June 6, 1793. Making Paddles.

June 6, 1793. 227 Years Ago, To-day.

 Excerpts from the journals of Alexander MacKenzie’s Voyage of Discovery to the Pacific Ocean.  

     “At half-past four this morning we continued our voyage, (3 ¾ miles) the whole of this distance we proceeded by hauling the canoe from branch to branch. The current was so strong, that it was impossible to stem it with the paddles; the depth was too great to receive any assistance from the poles, and the bank of the river was so closely lined with willows and other trees, that it was impossible to employ the line.”

      It is very slow progress, pulling on overhanging willow branches one at a time in order to propel a fully laden canoe against the powerful current. It’s not an easy task in a 25 foot canoe, with 10 men and a dog on board, and 3000 lbs of baggage.

Picture 1. Similar voyageur canoe showing positions of all 10 men.

      “As it was past twelve before we could find a place that would allow of our landing, I could not get a meridian altitude.”

      As he couldn’t take his latitude today, and considering that his last reckoning may have been out by a few miles, I’m not able to pinpoint his location for this day, but based on the slow going, he is likely still about 20-25 miles NW of McLeod Lake. 

      “We occupied the rest of our day in repairing the canoe, drying our cloaths (sic), and making paddles and poles to replace those which had been broken or lost.”

      All paddles were made by the paddlers and were not supplied by the Company. Each was unique as they were hand made by the individual, to suit themselves. The blades were narrower than popular canoe paddles of today. They were designed with less resistance, so they could be put to work for 12-16 hours per day, at the voyageur rate of 50 strokes per minute. They used whatever wood was available, and were carved from a single piece of wood. Pictures 2, and 3 show various types. 

June 5, 1793. 227 Years Ago To-day.

Day 28. Excerpts from the journals of Alexander MacKenzie on his epic journey overland to the Pacific Ocean.

       “This morning we found our canoe and baggage in the water, which had continued rising during the night. We then gummed the canoe, as we arrived too late an hour to perform that operation on the preceding evening.”

     The canoe must be “gummed” every night, and sometimes several times during the day, or whenever it happens to get “leaky”. Spruce gum is spread carefully over every seam, crack and hole in the bark to waterproof it, but in order to be for the gum to be effective it must be prepared by being heated over the fire and mixed with fat or tallow and charcoal , until it’s the proper consistency. Spruce gum is another “staple” of the fur trader’s tool box; like birch-bark, they must have collected it everywhere they went.

Picture 1. Gumming. (s. Ray Mears)

       “ I disembarked with Mr. MacKay, and the hunters, in order to ascend an adjacent mountain, with the hope of obtaining a view of the interior part of the country...climbed a very lofty tree, from whose top I discerned on the right a ridge of mountains...another ridge of high land...stretched towards the South...”

      He sent his people ahead with the canoe, while he is climbing mountains and trees to try and get a better look at the lay of the land,  He’s searching for signs of a “carrying-place”, and for certain he is on the lookout for the “other river”. These features that he describes;  the ridge of mountains (Mt. Scovill), and the ridge of high land towards the south, can be easily recognized using Google Earth or a contour map, about 10 miles west of the modern town of MacKenzie, BC. at the  bottom of the Omineca mountain range.

 Picture 2. Painting of MacKenzie and MacKay by JD Kelly.

“Having obtained all the satisfaction that the nature of the place would admit, we proceeded forward to overtake the canoe…Having been accustomed, for the last fortnight, to very cold weather, I found the heat of this day almost insupportable...To add to the disagreeableness of our situation, the gnats and mosquitos appeared in swarms to torment us.”

      Surprisingly, in 28 days of river travel and camping in the wilderness, this is his first mention of mosquitoes. 

      “...it was almost dark when we reached the canoe, barefooted, and drenched with rain...But these inconveniences affected me very little, when I saw myself once more surrounded with my people.”

       Even with all the adventures of this day, they managed to make progress of about 8 river miles.

       “It appeared from the various encampments which we have seen, and from several paddles we had found, that the natives frequent this part of the country at the latter end of summer and the fall.”

June 4, 1793. Canoe Cups.

June 4th, 1793. 
Excerpts from the daily journals of Alexander MacKenzie on his epic Voyage to find an overland route to the Pacific Ocean

"We embarked this morning at four in a very heavy fog. The water had been continually rising, and, in many places, overflowed its banks. The current also, was so strong that our progress was very tedious, and required the most laborious exertions.”

 Picture 1. A foggy river morning.    

He chronicles the distance traveled on the river to-day at 12 and a half miles, mostly heading South-South-East. “Laborious exertions”, from four in the morning, until nine at night. Going upstream against the raging current and rising water with a heavily laden canoe is the greatest obstacle on his journey so far...now the water is so high it’s difficult to even find a place to camp for the night.

Other than their daily "regale" of rum, the men obviously drank the river and lake water that was always present beside their canoe. They used hand-made individualized "canoe cups", which fastened to their belt or clothing and were always handy.

 

Picture 2. A Canoe Cup.

June 3rd, 1793. My Usual Regularity.

Excerpts from the Journals of Alexander MacKenzie on his epic Voyage of Discovery in 1793.
 

     “On the third of June we renewed our voyage with the rising sun. At noon I obtained a meridian altitude, which gave 55.22.3 North latitude. I also took time, and the watch was slow 1.30.14 apparent time. According to my calculations, this place is about twenty-five miles South-East of the fork.” * 

If his latitude reading is correct, then he is actually 45 miles south of the Fork. Were he 25 miles, his actual latitude would be 55.38.20 North. It’s difficult to say which is correct, but his latitude reckonings have been very accurate so far. If he is correct, then he is very close to the present day location of the town of Mackenzie, (55.20.0 North) which was obviously named after him, when it was built in 1966. Of course the town site is quite a ways above the river bottom of his day. The size of the mountains and geography are evident in this photo. (Picture 1.)  

Picture 1. Modern day town of Mackenzie, from Morfee Mt. 

An interesting note is that he thinks of this river as a south branch of the Peace River, rather than as the separate river it was, later known as the Parsnip. 

Picture 2. Map of area; From Peace River Chronicles, 1963. 

*Noted. “I shall now proceed with my usual regularity, which, as I already mentioned, has been, for some days, suspended, from the loss of my book of observation.”

June 2nd, 1793. Oppressed With Fatigue.

Day 25. 227 Years Ago To-day.

Excerpts from the daily Journals of Alexander MacKenzie, on his epic Voyage of Discovery overland to the Pacific Ocean.

     “...morning being clear and pleasant, we proceeded at an early hour against a rapid current, intersected by islands. About eight we passed two large trees, whose roots having been undermined by the current, had recently fallen into the river; and in my opinion, the crash of their fall had occasioned the noise which caused our late alarm.” 

     They spent the last night on guard, as some men had thought they heard discharges of fire-arms and were wary. MacKenzie thinks it was not guns they heard last night, but rather that it was the sound of large trees crashing down. 

      It is slow going. The river is very high and rapid. Again, we don’t have any of his course logs for this week (until June 4), as they were lost with his notes; it’s likely they only made a few river miles on this day. Picture 1 shows part of the map he made for publication in 1801.

 Picture 1. (1801 map)

Picture 2. 

Shows cutbanks and canoes along the Parsnip River at low water, photo taken by Survey crew (1930).

     “The men were so oppressed with fatigue, that it was necessary they should encamp at six in the afternoon. We, therefore, landed on a sandy island, which is a very uncommon object, as the greater part of the islands consist of a bottom of round stones and gravel, covered from three to ten feet with mud and old drift-wood. Beaver-work was as frequently seen on the preceding day.”

June 1st, 1793. Beaver-Work

Day 24. Excerpts from: Alexander MacKenzie's Journals of his Voyage Of Discovery to The Pacific Ocean.

     “On the 1st of June we embarked at sunrise, and towards noon the current began to slacken; we then put to shore, in order to gum the canoe, when a meridian altitude gave me 55.42.16. North latitude...In the morning we passed a large rapid river that flowed in from the right.”

Manson River. The area he is traveling is still under the waters of Williston Lake, in our time. If his reckoning of latitude is correct, he is about 20 river miles SE of Finlay Forks.

    “At sunset we encamped on a point, being the first dry land which had been found on this side (of) the river, that was fit for our purpose...Though I did not believe that...any of the natives could be in possession of fire-arms, I thought it right, at all events we should be prepared...each of us took his station at the foot of a tree, where we passed an uneasy and restless night.”

      One of his men had thought he heard the discharge of fire-arms, somewhere above them. Although MacKenzie doesn’t really believe it, he had the camp fire extinguished for the night and made sure that their fowling-pieces were primed and loaded.

“In no part of the North-West did I see so much beaver-work, within an equal distance, as in the course of this day. In some places they had cut down acres of large poplars; and we also saw a great number of these active and sagacious animals. The time which these wonderful creatures allot for their labours...is the whole of the interval between the rising and setting sun.”

May 31, 1793. Old Man's Narrative.

 Excerpts from the Journals of Alexander MacKenzie`s Voyage Of Dicovery

`The morning was clear and cold, and the current very powerful. On crossing the mouth of a river that flowed in from the right of us, we were very much endangered;indeed all the rivers which I have lately seen, appear to overflow their natural limits, as it may be supposed, from the melting of the mountain snow.``

     The Wicked River. He is battling these rivers at the time of their highest water; when all of the streams and rivers draining the huge glaciers and mountain peaks are all melting at once. When he says they were “very much endangered”, it’s not hard to believe him.

Picture 1. Mt. Selwyn, from the Wicked River. (1929 Swannell Survey photo)

      “...the river was barred with rocks, forming cascades and small islands...there appeared a ridge or chain of mountains, running North and South as far as the eye could reach.”

     Alexander Mackenzie has reached the Rocky Mountain Trench, an amazing valley from which are borne four river major basins; the Liard, Peace, Fraser, and Columbia.  It separates the Rocky Mountains from the Cassiar Mountains and stretches almost the entire length of British Columbia, with a slight break at about 54. N., near Prince George, B.C. The trench bottom is up to ten miles wide, with an elevation between 2000 and 3000 feet. It is so large that it is easy to see from the air or with Google Earth, and can even be seen from the ISS. (Picture 2).  North of the divide the water is drained by the Peace and MacKenzie Rivers to the Arctic Ocean, whereas water south of the divide drains to the Fraser and Columbia Rivers, and the Pacific Ocean. Of course, in 1793 none of these rivers or features have been named yet.

“On advancing two or three miles, we arrived at the fork, one branch running about West-North-West, and the other South-South-East...”

He has become the first explorer to navigate the entire length of the mighty Peace River, and has reached the fork, which will be known later as Finlay Forks. And in his next journal entry is probably the most important thing he has said or done so far. He is determined that he will not make a navigational error that could cost him his ultimate goal of reaching the Pacific on this Voyage…

      “If I had been governed by my own judgement, I should have taken the former, as it appeared to me to be the most likely to bring us nearest to the part where I wished to fall upon the Pacific Ocean, but an old man, whom I have already mentioned as having been frequently on war expeditions in this country, had warned me not, on any account, to follow it… that there was no great river that ran in any direction near it, but by following the latter, he said, we should arrive at a carrying-place to another large river…There was so much apparent truth in the old man’s narrative, that I determined to be governed by it, for I did not entertain the least doubt, if I could get into the other river, that I should reach the ocean.”

     Good thing he listened to the old man. The “former” or WNW branch was what we knew as the Finlay River, which actually flows down the Trench from the northwest; and the “latter” or SSE direction branch is (was) known as the Parsnip River, and that’s exactly the one he needs to go up, to reach “the other river”.