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Alexander
Mackenzie
(1764-1820):
Explorer Extraordinaire
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Alexander Mackenzie
was born in Scotland. He moved to the American colonies when he
was 10 years old. He began work for the North West Company in
1774. He was given the job of exploring new land in search of fur
supplies. He made several expeditions in search of the Northwest
Passage. On his first trip he travelled down a 450 km river, which
was later named after him. After five weeks, he reached Ocean, but
it was the wrong one. He had reached the Arctic, not the Pacific,
Ocean.
Before his next
trip, he went to England to study surveying and map making. He returned
to Canada, ready to try again. On May 8, 1793, he and his crew started
out from Montreal by canoe.
When they reached
the Rocky Mountains his crew begged him to return home. They were
very tired after such a difficult voyage, but Mackenzie was determined
not to give up. He finally reached the Pacific Ocean on July
22, 1793, making him the first European to do so over land rather
than by sea.
The fur trade
made Sir Alexander Mackenzie rich. In 1799, he returned to England
to publish a book about his travels. It quickly became a bestseller.
On February 27, 1802 Alexander Mackenzie was knighted and became
Sir Alexander Mackenzie.
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What
do you think Mackenzie's most important accomplishment was?
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