Voyages from Montreal Through the Continent of North America to the Frozen and Pacific Oceans in 1789 and 1793. Vol. I

In Short

Sir Alexander Mackenzie’s account of his 1789 northern expedition records the first European passage down the massive river system that now bears his name. Writing with the pragmatic focus of a partner in the North-West Fur Company, Mackenzie charts thousands of miles of northern waterways from Fort Chepewyan to the Arctic Ocean. The work survives as a seminal document of North American exploration, capturing the mechanics of the early fur trade, the complex geography of the Canadian Northwest, and early encounters with Indigenous nations whose lands, languages, and trading networks spanned the subarctic wilderness.

The Story

The narrative opens with a detailed history and structural breakdown of the Canadian fur trade, charting its expansion from the early French missions and the cession of Canada to the intense rivalry between the Hudson’s-Bay Company and the Montreal-based North-West Fur Company. Mackenzie outlines the immense logistics required to move goods and pelts across a chain of lakes, rivers, and difficult portages—such as the Portage de Rideau and Lac de la Pluie—where canoes must be continuously unloaded, carried, and repaired.

Establishing his headquarters at Fort Chepewyan on the Lake of the Hills, Mackenzie prepares for his primary enterprise: penetrating the uncharted territories of the far North. In June 1789, accompanied by Canadian voyageurs, Indigenous guides, and the English Chief, his party embarks on Slave River toward Great Slave Lake. Their progress is a daily negotiation with nature. They endure treacherous, ice-choked waters, thick fogs, swarms of mosquitoes, and sudden, violent summer storms that snap tent poles and tear through camps.

As they enter the great northern river, the expedition relies heavily on the local knowledge of Native communities encountered along the banks. Mackenzie describes meeting various tribes, including the Knisteneaux, Chepewyans, Slave, and Dog-rib Indians, as well as the distant Black-Feet and Snake nations. These encounters require careful diplomacy, exchange of gifts like ironwork and beads, and the sharing of pipe-smoking ceremonies that bind agreements. Native guides frequently express deep anxiety over moving further downriver, warning of hostile tribes, barren lands, and mythical river monsters or fatal rapids. When guides inevitably desert, Mackenzie impounds equipment or compels new guides to lead the way.

As the river carries them steadily northward past towering, snow-dusted mountains, the climate shifts and the summer days stretch into nightless spans where one can read at midnight. In mid-July, the party reaches the river delta and ventures onto a vast, ice-filled body of water. Here, amidst thick fog and drifting ice, they spot massive white whales—confirming they have reached the Arctic Ocean, though ice prevents further passage.

The return voyage upriver is a punishing fight against strong currents, requiring constant paddling and tracking along the shore. Food stores dwindle, forcing the crew to rely on fish nets, opportunistically hunted fowl, and thin provisions. Despite exhaustion and rising tensions among his crew over the relentless pace, Mackenzie maintains rigorous observations of latitude, weather, and course directions. By late August, the party successfully navigates back through Great Slave Lake and returns to Fort Chepewyan, completing an extraordinary round-trip journey that mapped a vast expanse of the northern continent.

How It Unfolds

Outlining the trade Mackenzie details the history, routes, and commercial structures of the North-West Fur Company, explaining how canoe routes stretch from Montreal across Great Lakes portages to remote outposts like Fort Chepewyan.

Setting off from Fort Chepewyan In June 1789, the expedition launches down the Slave River, battling lingering lake ice, damaged nets, and cold rain as they navigate toward Great Slave Lake.

Entering the unknown river The party finds the outlet of the great river and begins drifting rapidly northwestward, passing high mountain ranges where patches of snow gleam like white stones on the declivities.

Diplomacy and desertion The crew meets local Indigenous groups to trade for fish and recruit guides, though widespread fears of river spirits, starvation, and hostile tribes lead several guides to flee into the woods at night.

Reaching the Arctic ice In mid-July, the river broadens into a vast expanse where the midnight sun shines, and the men take to canoes to pursue giant white whales among the floes of the Frozen Ocean.

The arduous return Turning back south, the crew faces exhausting labor against the heavy current, enduring violent squalls, ruined provisions, and deep fatigue before safely reaching M. Le Roux’s post and Fort Chepewyan.

The People

• Alexander Mackenzie: The ambitious North-West Fur Company trader and expedition leader. He seeks a navigable overland route to the ocean to expand his firm's commercial dominance. Unyielding and disciplined, he pushes his men through extreme exhaustion and ignores local warnings of danger to achieve his geographic goals.
• The English Chief: A prominent Chepewyan leader who accompanies Mackenzie as an negotiator and guide. He wants to maintain his tribe's strategic trading advantage and secure valuable European goods, but he frequently bristles at Mackenzie's relentless pace and the hardship imposed on his family and followers.
• M. Le Roux: A fur-trade clerk stationed at the northern outposts. He manages local trading stations, receives pelts from surrounding tribes, and assists Mackenzie by securing provisions and organizing subsequent trade with the Beaver Indians.
• The Native Guides: A succession of local men—often reluctantly recruited or forced into service—who navigate the party through hazardous river channels. Trapped between their fear of unknown northern territories and Mackenzie’s demands, most choose to desert the party at the first opportunity.

In Its Own Voice

"The casuistry of trade, however, discovered a way to gratify the Indians with their favourite cordial without incurring the ecclesiastical penalties, by giving, instead of selling it to them."

Mackenzie observes how early French traders bypassed religious restrictions on selling alcohol to Native tribes.

"I immediately perceived that they were whales; and having ordered the canoe to be prepared, we embarked in pursuit of them. It was, indeed, a very wild and unreflecting enterprise..."

The party spots massive white creatures in the arctic river delta and impetuously sets out into the ice in a fragile birchbark canoe.

"As these mountains are the last of any considerable magnitude on the South-West side of the river, I ordered my men to cross to that side of it, that I might ascend one of them."

Mackenzie describes his instinct to pause the journey to survey the landscape, even when his crew is thoroughly worn out by travel.

What It's Really About

Beneath its matter-of-fact log entries, the book is about the relentless drive of European commercial expansion and the meticulous labor required to map an unfamiliar continent. It contrasts the commercial imperatives of the Montreal merchants with the lived reality of the wilderness, where survival depends entirely on local ecological knowledge, seasonal fish runs, and Indigenous trade routes. The narrative highlights the fragile ecosystem of early contact: European traders relied utterly on Native guide work and food stores, even as trade goods, spirits, and intertribal rivalries altered the traditional dynamics of the northern nations. Ultimately, it exposes the gap between imperial ambition and the grueling physical realities of wilderness travel.

Why Read It Today

This volume appeals to readers of classic travelogues, early North American history, and historical geography. It offers an unvarnished, firsthand look at the Canadian Northwest prior to widespread European settlement, serving as a primary document of both the fur trade era and early ethnographic observation.

Reading Mackenzie requires patience with eighteenth-century nautical and navigational prose. Long passages consist of precise bearings, compass variations, and distance estimates, punctuated by dry descriptions of portage lengths and water conditions. Furthermore, the modern reader will encounter the colonial attitudes, cultural biases, and blunt terminology of an era when traders viewed both the landscape and its native inhabitants primarily through the lens of utility and commerce.

Yet, what endures is the quiet drama of everyday survival against formidable odds. The stark descriptions of navigating frail birchbark canoes among Arctic ice floes, enduring violent subarctic windstorms, and marveling at brilliant midnight skies create an authentic, absorbing sense of place that lingers long after the final page.

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