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. Illustrated with maps. By A. M [assisted by...

Front matter

THROUGH THE Continent of North America, &c. &c. ALEXANDER MACKENZIE -Esq!" Ltvidi'nJhJ'Uikcd as t/o . ii directs. KoyAtz i'A-i. VOYAGES FROM MONTREAL, ON THE RIVER ST. LAURENCE, THROUGH THE CONTINENT OF NORTH AMERICA, TO THE FROZEN AND PACIFIC OCEANS; In the Yean 1789 and 1793. - WITH A PRELIMINARY ACCOUNT OF THE RISE, PROGRESS, AND PRESENT STATE OF THE FUR TRADE OF THAT COUNTRY. ILLUSTRATED WITH MAPS BY ALEXANDER MACKENZIE, ESQ ■ L 0 N D 0 N: PRINTED FOR T. CADELL, JUN. AND W. DAVIES, STRAND; COBBETT AND MORGAN, PALL-MALL; AND W. CREECH, AT EDINBURGH. BY R. NOBLE, OLD-BAILEY. M.DCCC.I b||l TO HIS MOST SACRED MAJESTY GEORGE THE THIRD, THIS VOLUME IS INSCRIBED, BY HIS MAJESTY'S MOST FAITHFUL SUBJECT, AND DEVOTED SERVANT, ALEXANDER MACKENZIE. A

Preface

. \JN presenting this Volume to my Country, it is not necessary to enter into a particular account of those voyages whose journals form the prin cipal part of it, as they will be found, I trust, to explain themselves. It appears, however, to be a duty, which the Public have a right to expect from me, to state the reasons which have influenced me in delaying the publication of them. It has been asserted, that a misunderstanding between a person high in office and myself, was the cause of this procrastination. It has also been propagated, that it was occasioned by that precaution which the policy of commerce will sometimes suggest ; but they are both equally devoid of foundation. The one is an idle tale; and there could be no solid reason for concealing the circumstances of discoveries, -whose arrangements and prosecution were so honourable to my associates and myself, at whose expence they were undertaken.

The delay actually arose from the very active and busy mode of life in which I was engaged since the voyages have been completed; and when, at length, the op portunity arrived, the apprehension of presenting myself to the Public in the character of an Author, for which the course and occupations of A 2 my

PREFACE.

. IV my life have by no means qualified me, made me hesitate in committing my papers to the Press ; being much better calculated to perform the voyages, arduous as they might be, than to write an account of them. However, they are now offered to the Public with the submission that becomes me. I was led, at an early period of life, by commercial views, tothe country North-West of Lake Superior, in North America, and being endowed by Nature with an inquisitive mind and enterprising spirit ; possessing also a constitution and frame of body equal to themost arduous undertakings, and being; familiar with toilsome exertions in the prosecution of mercantile pursuits, I not only contemplated the practi cability of penetrating across the continent of America, but was con fident in the qualifications, as I was animated by the desire, to undertake the perilous enterprize.

The general utility of such a discovery, has beeii universally ac knowledged; while the wishes of my particular friends and commercial associates, that I should proceed in the pursuit os it, contributed to quicken the execution of this favourite project of my own ambition : and as the completion of it extends the boundaries of geographic science, and adds new countries to the realms of Britisii commerce, the danger I have encountered, and the toils I have suffered, have found their recompence ; nor will the many tedious and weary days, or the gloomy and inclement nights which I have passed, have been passed in vain. The

PREFACE.

. V The first voyage has settled the dubious point of a practicable North- West passage*, and I trust, that it has set that long agitated question at rest, and extinguiflied the disputes respecting it for ever. An enlarged discussion of that subject will be sound to occupy the concluding pages of this volume. In this 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. These objects being accomplished, I returned, to determine the practi cability of a commercial communication through the continent of North America, between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, which is proved by my second journal.

Nor do I hesitate to declare my decided opinion, that very great and essential advantages may be derived by ex tending our trade from one sea to the other. Some account of the sur trade of Canada from that country, of the native inhabitants, and of the extensive districts connected with it, forms a preliminary discourse, which will, I trust, prove interesting to a nation whose general policy is blended with, and whose prosperity is supported by, the pursuits of commerce. It will also qualify the reader to pursue the succeeding voyages with, superior intelligence and satisfac tion. • . These voyages will not, I fear, afford the variety that may be expected frOsTi them ; and that which they offered to the eye, is not of a nature

PREFACE.

. VI nature to be effectually transferred to the page. Mountains and vallies, the dreary waste, and wide-spreading forests, the lakes and riv ers suc ceed each other in general description; and, except on the coasts ofthe Pacific Ocean, where the villages were permanent, and the inhabitants in a great measure stationary, small bands of wandering Indians are the, only people whom I stiall introduce to the acquaintance of my readers. The beaver and the buffalo, the moose-deer and the elk, which are the principal animals to be found in these countries, are already so familiar to the naturalists of Europe, and have been so often as well as correctly described in their works, that the bare mention of them, as they enlivened the landscape, or were hunted sor food ; with a cur sory account of the soil, the course and navigation of lakes and rivers, and their various produce, is all that can be reasonably expected from me.

I do not possess the science of the naturalist; and even if the qualifications of that character had been attained by me, its curious spirit would not have been gratified. I could not stop to dig into the earth, over whose surface I was compelled to pass with rapid steps; nor could I turn aside to collect the plants which nature might have scattered on the way, when my thoughts were anxi oufly employed in making provision for the day that was passing over me. 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

PREFACE.

. VII fears of others to control and subdue. To day I had to assuage the rising discontents, and on the morrow to cheer the fainting spirits, of the people who accompanied me. The toil-©f our navigation was in cessant, and oftentimes extreme; and in our progress over land wfe had no protection from the severity of the elements, and possessed no accommodations or conveniences but such as could be contained in the burden on our shoulders, which aggravated the toils of our march, and added to the wearisomeness of our way. Though the events which compose my journals may have little in themselves to strike the imagination of those who love to be astonished, or to gratify the curiosity of such as are enamoured of romantic adven tures ; nevertheless, when it is considered that I explored those waters which had never before borne any other vessel than the canoe of the savage; and traversed those deserts where an European had never before presented himself to the eye of its swarthy natives ; when to these considerations are added the important objects which were pursued, with the dangers that were encountered, and the difficulties that were surmounted to attain them, this work will, I flatter myself, be found to excite an interest, and conciliate regard, in the minds of those who peruse it. ft The general map which illustrates this volume, is reduced by Mr. Arrowsmith from his three-sheet map of North-America, with the latest discoveries, which he is about to republish. His professional abilites are well known, and no encomium of mine will advance the general and merited opinion of them. Before

PREFACE.

. VIII Before I conclude, I must beg leave to inform my readers, that they are not to expect the^ charms of embellished narrative, or animated description; the approbation*due to simplicity and to truth is all I presume to claim; and I am not without the hope that this claim will be allowed me. I have described whatever I saw with the impressions of the moment which presented it to me. -The successive circumstances of my progress are related without exaggeration or display. I have seldom allowed myself to wander into conjecture; and whenever conjecture has been in dulged, it will be found, I trust, to be accompanied with the temper of a man who is not disposed to think too highly of himself: and if at any time I have delivered myself with confidence, it will appear, I hope, to be on those subjects which, from the habits and experience of my life, will justify an unreserved communication of my opinions.

I am not a candidate for literary fame: at the fame time, I cannot but in dulge the hope that this volume, with all its imperfections, will «ot be thought unworthy the attention of the scientific geographer; and that, by unfolding countries hitherto unexplored, and which, I presume, may now be considered as a part of the British dominions, it will be received as a faithful tribute to the prosperity of my country. ALEXANDER MACKENZIE. London, November 30, 1801. A GEN ERAL HISTORY OF THE FUR TRADE FROM CANADA TO THE NORTH-WEST. JL HE fur trade, from the earliest settlement of Canada, was considered of the first importance to that colony. The country was then so populous, that, in the vicinity of the establishments, the animals whose skins were precious, in a commercial view, soon became very scarce, if not altogether extinct.

They were, it is true, hunted at former periods, but merely for food and clothing. The Indians, there fore, to procure the necessary supply, were encouraged to penetrate into the country, and were generally accompanied by some of the Cana dians, who found means to induce the remotest tribes of natives to bring the steins which were most in demand, to their settlements, in the way of trade. It is not necessary for me to examine the cause, but experience prores that it requires much less time for a civilized people to deviate into a the the Partners and customs of savage life, than sor savages to rife into a state of civilization. Such was the event with those who thus accom panied the natives on their hunting and trading excursions; for they became so attached tothe Indian mode of life, that they lost all relish for their former habits and native homes.

Hence they derived the title of Coureurs des Bois, became a kind of pedlars, and were extremely useful to the merchants' engaged in the fur trade; who gave them the necessary credit to proceed on their commercial undertakings. Three or sour of these people would join their stock, put their pro perty into a birch-bark canoe, which they worked themselves, and either accompanied the natives in their excursions, or went at once to the country where they knew they were to hunt. At length, these voyages extended to twelve or fifteen months, when they returned with rich cargoes of furs, and followed by great numbers of the natives. During the short time requisite to settle their accounts with the merchants, and procure fresh credit, they generally contrived to squander away all their gains, when they returned to renew their favourite mode of life : their views being answered, and their labour sufficiently rewarded, by indulging themselves in extravagance and dissipation during the short space of one month in twelve or fifteen.

This indifference about amassing property, and the pleasure of living free from all restraint, soon brought on a licentiousness of manners which could not long escape the vigilant observation of the missionaries, who had much reason to complain of their being a disgrace to the Chris tian religion ; by not only swerving from its duties themselves, but by thus thus bringing it into disrepute with those of the natives who hr 1 ' ecome converts to it ; and, consequently, obstructing the great object to which those pious men had devoted their lives. They, therefore, exerted their influence to procure the suppression of these people, and accordingly, no one was allowed to go up the country to traffic with the Indians, without a licence from the government. At first these permissions were, of course, granted only to those whose character was such as could give no alarm to the zeal ofthe missionaries : but they were afterwards bestowed as rewards for services, on officers, and their widows; and they, who were not willing or able to make use of them, (which may be supposed to be always the case with those of the latter description) were allowed to sell them to the merchants, who necessarily employed the Coureurs des bois, in quality of their agents ; and these people, as may be imagined, gave sufficient cause for the renewal of former complaints ; so that the remedy proved, in fact, worse than the disease.

At length, military posts were established at the confluence of the dif ferent large lakes of Canada, which, in a great measure, checked the evil consequences that followed from the improper conduct of these foresters, and, at the fame time, protected the trade. Besides, a number of able and respectable men retired from the army, prosecuted the trade in person, under their respective licences, with great order and regularity, and extended it to such a distance, as, in those days, was consi dered to be an astonishing effort of commercial enterprize. These per sons and the missionaries having combined their views at the fame a 2 time, time, secured the respect ofthe natives, and the obedience ofthe people necessarily employed in the laborious parts of this undertaking. These gentlemen denominated themselves commanders, and not traders, though they were intitled to both those characters : and, as for the missionaries, if sufferings and hardships in the prosecution of the great work which they had undertaken, deserved applause and admiration, they had an undoubted claim to be admired and applauded : they spared no labour and avoided no danger in the execution of their important office ; and it is to be seriously lamented, that their pious endeavours did not meet with the success which they deserved : sor there is hardly a trace to be found beyond the cultivated parts, of their meritorious functions.

The cause of this failure must be attributed to a want of due consi deration in the mode employed by the missionaries to propagate the religion of which they were the zealous ministers. They habituated themselves to the savage life, and naturalised themselves to the savage manners, and, by thus becoming dependant, as it were, on the natives, they acquired their contempt rather than their veneration. If they had been as well acquainted with human nature, as they were with the articles of their faith, they would have known, that the uncultivated mind of an Indian must be disposed by much preparatory method and instruction to receive the revealed truths of Christianity, to act under its sanctions, and be impelled to good by the hope of its reward, or turned from evil by the fear of its punishments.

They should have began their work by teaching some of those useful arts which are the inlets of knowledge, and lead the mind by degrees to objects of higher comprehension. Agricul ture so formed to fix and combine society, and so preparatory to objects, V objects of superior consideration, ssiould have been the first thing introduced among a savage people: it attaches the wandering tribe to that spot where it adds so much to their comforts; while it gives them a sense of property, and of lasting possession, instead of the uncertain hopes of the chase, and the fugitive produce of uncultivated wilds. Such were the means by which the forests of Paraguay were converted into a scene of abundant cultivation, and its savage inhabitants introduced to all the advantages of a civilized life. The Canadian missionaries should have been contented to improve the morals of their own countrymen, so that by meliorating their character and conduct, they would have given a striking example of the effect of religion in promoting the comforts of life to the surrounding savages; and might by degrees have extended its benign influence to the remotest regions of that country, which was the object, and intended to be the scene, of their evangelic labours.

But by bearing the light of the Gospel at once to the distance of two thousand five hundred miles from the civilized part of the colonies, it was soon obscured by the cloud of ignorance that darkened the human mind in those distant regions. The whole of their long route I have often travelled, and the recollection of such a people as the missionaries having been there, was con fined to a few superannuated Canadians, who had not left that country since the cession to the English, in 1763, and who particularly mentioned the death of some, and the distressing situation of them all. But if these religious men did not attain the objects of their persevering piety, they were, during their mission, of great service to the commanders1 who engaged vi

PREFACE.

. nature to be effectually transferred to the page. Mountains and vallies, the dreary waste, and wide-spreading forests, the lakes and rlv ers suc ceed each other in general description ; and, except on the coasts of the Pacific Ocean, where the villages were permanent, and the inhabitants in a great measure stationary, small bands of wandering Indians are the only people whom I shall introduce to the acquaintance of my readers. The beaver and the buffalo, the moose-deer and the elk, which are the principal animals to be found in these countries, are already so familiar to the naturalists of Europe, and have been so often as well as correctly described in their works, that the bare mention of them, as they enlivened the landscape, or were hunted for food ; with a cur sory account of the soil, the course and navigation of lakes and rivers, and their various produce, is all that can be reasonably expected from me.

I do not possess the science of the naturalist; and even if the qualifications of that character had been attained by me, its curious spirit would not have been gratified. I could not stop to dig into the earth, over whose surface I was compelled to pass with rapid steps; nor could I turn aside to collect the plants which nature might have scattered on the way, when my thoughts were anxiously employed in making provision for the day that was passing over me. 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

PREFACE.

. vn fears of others to control and subdue. To day I had to assuage the rising discontents, and on the morrow to cheer the fainting spirits, of the people who accompanied me. The toil our navigation was in cessant, and oftentimes extreme ; and in our progress over land wfe had no protection from the severity of the elements, and possessed no accommodations or conveniences but such as could be contained in the burden on our shoulders, which aggravated the toils of our march, and added to the wearisomeness of our way. Though the events which compose my journals may have little in themselves to strike the imagination of those who love to be astonished, or to gratify the curiosity os such as are enamoured of romantic adven tures ; nevertheless, when it is considered that I explored those waters which had never before borne any other vessel than the canoe of the savage; and traversed those deserts where an European had never before presented himself to the eye of its swarthy natives ; when to these considerations are added the important objects which were pursued, with the dangers that were encountered, and the difficulties that were surmounted to attain them, this work will, I flatter myself, be found to excite an interest, and conciliate regard, in the minds of those who peruse it.

The general map which illustrates this volume, is reduced by Mr. Arrows mith from his three-sheet map of North-America, with the latest discoveries, which he is about to republish. His professional abilites are well known, and no encomium of mine will advance the general and merited opinion of them. Before Hence it arose, that it was so late as the year 1766, before which, the. trade I mean to consider, commenced from Michilimakinac. The first who attempted it were satisfied to go the length ofthe River Camenistiquia, about thirty miles to the Eastward of the Grande Portage, where the French had a principal establishment, and was the line of their communication with the interior country. It was once destroyed by fire. Here they went and returned successful in the following spring to Michilima kinac.

Their success induced them to renew their journey, and incited others to follow their example. Some of them remained at Camenisti quia, while others proceeded to and beyond the Grande Portage, which, since that time has become the principal entrepot of that trade, and is situated in a bay, in latitude 48. North, and longitude 90. West. After passing the usual season there, they went back to Michilimakinac as before, and encouraged by the trade, returned in increased numbers. One of these, Thomas Curry, with a spirit of enterprize superior to that of his contemporaries, determined to penetrate to the furthest limits of the French discoveries in that country; or at least till the frost should stop him. For this purpose he procured guides and interpreters, who were acquainted with the country, and with four canoes arrived at Fort Bourbon, which was one of their posts, at the West end of the Cedar Lake, on the waters "of the Sasl<.atchiwine.

His risk and toil were well re compensed, for he came back the following spring with his canoes filled with fine furs, with which he proceeded to Canada, and was satisfied never again to return to the Indian country. From this period people began to spread over every part of the coun try, particularly where the French had established settlements. Mr. James Sec. XI Mr. James Finlay was the first who followed Mr. Curry's example, and with the fame number of canoes, arrived, in the course of the next season, at Nipawee, the last of the French settlements on the bank of the Safkatchiwine River, in latitude nearly 434- North, and longitude 103 West: he found the good fortune, as he followed, in every respect, the example, of his predecessor. As may be supposed, there were now people enough ready to replace them, and the trade was pursued with such avidity, and irregularity, that in a few years it became the reverse of what it ought to have been.

An animated competition prevailed, and the contending parties carried the trade beyond the French limits, though with no benefit to themselves or neighbours, the Hudson's-Bay Company; who in the year 1774, and not till then, thought proper to move from home to the East bank of Sturgeon Lake, in latitude 53. 56. North, and longitude 102. 15. West, and became more jealous of their fellow subjects; and, perhaps, with more cause, than they had been of those of France. From this period to the present time, they have been following the Canadians to their different establishments, while, on the contrary, there is not a solitary instance that the Canadians have followed them; and there are many trading posts which they have not yet attained. This, however, will no longer be a mystery when the nature and policy of the Hudson's-Bay Company is compared with that which has been pursued by their rivals in this trade. — But to return to my subject.

This competition, which has been already mentioned, gave a fatal blow to the trade from Canada, and, with other incidental causes, in my b opinion, X opinion, contributed to its ruin, * This trade was carried on in a very distant country, out ofthe reach of legal restraint, and where there was a free scope given to any ways or means in attaining advantage. 1 he consequence was not only the loss of commercial benefit to the persons engaged in it, but ofthe good opinion ofthe natives, and the respect of their men, who were inclined to follow their example ; so that with drink ing, carousing, and quarrelling with the Indians along their route, and among themselves, they seldom reached their winter quarters; and if they did, it was generally by dragging their property upon fledges, as the navigation was closed up by the frost.

When at length they were arrived, the obje£l of each was to injure his rival traders in the opinion ofthe natives as much as was in their power, by misrepresentation and presents, for which the agents employed were peculiarly calculated. They considered the command of their employer as binding on them, and however wrong or irregular the transaction, the responsibility rested with the principal who directed them. This is Indian law. Thus did they waste their credit and their property with the natives, till the first was past redemption, and the last was nearly exhausted ; so that towards the spring in each year, the rival parties found it absolutely necessary to join, and make one common stock of what remained, sor the purpose of trading with the natives, who could entertain no respect for persons who had conducted themselves with so much irregularity and deceit.

The winter, therefore was one continued scene of disagreements and quarrels. If any one had the precaution or good fense to keep clear of these proceedings, he derived a proportionable advantage from his good conduct, and frequently proved a peace-maker between the parties. To such an height had they carried this licentious conduct, that they were See. XI were in a continual state of alarm, and were even frequently stopped to pay tribute on their route into the country ; though they had adopted the plan of travelling together in parties of thirty or forty canoes, and keeping their men armed ; which sometimes, indeed, proved necessary for their defence. Thus was the trade carried on for several years, and consequently be coming worse and worse, so that the partners, who met them at the Grande Portage, naturally complained of their ill success.

But specious reasons were always ready to prove that it arose from circumstances which they could not at that time control ; and encouragements were held forth to hope that a change would soon take place, which would make ample amends for past disappointments. It was about this time, that Mr. Joseph Frobilher, one of the gentlemen eno-aged in the trade, determined to penetrate into the country yet unexplored, to the North and Westward, and, in the spring ofthe year 1775, met the Indians from that quarter on their way' to Fort Churchill, at Portage de Traite, so named from that circumstance on the banks of the Missinipi, or Churchill River, latitude 55. 25. North, longitude 103-f-. West. It was, indeed, with some difficulty that he could induce them to trade with him, but he at length procured as many furs as his canoes could carry.

In this perilous expedition he sustained every kind of hardship incident to a journey through a wild and savage country, where his subsistence depended on what the woods and the waters produced. These difficulties, nevertheless, did not discourage him from returning in the following year, when he was equally successful. b2 He He then sent his brother to explore the country still further West, who penetrated as far as the lake of Isle a la Croix, in latitude 55. 26. North, and longitude 108 West. He, however, never after wintered among the Indians, though he retained a large interest in the trade, and a principal share in the direction of it till the year 1798, when he retired to enjoy the fruits of his labours; and, by his hospitality, became known to every respectable stranger who visited Canada.

The success of this gentleman induced others to follow his example, and in. the spring of the year 1778, some of the traders on the Safkat chiwine River, finding they had a quantity of goods to spare, agreed to put them into a joint stock, and gave the charge and management of them to Mr. Peter Pond, who, in four canoes, was directed to enter the English River, so called by Mr. Frobisher, to follow his track, and proceed still further ; if possible, to Athabasca, a country hitherto unknown but from Indian report. In this enterprise he at length succeeded, and pitched his tent on the banks ofthe Elk River, by him erroneously called the Athabasca River, about thirty miles from the Lake of the Hills, into which it empties itself. Here he passed the winter of 1778-9; saw a vast concourse of the Knisteneaux and Chepewyan tribes, who used to carry their furs annually to Churchill ; the latter by the barren grounds, where they suffered in numerable hardships, and were sometimes even starved to death.