Alexander Mackenzie Reaches the Pacific

After

Mackenzie could not convince his partners to push the fur trade further west. In 1799, he returned to England to publish a book about his travels. It quickly became a bestseller. On February 27, 1802 Alexander Mackenzie was knighted.

A map of Mackenzie's route from Fort Chipewyan to the Pacific Ocean in 1795 Copyright/Source

The fur trade made Sir Alexander Mackenzie wealthy. He died unexpectedly of illness in March 1820. After his death, the Hudson's Bay Company finally followed his advice and began trading furs in the West.

Writer's Block
Mackenzie wanted to write about his voyages but found he couldn't concentrate. "Undaunted by unmapped spaces, angry rivers, and hostile natives, Mackenzie was defeated by the blank page." In the end, his account was written by an Englishman named William Combe, under Mackenzie's name. It was very popular. Napoleon and American President Thomas Jefferson were among those who read it.

Gillmor, Don and Pierre Turgeon. Canada: A People's History. Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, ©2000, p. 196.

	Both the Mackenzie River and the Mackenzie Pass are named for Alexander Mackenzie.