More about Sir Alexander Mackenzie
Sir Alexander Mackenzie was born in 1764 in Stornoway on the Isle of Lewis. In 1771, his family emigrated to New York, but most of Alexander's schooling was in Montreal in Canada. In 1779, he entered the service of Gregory MacLeod and Company, fur traders in Montreal. The company was later to merge with other companies in the area to become the North West Company.
First expedition
On June 3, 1789, Mackenzie started on the first of his expeditions from Fort Chipewyan on Lake Athabasca, to open up new trading routes for the fur trade. His intention was to find a route from east Canada to the Pacific Coast. He set off with a party of voyageurs, native hunters and interpreters, travelling in birch-bark canoes. They followed the Slave River encountering many hazards but eventually found themselves in a river flowing north-west. As they progressed up the river, it became clear that they were in a very northern latitude, and they soon reached the Arctic Ocean. It was a great disappointment to Mackenzie that he had reached the north coast instead of the West, but the river he had followed, initially called the River of Disappointment by him, was later to become the Mackenzie River.
Second expedition
In 1791, he returned to England to study
navigational techniques and to buy new equipment. On returning to Canada, he set out on his second expedition from Fort Chipewyan with a party of voyageurs, two native hunters and interpreters and a dog. After wintering in Fort
Fork on the Peace River, they continued along the Peace River, again encountering many hazards, but they finally reached the Pacific Coast near Bella Coola, where he inscribed on a rock, "Alexander
Mackenzie from Canada by land, 22nd July 1793". His inscription can still be seen today. Alexander Mackenzie was the first person to make the journey from the east to the west of Canada over the Rockies. As well as the Mackenzie
River, other areas of Canada bearing his name include Mackenzie Mountains, Mackenzie Bay, and Mackenzie Island. In 1801 he published his journals, dedicating them to the King and he was knighted for his exploration of Canada by
King George III in 1802. After some years in politics in Canada, he returned to England in 1808, marrying Geddes Mackenzie
of Avoch in 1812. He bought the estate of Avoch, but they spent part of the year in their house in London, and the other part in Avoch House. He became a caring laird in Avoch, taking an interest in local agriculture, as well as being instrumental in the building of the first
harbour in Avoch. He died in 1820 on his way back from Edinburgh, where he had been seeking medical advice, and his body was brought back to Avoch and buried in Avoch Churchyard. In the
last ten years, since the 200th anniversary of his journeys, there has been a revival of interest in his story, and the burial enclosure in Avoch is a stopping place for Canadians visiting this country.
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