July 4, 1793. A Troublesome Addition.

July 4, 1793.

Excerpts from the journal of Alexander MacKenzie, on his way overland to The Pacific Ocean.

     “At an early hour this morning, and at the suggestion of our guide, we proceeded to the landing-place that leads to the strangers' lodges...Our great difficulty here was to procure a temporary situation from our company, in order to hide some articles we could not carry with us…”

     “At our first hiding-place we left a bag of pemmican, weighing ninety pounds, two bags of wild rice, and a gallon keg of gunpowder. Previous to our putting these articles in the ground, we rolled them up in oilcloth, and dressed leather. In the second hiding-place...we hid two bags of Indian corn, or maize, and a bale of different articles of merchandise...we proceeded till half past eight, when we landed at the entrance of a small rivulet, where our friends were waiting for us.”

     Wild rice was a very important food source of the native peoples of North America, and was even considered sacred by some native cultures. The excellent food source was adopted and welcomed by the fur traders and voyageurs. The maize, or “Indian corn”, was prepared in those days by boiling, mashing, and drying it until it becomes soft and friable. A bushel of it mixed with two pounds of prepared fat was found to be monthly sustenance enough for one voyageur.

Picture 2. Indian Corn on the cob before preparation.    

     

     “Here it was necessary that we should leave our canoe, and whatever we could not carry on our backs…We prepared a stage, on which the canoe was placed bottom upwards, and shaded by a covering of small trees and branches, to keep her from the sun. We then built an oblong hollow square, ten feet by five, of green logs, wherein we placed every article it was necessary for us to leave here, and covered the whole with large pieces of timber.”

     “We carried on our backs four bags and a half of pemmican...a case with my instruments, a parcel of goods for presents, and a parcel containing ammunition…My own load, and that of Mr. MacKay, consisted of twenty-two pounds of pemmican, some rice, a little sugar, &c., amounting in the whole to about seventy pounds each, besides our arms and ammunition. I also had the tube of my telescope swung across my shoulder, which was a troublesome addition to my burden.”

“At half past six we arrived at an Indian camp of three fires, where we found our guide, and on his recommendation we determined to remain there for the night. The computed distance of this day’s journey was about twelve geographical miles; the course about West...so great were the fatigues of the day in our mode of travelling, that we were in great need of rest at night.”