Voyages from Montreal through the continent of North America to the frozen and Pacific oceans in 1789 and 1793, with an account of the rise and state of the fur trade

Introduction

Champlain had pushed as far as Lake

- Huron and the Georgian Bay. Before the

''^^ end of the seventeenth century French ex-

^ plorers had reached the western end of Lake

Superior; La Salle had set np the lilies of

France at the mouth of the Mississippi ; Rad-

isson had gone overland to James Bay.*

In the eighteenth century began the exploration of the western plains, in which the first great name is that of a native-born Canadian, Pierre Gualtier de la Verendrye. Born at Three Rivers in 1685, La Verendrye early entered the army, saw service in Flanders and was left for dead on the field of Malplaquet. Returning to Canada he took to the fur trade, and from 1731 on he and his heroic sons made journey after journey to the westward. In 1737 he built a fort on the site where is now the city of Winnipeg, and in 1742-3 an expedition under his son Pierre reached the lodges of the Mandans on the Upper Missouri, and saw rise into view the

* Justin Winsor, Geographical Discovery in th^ Interior of ^'orth America, 1534-1698, and Lawrence J. Burpee, The Search for the Western Sea, give good accounts of the gradual exploration of the continent.

iii jagged line of the Kockies. But lacl guides compelled the 3^oung explorer to back, and the death of La Verendrye in : left the mountain barrier still unpierced With the expulsion of France from continent of North America in 1763, Hudson's Bay Company, which had hitt confined its operations to the neighbor] of Hudson Bay, began to send trading exploring parties inland, which gathered ; large profits that in 1783-4 the merchani Montreal founded in opposition the Nc west Fur-Trading Company. The chief tories of the older company were on Hui Bay, whence the furs were shipped by "w to England, but the partners of the North Company, most of whom were young and e getic Scotchmen, brought their furs fron land posts to Montreal by many a winding ] and toilsome portage, and so added imp to exploration. Among their employees Alexander Mackenzie, a sturdy young h lander, born at Stornoway in the islani Lewis in 1763. After some years in counting-house at Montreal, and a yea Detroit, Mackenzie came west, and was tioned at Fort Chipewyan on Lake Athabf Hence on June 3, 1789, he started no ward with a small party of Indians; July 13th he reached the mouth of the g

iv

INTRODUCTION

river which bears his name; on Sept". 12th he was back at his post. Three years later he essayed an even bolder journey. On Oct. 10, 1792, he set out along the valley of the Peace, and wintered near the mouth of Smoky Eiver; in the spring he struggled on to the Fraser, but after descending it for some distance left it for a last dash across country, and after a thousand perils splendidly surmounted by himself and his French- Canadian Voyageurs, on July 20, 1793, he came out on the shores of the Pacific. (See vol. ii., p. 282.) The problem of Cartier, of Champlain, of La Verendrye was solved at last; the continent had been crossed; the great South Sea was won. Agamemnon's was a small heroism compared to that of this Scottish fur-trader.

Mackenzie's later life was prosperous and turbulent. He returned with a competence to London, where in 1801 he published his voyages in a large quarto volume, dedicated to King George III. In the following year he was knighted. Soon afterward he returned to Canada, and was a prominent member of the X. Y. Co., which was for some years a vigorous rival of the older companies, but which in 1804-5 united with the Northwest Company. He was elected to the parliament of Lower Canada as member for Hunt-

INTRODUCTION

ingdon, but made no special mark. A few years later he retired to Scotland, married and bought an estate in Eosshire, on which he resided till his death in March, 1820.

W. L. Grant.

n

Preface

On presenting this Volume to my Country^ it is not necessary to enter into a particular account of those voyages whose journals form the principal part of it, as they will be found, I trust, to explain themselves. It appears, liowever, 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 oc- <}asioned 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 expense 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 opportunity arrived, the apprehension of previi

PREFACE.

senting myself to the Public in the character of an Author, for which the course and occupations of 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, to the country North- West of Lake Superior, in North America, and be- ^ ing endowed by Nature with an inquisitive mind and enterprising spirit ; possessing also a constitution and frame of body equal to the most arduous undertakings, and being familiar with toilsome exertions in the prosecution of mercantile pursuits, I not only contemplated the practicability of penetrating across the continent of America, but was confident in the qualifications, as I was animated by the desire, to undertake the perilous enterprise.

The general utility of such a discovery, has been universally acknowledged; while the wishes of my particular friends and commercial associates, that I should proceed in the pursuit of 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 British viii

PREFACE.

commerce, the dangers 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 first voyage has settled the dubious point of a practicable North-West passage; and I trust it has set that long agitated question at rest, and extinguished the disputes respecting it for ever. An enlarged discussion of that subject will be found 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 practicability 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 extending our trade from one sea to the other.

Some account of the fur trade of Canada from that country, of the native inhabitants, ix

PREFACE.

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 satisfaction.

These voyages will not, I fear, afford the variety that may be expected from them; and that which they offered to the eye, is not of a nature to be effectually transferred to the page. Mountains and valleys, the dreary waste, and the wide-spreading forests, the lakes and rivers succeed 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 cursory account of the soil, the course and navigation of lakes and rivers, and their various produce,

X

PREFACE.

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 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 of our navigation was incessant, and oftentimes extreme; and in our progress over land, we 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 inarch, and added to the wearisomeness of our way.

Though the events which compose my xi

PREFACE.

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 adventures ; 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. Arrowsmith from his three-sheet map of North America, with the latest discoveries, which he is about to republish. His professional abilities are well known, and no encomium of mine will advance the general and merited opinion of them.

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 dexii scribed 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 indulged, 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 same time, I cannot but indulge the hope that this volume, with all its imperfections, will not 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, Kovember 30, 1801.

Xlll

Chapter I

Embarked at Fort Chepewyan, on the Lake of the Hills, in company with M. Le Roux. Account of the party, provisions, etc. Direction of the course. Enter one of the branches of the Lake. Arrive in the Peace River. Appearance of the land. Navigation of the river. Arrive at the mouth of the Dog River. Successive description of several carrying places. A canoe lost in one of the Falls. Encamp on Point de Roche. Course continued. Set the nets, etc. Arrive at the Slave Lake. The weather extremely cold. Banks of the river described, with its trees, soil, etc. Account of the Cjuimal productions, and the fishery of the Lake. Obliged to wait till the moving of the ice. Three families of Indians arrive from Athabasca. Beavers, geese, and swans killed. The nets endangered by ice. Re-embark and land on a small island. Course continued along the shores, and across the bays of the Lake. Various successes of the hunters. Steer for an island where there was plenty of cranberries and small onions. Kill several reindeer. Land on an island named Isle a la Cache. Clouds of mosquitoes . . 193

CHAPTER 11.

Landed at some lodges of Red-Knife Indians: pro cure one of them to assist in navigating the bays Conference with the Indians. Take leave of M XV