Sir Alexander M'Kenzie,[1] in his second overland voyage, tried to reach the western ocean by the Columbia river, and thought he had succeeded when he came out six degrees farther north, at the bottom of Puget's sound, by another river.[2]
In 1805, the American government sent Captains Lewis and Clark, with about thirty men, including some Kentucky hunters, on an overland journey to the mouth of the Columbia.[3] They ascended the Missouri, crossed the mountains at the source of that river, and following the course of the Columbia, reached the shores of the Pacific, where they were forced to winter. The report which they made of their expedition to the United States government created a lively sensation.[4]north. Franchère's "six degrees farther north" is correct; but by the "bottom of Puget Sound" he must intend the northern end of Georgian Strait, the farthest portion of Vancouver Island. Mackenzie painted his name and the date—July 22, 1793—upon a rock fronting the ocean, and returned to Fort Chepewyan. The narrative of his travels appeared in 1801. He was knighted the following year, and died near Edinburgh in 1820.—Ed.]
- ↑ Sir Alexander Mackenzie, one of the most intrepid of Canadian explorers, was the first to reach Pacific waters by an overland route from the East. Entering the service of the North West Company in 1779, he made his first westward journey five years later, and upon the reorganization of the company (1787) was placed in charge of the Athabascan district, with headquarters at Fort Chepewyan. Fired with zeal for discovery, Mackenzie set out (1789) for the Arctic Ocean, whither he proceeded by way of the great river which now bears his name—an adventurous and perilous expedition of a hundred and two days. He immediately began preparations for a second journey to the Pacific. For this he was obliged to repair to London to obtain astronomical instruments and geographical information. By the autumn of 1791, he was again at Fort Chepewyan, whence he proceeded to the forks of Peace River, to prepare for departure thence the following spring. Having crossed the divide, he came upon Fraser River; but finding that it trended too far southward, he crossed over by land to the ocean, reaching his farthest point at the mouth of Cascade Inlet, in Dean Inlet, latitude about 52° 20['
- ↑ M'Kenzie's Travels.—Franchère.
- ↑ See Original Journals of Lewis and Clark Expedition (New York, 1904); Thwaites, Rocky Mountain Exploration, pp. 92-187.—Ed.
- ↑ Lewis and Clark's Report.—Franchère.
