Alexander MacKenzie (explorer)

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Alexander Mackenzie , portrait of the English painter Thomas Lawrence , around 1800
Inscription by Alexander MacKenzie at the westernmost point of his expedition. 52 ° 22 ′ 43 "  N , 127 ° 28 ′ 14"  W.

Sir Alexander MacKenzie (* 1764 in Stornoway ; † March 12, 1820 in Mulinearn near Dunkeld ) or Gaelic Alasdair MacCoinnich was a Scottish-Canadian explorer who undertook expeditions in northwestern Canada . The Mackenzie River is named after him. In 1774 the MacKenzie family emigrated from Scotland to New York . From there, they moved to Montreal five years later .

Discovery of the Mackenzie River

Mackenzie set out from Fort Chipewyan on his first expedition to northwestern Canada in 1789 . The aim of the enterprise was to find a connection to the Pacific or the Northwest Passage .

After leaving Fort Chipewyan, the search led to the Great Slave Lake and on June 29th to the discovery of the Mackenzie River . Together with his companions, MacKenzie followed the river with canoes to its delta, where it finally reached the Arctic Ocean on July 10, 1789 . It is said that MacKenzie was so saddened by this failure that he christened the river the Disappointment River.

Discovery of the Fraser River

In October 1792 he set off on his second expedition, again from Fort Chipewyan. He was accompanied on his second voyage of discovery by his cousin Alexander Mackay , six French adventurers, two native Indians and his dog.

After spending the winter at Fort Fork in what is now Alberta , he was able to hire a crew for his company in the spring, whereupon the march took place on May 9, 1793. On June 18, he discovered the Fraser River and on July 20, the expedition finally reached the Pacific coast at Bella Coola . He was the first European to cross North America north of Mexico . Forced to turn back by the hostile behavior of the Heiltsuk , when he arrived at the most westerly point of his expedition, he scratched the Dean Channel: "Alex MacKenzie / from Canada / by land / 22d July 1793" in a stone that is now in Sir Alexander Mackenzie Provincial Park finds. The site was declared a National Historic Site of Canada on June 4, 1924, in commemoration of the first crossing of North America .

Next life

In 1801 he published his expedition books and was knighted on February 10th as a Knight Bachelor . MacKenzie later became director of the North West Company , where he had a major impact on Canada's expansion . He promoted their merger with the Hudson's Bay Company , which was completed in 1821.

plant

  • Voyage from Montreal on the river St. Lawrence, through the continent of North America, to the Frozen and Pacific Oceans; in the years 1789 and 1793. First 1801; again WB Gilley 1814; Readex Microprint again in 1966
    • W. Kaye Lamb (Ed.): The journals and letters of Sir Alexander Mackenzie . Toronto 1970
  • in German: Alexander Mackenzie's travels from Montreal through Northwest America to the Arctic Ocean and the South Pacific in 1789 and 1793 . Berlin 1802

literature

In chronological order:

  • Hans-Otto Meissner : Still 1000 miles to the Pacific. The Adventures of Alexander Mackenzie . Cotta, Stuttgart 1966
    • again: 1000 miles to the Pacific. The Adventures of Alexander Mackenzie . Klett, Stuttgart 1982 ISBN 3-7681-0007-3
  • Roy Daniells: Alexander Mackenzie and the North West . London 1969 ISBN 0-571-08959-3
  • James K. Smith: Alexander Mackenzie, explorer: the hero who failed . Toronto 1973
  • Barry Gough: First across the continent: Sir Alexander Mackenzie . Norman 1997 ISBN 0-8061-2944-1
  • Derek Hayes: First crossing: Alexander MacKenzie, his expedition across North America, and the opening of the continent . Seattle 2001 ISBN 1-57061-308-7

Web links

Commons : Alexander Mackenzie (explorer)  - album with pictures, videos and audio files

swell

  1. ↑ Urs Bitterli: The discovery of America: from Columbus to Alexander von Humboldt (=  Beck's series . Volume 1322 ). 2nd Edition. CH Beck, 1999, ISBN 3-406-42122-9 , ISSN  0932-5352 , p. 424–426 ( limited preview in Google Book search).
  2. ↑ Alexander MacKenzie . In: Dictionary of Canadian Biography . 24 volumes, 1966–2018. University of Toronto Press, Toronto ( English , French ).
  3. ↑ Bella Coola Grizzly Tours website , in British Columbia , accessed on March 29, 2010
  4. ^ First Crossing of North America National Historic Site of Canada. In: Canadian Register of Historic Places. Retrieved July 3, 2013 .
  5. ^ William Arthur Shaw: The Knights of England. Volume 2, Sherratt and Hughes, London 1906, p. 306.
  6. ↑ see web links
personal data
SURNAME MacKenzie, Alexander
ALTERNATIVE NAMES MacKenzie, Sir Alexander (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Scottish explorer in the service of the Hudson's Bay Company
DATE OF BIRTH 1764
PLACE OF BIRTH Stornoway , Scotland
DATE OF DEATH March 12, 1820
Place of death Mulinearn at Dunkeld