos; their arrows
were made of very light wood, and winged with two feathers, while their
bows were of Eskimo type, made of two pieces spliced with sinew. Their
shirts were not cut square at the bottom, but tapered to a point from
the belt downward as low as the knee, before and behind, and these
points were fringed. Over the breast, back, and shoulders their shirts
were also fringed, the fringe being ornamented with the stone of a
berry, which was drilled and run on each string of the fringe. The
sleeves of the shirts were short and wide, and long mittens covered
their hands and arms. Their leggings were like trousers, and the shoes
sewed to the leggings.
These people told them that it would take ten more nights to reach the
sea, but after three nights they would meet the Eskimo. The reports
of some guns discharged as the canoes pushed off greatly alarmed
the Indians, and the guide that they had hired at this place seemed
inclined to leave them, until advised that the noise was a signal of
friendship. The guide and two of his companions who accompanied them on
their journey were merry fellows, singing not only their native songs,
but others in imitation of the Eskimos. Not satisfied with singing,
their guide proceeded to dance, and transferring himself to the white
men’s canoe, he danced in it, to their no small alarm lest it should be
upset.
Mackenzie now began to be a little uneasy, for his provisions were
growing scant, his hunters discouraged, and his men generally seemed
anxious to return. Some of them declared that they must turn back,
and the explorer was obliged to satisfy them by the assurance that he
would go forward only seven days more, and if he did not then reach the
sea, would return. They had now reached latitude 68°, and the sun was
continually above the horizon. On the 11th they met an abandoned camp
of Indians, where were seen parts of the fragments of three canoes,
and places where oil had been spilt. Later, an Eskimo hut was found,
and about it a great deal of property. Now, they began to see fresh
tracks of the Eskimos on the beach. According to their guide, they
were approaching a large lake, where the Eskimos lived, and in which
they killed large fish found there, which Mackenzie presumed must be
whales. White bears, and other large animals not identified from the
description, were told of, as well as the Eskimo canoes, which could
conveniently carry four or five families.
On the 12th, in the morning, they landed where there were four huts.
“The adjacent land is high and covered with short grass and flowers,
though the earth was not thawed above four inches from the surface,
beneath which was a solid body of ice. This beautiful appearance,
however, was strongly contrasted with the ice and snow that was seen
in the valleys. The soil, where there is any, is a yellow clay mixed
with stones. These huts appear to have been abandoned during the last
winter, and we had reason to think that some of the natives had been
lately there, as the beach was covered with the tracks of their feet.
Many of the runners and bars of their sledges were laid together
near the houses in a manner that seemed to denote the return of the
proprietors. There were also pieces of netting made of sinews, and
some of bark of the willow. A thread of the former was platted, and no
ordinary portion of time must have been employed in manufacturing so
great a length of cord. A square stone kettle with a flat bottom also
occupied our attention, which was capable of containing two gallons;
and we were puzzled as to the means these people must have employed to
have chiselled it out of a solid rock into its present form.”
When they had satisfied their curiosity they were about to re-embark,
but were puzzled to know where they should go or what channel they
should take. The lake was quite open to them to the westward, and
the water very shallow, so much so that it was impossible to go very
close to the shore. They therefore went to an island, where they
camped, and, having set the net, Mackenzie and his interpreter climbed
to the highest part of the island, from which they discovered solid
ice, extending from the south-west by compass to the north and to the
eastward. To the east were many islands.
As they passed along, on their walk of exploration, they came upon a
number of white partridges, now becoming brown--the ptarmigan--and
beautiful plover, which were breeding. There were also white owls, and
presently they came upon an Eskimo grave.
Even the Indians and the Canadians, seeing that the time for turning
back had almost come, began to regret that they must return without
coming to the sea, not knowing that they were already upon it. For
the next two or three nights they were several times obliged to move
the baggage to keep the water from flowing about it, and at last
Mackenzie concluded that this was the tide that was rising and falling.
One morning many large animals were seen in the water, and Mackenzie
recognized them as whales, and ordered the canoe to start in pursuit.
Fortunately, just at this time a fog arose and the whales were not
overtaken. These were white whales, and, the Indian guide stated, were
one of the principal sources of food for the Eskimo.
All Mackenzie’s efforts to meet these northern people failed, and on
Thursday, the 16th of July, the canoes entered the river and began the
return journey. They were still subsisting largely on the wild fowl
that the Indians killed and the fish that they took in their nets, and
these were barely enough to support them. Indeed, on some days the wild
fowl were so shy that they could not be approached, and this obliged
them to draw more or less on their store of provisions. However, on the
18th, and before they had gotten away from the country of the Eskimos,
the hunters killed two reindeer, a very fortunate addition to their
supply of food. But this killing of the reindeer was not without its
unfortunate side, for it so alarmed their guide that he deserted that
night. However, geese were plenty, and on the following day the hunters
killed twenty-two, and the next day fifteen, and four swans.
They were now obliged to resort to the laborious and slow towing-line
to ascend the river. They met a party of Indians, among whom was the
brother of the guide who had recently deserted, and Mackenzie sat up
all night to watch them. They were greatly interested when they saw him
writing, wondering what he was doing. As the night drew on, some women
came from the forest to the camp, and after remaining for a short time,
went away. “Those who remained immediately kindled a small fire and
layed themselves down to sleep around it, like so many whelps, having
neither skins nor garments of any kind to cover them, notwithstanding
the cold that prevailed. My people having placed their kettle of meat
on the fire, I was obliged to guard it from the natives, who made
several attempts to possess themselves of its contents; and this was
the only instance I had hitherto discovered of their being influenced
by a pilfering disposition. It might perhaps be a general opinion that
provisions were a common property.”
From here they continued to tow the canoe up the river. Some Indian
huts seen were built of drift-wood. On the slope of the beach, and on
the inside, earth was dug away to form a level floor. Within these
huts were drying scaffolds, covered with split fish, and fires made
in different parts of the hut warmed and dried the air, and hastened
the operation of drying. The Indians, probably the Loucheux, an
Athabascan tribe, told him of the Eskimos who dressed like themselves,
wore their hair short, and had two holes perforated, one on each
side of the mouth, in line with the under lip, on which they placed
long beads--the labrets, so well known as ornaments of the primitive
Eskimos. They reported the animals of their country to be reindeer,
bears, wolverines, martens, foxes, hares, and white buffaloes--white
sheep (_Ovis dalli_)--and that the latter were only to be found in the
mountains to the westward.
On the journey up the river the towing-line was much in use, but often,
when the wind was north, it was possible to use the sail. For six
days on this southward journey the party had not touched any of their
provision stores, but in this time, Mackenzie says, they had consumed
two reindeer, four swans, forty-five geese, and a considerable quantity
of fish. “I have always observed that the northmen possessed very
hearty appetites, but they were much exceeded by those with me since we
entered this river. I should really have thought it absolute gluttony
in my people, if my own appetite had not increased in a similar
proportion.”
He now began to hear, from the people whom he met, of a great river to
the west of the one he was travelling on, and beyond the mountains,
perhaps the Yukon or the Fraser. But the country through which this
river ran was inhabited by strange creatures. “The Indians represented
them as being of gigantic stature and adorned with wings, which,
however, they never employed in flying; that they fed on large birds,
which they killed with the greatest ease, though common men would be
certain victims of their voracity if they ventured to approach them.
They also described the people that inhabited the mouth of the river
as possessing the extraordinary power of killing with their eyes, and
devouring a large beaver at a single meal. They added that canoes of
very large dimensions visited that place. These tales, however, they
told not of their own knowledge, but from reports of other tribes.”
It was at this camp that Mackenzie was obliged to shoot an Indian dog,
which it was impossible to keep from interfering with his baggage,
which, of course, contained the provisions. “It was in vain that I had
remonstrated on this subject, so that I was obliged to commit the act
which is just mentioned. When these people heard the report of the
pistol, and saw the dog dead, they were seized with a very great alarm,
and the women took the children on their backs and ran into the woods.
I ordered the cause of this act of severity to be explained, with the
assurance that no injuries would be offered to themselves. The woman,
however, to whom the dog belonged was very much affected, and declared
that the loss of five children during the preceding winter had not
affected her so much as the death of this animal; but her grief was not
of very long duration, and a few beads, etc., soon assuaged her sorrow.”
On the way up the river, August 2, small springs of mineral water were
observed, as well as lumps of iron ore, and finally a “coal mine,”
or bed of lignite, on fire. The beach was covered with coal, and the
English Chief gathered some of it to be used as a black dye, to color
porcupine quills. A little farther on the Indian hunters killed a
beaver, whose fur was now beginning to grow long. Tracks of moose and
reindeer were seen, but all of them old. Since the weather was growing
cooler the reindeer would now leave the plains to come into the woods,
for the mosquitoes were beginning to disappear. Though the river had
fallen much the current was still very strong, and the work difficult.
The weather was cold, and now their violent exercise scarcely kept
them warm. The women constantly remained in the canoes, making
moose-skin moccasins for the men, who as constantly wore them out, a
pair lasting not more than one day.
On the 7th they saw two reindeer on the beach before them, but the
Indians, quarrelling to see which should be the first to get near
them, alarmed the deer, which ran away. However, a female reindeer was
killed, whose legs showed wounds, and it was supposed that she had
been pursued by wolves, which devoured her young one. One of the young
Indians took her udder, which was full of milk, and, squeezing it over
some boiled corn, ate the mixture with great relish.
On the 10th, accompanied by one of his young Indians, Mackenzie
strove without success to reach the mountains which were seen on the
south-west of the river.
For the last few days the hunters had been unsuccessful, killing only a
beaver, a few hares, and a few water-fowl, but on the 13th they reached
the island where they had hidden their pemmican on the way down, and
raising the cache, found themselves once more in plenty. A little later
they saw another camp of Indians, who, very much frightened, drew their
canoes up on the beach and fled to the woods, leaving much of their
property behind them. This was pounced upon by Mackenzie’s Indians,
and he took his interpreter severely to task for their conduct. This
brought on a more or less violent dispute, in the course of which the
English Chief declared that he would accompany Mackenzie no farther,
but would leave him and remain here. The Indian and all his relations
wept bitterly, but after a few hours Mackenzie persuaded him to
continue the journey, and propitiated him by a gift of rum.
On the 17th and 18th of August the hunters were more successful, and on
the last day the English Chief killed a buffalo, while a few water-fowl
were brought in daily. They now found signs of a Cree encampment and
presently reached the entrance of Slave Lake. Coasting around this,
often in heavy weather, they came upon Mr. Le Roux, from the fort
there, and found that he had been somewhat successful in trading for
skins, having five packs, principally of marten. Large game seemed
abundant here, and the tracks of buffalo, moose, and reindeer were
seen. On August 30 they reached Mr. Le Roux’s house.
Here Mackenzie’s Indians left him, on the ground that he travelled
too fast for them and that they feared they should be drowned if they
followed so reckless a sailor. Mr. Le Roux’s establishment was left on
the 31st of August, and twelve days later, after many difficulties from
storm and cold, they reached Fort Chipewyan, having concluded a voyage
which had occupied one hundred and two days.