July 22, 1793: Mackenzie reaches the Pacific

On this day in 1793, Alexander Mackenzie reached the Pacific Ocean, completing the first westward crossing of Canada. (In fact, it was the first westward crossing north of Mexico.)

Mackenzie was born in Scotland in 1764; after his mother died, he sailed with his father to New York City just before the Revolutionary War. He was sent to Montreal after hostilities began, and he took a job as an apprentice to a fur trader.

In 1788, Mackenzie, hoping to find the Northwest Passage, followed a river to the Arctic Ocean. He named it Disappointment River, but we know it today as the Mackenzie River, the longest in Canada (and, after the Mississippi, the second-longest in North America).

In 1792, with two native guides, six companions, and a dog named “Our Dog”, Mackenzie headed west again, passing the winter in Alberta at what would become known as Fort Fork. The party finally reached the Pacific on July 22, 1793.

Mackenzie painted the text at right on a rock; subsequent explorers etched it into the stone.

This site has more on Mackenzie’s explorations.

Image: C.W. Jefferys (1869-1951), Mackenzie Reaches the Pacific, 1793 (early 20th century)