Note 4 — INTRODUCTION

Sir Alexander Mackenzie, one of the most intrepid of Canadian explorers, was the first to reach Pacific waters by an overland route from the East. Entering the service of the North West Company in 1779, he made his first westward journey five years later, and upon the reorganization of the company (1787) was placed in charge of the Athabascan district, with headquarters at Fort Chepewyan. Fired with zeal for discovery, Mackenzie set out (1789) for the Arctic Ocean, whither he proceeded by way of the great river which now bears his name—an adventurous and perilous expedition of a hundred and two days. He immediately began preparations for a second journey to the Pacific. For this he was obliged to repair to London to obtain astronomical instruments and geographical information. By the autumn of 1791, he was again at Fort Chepewyan, whence he proceeded to the forks of Peace River, to prepare for departure thence the following spring. Having crossed the divide, he came upon Fraser River; but finding that it trended too far southward, he crossed over by land to the ocean, reaching his farthest point at the mouth of Cascade Inlet, in Dean Inlet, latitude about 52° 20′ north. Franchère’s “six degrees farther north” is correct; but by the “bottom of Puget Sound” he must intend the northern end of Georgian Strait, the farthest portion of Vancouver Island. Mackenzie painted his name and the date—July 22, 1793—upon a rock fronting the ocean, and returned to Fort Chepewyan. The narrative of his travels appeared in 1801. He was knighted the following year, and died near Edinburgh in 1820.—Ed.