Crossing the continent

Alexander Mackenzie · 1789 CE – 1793 CE · Earth

Crossing the continent — Alexander Mackenzie · 1789 CE – 1793 CE · Earth — Recorded expedition route · schematic map

Reach the western ocean across North America.

Historical context

The North West Company of Montreal traded for furs as far as Lake Athabasca and wanted a way to carry them to the Pacific. Its partner Alexander Mackenzie made two journeys in search of one: in 1789 down the river the Dene call Deh Cho, which led to the Arctic Ocean, and in 1793 up the Peace River, over the Rockies and along Nuxalk and Carrier trade trails to the sea. Country unknown to the traders was home to the Dene, Inuvialuit, Nuxalk, Heiltsuk and other peoples, who guided, fed and sometimes resisted them.

The voyage, step by step

  1. From Fort Chipewyan

    3 June 1789

    On 3 June 1789 Mackenzie leaves Fort Chipewyan, on the south shore of Lake Athabasca, to look for a river route to the western ocean.

  2. The Arctic, not the Pacific

    14 July 1789

    On 14 July 1789, on an island off the river’s mouth that he named Whale Island, Mackenzie raises a post carved with his name: the river has led to the Arctic Ocean, not the Pacific.

  3. Over the Rockies

    22 May 1793

    On 22 May 1793, at the canyon where the Peace River cuts through the Rockies, Mackenzie’s party hauls its canoe up the mountainside; in June a beaten Indigenous path takes it over the height of land.

  4. The Pacific reached

    22 July 1793

    On 22 July 1793, on a rock in Dean Channel, Mackenzie paints his name and the date: the first recorded crossing of North America north of Mexico.

Outcome

Reached the Arctic Ocean in July 1789 and the Pacific at Dean Channel on 22 July 1793, both times with Indigenous guides.

Alexander Mackenzie

Scottish-born fur trader of the North West Company who made the first recorded crossing of North America north of Mexico.

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Sources

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