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Sir Alexander Mackenzie (1764-1820)

He was born at Stornover but travelled with his family to New York in 1774 and was educated in Montreal in 1778. In 1779 he joined the fur-trading firm of Finlay, Gregory and Co. (later Gregory, McLeod & Co.) of which he became a partner in 1787. He was named in the Northwest Company agreement of 1787. He served at Detroit in 1784 and then went on to the northwest. In 1787-88 he worked with Peter Pond in the Athabaska District. In 1788 he was placed in charge of the Athabaska District and in 1789 set out on the first of his exploratory voyages.

He traveled the Slave River, Great Slave Lake and up what is now known as the Mackenzie River to the Beaufort Sea in the Arctic. In 1793 he voyaged west from the forks of the Peace and Smoky Rivers. He crossed the Peace River Pass and reached Dean Channel on the Pacific on 22/07/1793. His route was too rugged for practical use but he was the first to reach the Pacific overland and without the aid of the Northwest Passage. In 1799 he published his journals. He was knighted in 1802. He returned to Canada and reorganized the XY Company as Alexander Mackenzie & Co. This was not enough to resist the commercial forces of the Hudson's Bay Co. so he merged it with the Northwest Company in 1804. In 1804-1808 he sat as a Member of the House of Assembly of Lower Canada. He retired and died in Scotland.

Named Features:

  • Mackenzie River (NT);
  • Mackenzie Point (NT)