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Chapter VI - A Wider Horizon
ARRIVING in September
at Fort Chipewyan Alexander Mackenzie entered upon a restful winter,
the affairs of the fort being well administered by his cousin
Roderick. During the absence of the great explorer in the far north,
Roderick McKenzie had gone down the long route to Grand Portage to
carry his furs and plan for further trade. By meeting the other
traders there he came in touch with the views and projects of the
company.
That winter brought
the whole matter of exploration before the traders in their far
northern post, Fort Chipewyan. Roderick McKenzie informed his cousin
that the partners at Grand Portage had no friendly feeling for the
spirit of exploration. They regarded the returned voyager from the
"Great River" as ambitious, and as being more chimerical than
practical. Alexander Mackenzie was, moreover, considered by them,
both by disposition and previous connections, as being not
thoroughly loyal to the united companies.
But the project of a
greater effort and greater fame occupied the imagination of the
explorer all that winter, and in spring as soon as the rivers were
open he went eastward to Grand Portage with a great purpose
throbbing in his bosom. As he journeyed eastward, and met other
traders hieing away to the rendezvous, he obtained scraps of news,
and was most faithful in sending them to lonely Fort Chipewyan. He
informed his cousin that food was very scarce at the depot from
which Athabaska was supplied, also that McTavish was greatly
dissatisfied with the packs of furs from Athabaska for the past
year; but that the various traders on their downward journey were
carrying a very successful catch as the result of the past winter's
work. From Grand Portage he writes expressing dissatisfaction, and
says, "My expedition was hardly spoken of, but that is what I
expected."
However, the
disappointed trader returned from Grand Portage realizing that he
had a growing number of friends among the wintering parties, and
that Le marquis (McTavish) was losing influence on account of his
haughty temper and domineering spirit. Sending his cousin Roderick
to Great Slave Lake, Alexander Mackenzie occupied Fort Chipewyan for
another winter. Some of his letters to his relative are extant, and
these show an intimate interest in the affairs of the far north. He
speaks of organizing the Yellow Knives more fully as a tribe, and
appointing a chief over them. Reference is also made to the question
of continuing the fort on Great Slave Lake. The explorer is willing
to do this if trade demands it, but is of opinion that a fort will
need to be established on the south side of the lake near the
entrance of the Slave River, instead of the house built by Leroux on
the far northern arm of Slave Lake. He shows his expansive spirit by
referring to the other Indians, upon whom he had stumbled on his
great voyage. He refers with strange self-depreciation to the great
river, which he had discovered, under the unlikely name of "River
Disappointment;" and asks his cousin to make diligent enquiry among
the Indians "regarding a great river [Yukon] which is reported to
run parallel with, and falls into the sea to the westward of the
river on which I voyaged, and to commit such information to paper."
He refers in the spring to his regret that it is not his cousin's
turn to thread the watercourses to the great meeting in Grand
Portage, and is sorry that he will not have his company.
If the adventurous
journey of Alexander Mackenzie had not been appreciated by his own
companions of the North-Wrest it was otherwise with their rivals of
the Hudson's Bay Company. Four years before Mackenzie had gone
north, the desperado of the company, Peter Pond, had made a map of
the country for the purpose of presenting it to the Empress of
Russia. Through knowing nothing of astronomy or geography, Pond made
up his distances from the stories of the voyageurs, who made a
league's journey in the time it took to smoke a pipe. The voyageurs'
leagues were thus too hastily made. Counting in this fashion Pond
made the distance from Hudson May to Athabaska much longer than it
really was, and, knowing from Captain Cook's observations the number
of miles from Hudson Bay to the Pacific coast, he made the unknown
territory west of Athabaska much less than it really was.
Though not
distinguished in exploration, the Hudson's Bay Company, no doubt
impelled by the desire to meet their rivals, and also proud of
Hearne's successful explorations twenty years before Mackenzie's
Arctic journey, sent out from England a young lad named George
Charles to assist in exploration. The lad was only fifteen years of
age, had received one year's instruction in a mathematical school,
and was consequently quite incompetent to do the work of taking
astronomical observations and reckoning distances.
The British
government was at this time engaged in delimiting this territory and
that of their rebel- lions colonies, which had separated as the
United States, and were anxious to secure as large a territory as
possible. In order that full information might be at its disposal
the government asked the Hudson's Bay Company to carry on
explorations and secure all possible knowledge of the country even
to the Pacific Ocean. Induced to do so by the Colonial Office, the
company in 1791 sent out as astronomer Philip Turner, a most
competent man, to obtain the information sought for. Coming with
imperial authority the expedition was entitled to the recognition
of. the North-West Company as well as of its rivals.
Alexander Mackenzie,
on his way eastward, heard of the coining of the expedition, and
wrote to his cousin at Fort Chipewyan to make preparations for
assisting it, and instructed him to lodge "the English," as he calls
them, if there should be room in the fort. Fourteen days later
Alexander Mackenzie writes from a point farther to the east, stating
that he had met Mr. Turner, and says, "I find the intention of the
expedition is discoveries only. I also find the party ill-prepared
for the undertaking."
This remark shows
that the Nor'-Westers had entertained some suspicion as to the
Turner expedition, but the meeting had satisfied Mackenzie that they
should not only not assume hostility towards this undertaking, but
should even help to forward its aims. Ile states that Mr. Ross, the
leader of the expedition, wished to pass the winter at Fort
Chipewyan, and to secure storage at the fort for some of his baggage
when he proceeded further on his journey. It was found, however, by
astronomer Turner, as he wintered at Fort Chipewyan and enjoyed the
hospitality of the North-West Company's officers, that the purpose
of his expedition could be accomplished without proceeding further.
He took correct observations, and, on finding that the fort was in
115º west longitude, shoved that instead of Lake Athabaska being
only a short distance from the coast, as Pond had maintained, it was
more than three hundred leagues from it.
Alexander Mackenzie
had already taken so strong a grasp of North-Wrest affairs that he
was a necessary figure at the great annual meeting at Grand Portage.
Writing in August to his cousin Rodderick at Fort Chipewyan as to
the results of the council, he informs him that the public
announcement could now be made of a re-arrangement of the North-West
Company's affairs for the next seven years, 1791-8. The well-known
names still appear as partners: McTavish, Frobisher and Company hold
six-twentieths of the stock; Montour, Grant, Small, Gregory, Pangman,
and Alexander Mackenzie each one-tenth; while McGillvray, who had
bought out Pond for eight hundred pounds, and a Mr. Sutherland own
one-twentieth each.
lie gives information
of the continued employ-merit of Lesieur and Fraser in the far west,
of his deputy, Leroux, in the far north, of Cuthbert Grant in the
centre country, of trader Thorburn, and of the astronomer Thompson,
to whom further reference will be made. A reference to his proposed
continuation of his visit to Montreal, and of the possibility of his
taking a journey across the ocean, closes the letter to his faithful
kinsman in far-off Athabaska.
Alexander Mackenzie
carried out the journey of which he had hinted to his cousin. The
reason for this trip was found in the great project of further
exploration that Mackenzie had harboured in his bosom. On his former
journey to the Arctic the explorer had found his lack of
astronomical knowledge and the want of proper instruments a serious
drawback in marking the steps of his journey from day to day, and in
fixing with any degree of accuracy the points necessary either for
proper description or for affording the material for making correct
maps.
Accordingly,
Mackenzie determined to spend his winter in Britain, perfecting his
knowledge and obtaining the necessary instruments for use in his
proposed exploration. How this winter was spent we have no
information, but we may be sure it was used to some purpose. It was
no easy thing for a man who had become already so prominent in the
fur trade to gather himself together in a remote Hyperborean fort,
make arrangements in the face of jealous and unsympathetic partners,
absent himself from his work and responsibilities for a year, and
cherish the purpose of gaining some higher niche in the temple of
fame by his sacrifice.
Probably another
aspect of the matter would cause Mackenzie's greatest self-denial,
that is, stooping again to become a learner. If we do not mistake
Mackenzie's character, he was a stalwart, self-possessed, and
somewhat proud man. He had distinguished ability, and had with it
that perfervidum ingeniuinn Scotoriim that gives, not precisely
self-confidence, but a dignified self-respect that we call
manliness. It was not easy for such a elan to sit at the feet of
however distinguished a teacher and imbibe the elements of
mathematical science. It was only pressing ambition and thirst for
useful service for his company and country that nerved Alexander
Mackenzie thus to humble himself. |
