LEADERSHIP
by
Robert W. Carton
Presented before
THE
October 16, 2000 .
On Thursday, June 13, 1793, a small party of exhausted
men lay on the bank of one of the headwaters of the
The party had been recruited by Alexander Mackenzie, a 31 year old Scottish fur
trader, with the purpose of crossing the North American continent from the
settled area of
By the 12th of June 1793 they had portaged at 54 degrees north latitude from
the eastward flowing waters of the Peace River across the Continental Divide to
a westward flowing rivulet, which ultimately would join the
"All the different articles were now spread out
to dry. The powder had fortunately received no damage, and all my instruments
had escaped. Indeed, when my people began to recover from their alarm, and to
enjoy a sense of safety, some of them, if not all, were by no means sorry for
our later misfortune, from the hope that it must put a period to our voyage,
particularly as we were without a canoe, and all the bullets sunk in the river.
It did not, indeed, seem possible to them that we could proceed under these
circumstances. I listened, however, to the observations that were made on the
occasion without replying to them, till their panic was dispelled, and they had
got themselves warm and comfortable, with a hearty meal, and rum enough to
raise their spirits. I then addressed them."
Mackenzie in his talk expressed thankfulness for their
narrow escape, urged on them the honor of conquering disasters and the disgrace
that would attend them on their return home, without having attained the object
of the expedition. He referred to the courage and resolution customarily
exhibited by the men of the North. He also proposed ways in which the canoe
might be mended and bullets manufactured from the shot remaining to them.
His talk was successful. In his words, "In short, my harangue produced the
desired effect, and a very general assent appeared to go wherever I should lead
the way." The men pulled themselves together and once more headed west
toward the Pacific.
The operative word here is "lead". In this episode, and in others
like it, Alexander Mackenzie displayed his powers of leadership. We should
review here the manner in which his early life had allowed him to develop this
ability to lead and the ways in which forceful leadership was the key to his
triumphs in exploration of the North American Continent.
Alexander Mackenzie was born in 1762 in Stornoway, on the
Why work for a fur trader? Because harvesting animal fur in the wilderness and
selling the products to customers in Europe was the dominant industry of
From its earliest days the trade had depended on the native American Indians to
collect the furs. The Indians themselves were desperate to obtain iron tools,
knives, and arrowheads, copper kettles, and rum from the Europeans. It was a
mutually advantageous arrangement. With the passage of time, as the Saint
Laurence Valley became depleted of fur bearing animals, the zone of collection
was pushed further and further west. When Alexander Mackenzie became a clerk in
Mr. Gregory's counting house in Montreal, harvesting of wild animals was
carried on along the shores of the western Great Lakes, in the drainage basin
of Hudson's Bay, and, increasingly, in the wilderness west of Lake Superior.
Young Alexander Mackenzie had obviously impressed his employer, Mr. Gregory. At
the age of 22 he was sent to
Mackenzie's first post in the interior was at Isle-a-la-Crosse on the Churchill
River, west of
In 1787, when Mackenzie was twenty-five years old, he was ordered by the
partners in
Mackenzie seems to have been seized by a determination to know where these rivers
went. If either of the great rivers leading respectively in or out of Lake
Athabaska could be traced to the Pacific Ocean, then a major commercial victory
would have been won. The notion of a water route across the North American
continent, which had occupied the thoughts of explorers since the early
Fifteenth Century, would have been realized. Early in his time in the Canadian
wilderness Mackenzie started planning the explorations that would supply
definitive answers to these questions.
The first initiative led north. Mackenzie recruited another Scot, his cousin
Roderick Mackenzie, to manage the trading post during his absence. On Wednesday
June 3, 1789 four birch bark canoes moved out of Lake Athabaska into the Slave
River, headed north for Great Slave Lake. The party included, beside Mackenzie,
one German and four French voyageurs, the wives of two of the Frenchmen, and an
Indian known as the "English Chief", who was attended by two wives
and several male followers. Also of the party was a Frenchman, Laurent Leroux,
who had been assigned to set up a trading post at Great Slave Lake.
The three hundred mile trip north went flawlessly, and by June 23rd the party
had entered Great Slave Lake. At this point their Indian guide, who had claimed
to have full knowledge of the route, failed them. Great Slave Lake is somewhat
larger than Lake Erie, and Mackenzie's party spent about a week looking in bay
after bay before they found, at the western end of the lake, the origin of the
great river of the north. Now it was simply a matter of paddling downstream
along a river and through country that never before had been visited by
Europeans. Mountains appeared to the south. What looked like bright white
stones were seen on the top of one of them. These were said by the natives to
be spirit stones. Mackenzie concluded that they were patches of snow. After
days of paddling they reached a point where clear green water was coming in
from the east. This was the outflow of Great Bear Lake, largest of the three
huge northern Canadian Lakes. By the end of the first week in July they had
reached what is now known as the "ramparts of the Mackenzie', a gorge
three or four hundred feet wide through which the giant river rushed. After the
ramparts the river widened and ran in numerous channels between islands. On
July 12 they landed on an island from which they could see open water. At their
campsite the surface rose and fell in conformity with the tides. Out in the bay
they could see Beluga whales at play. They had reached the Arctic Ocean.
At this point at least one mystery was solved. No river north of Lake Athabaska
could flow east and west to serve as a passage to the Pacific. They had
explored the course of one of the world's great rivers, now known as the
Mackenzie. At two thousand six hundred and thirty-five miles in length it is
longer than the Niger or the Mississippi or the Volga. Prior to the
explorations of Alexander Mackenzie no European knew it was there.
The passage back upstream was difficult. The tough voyageurs could paddle all
day, but any headway they might make was often negated by the current. They
were frequently reduced to towing the canoes by lines leading to the bank. It's
interesting to note that the second day of the trip south was July 14, 1789,
the day on which the Paris mob stormed the Bastille and initiated the French
Revolution. Far away in western Canada, our party of explorers had no knowledge
of events in Europe. They had plenty to do moving their canoes upstream and
fighting off the mosquitoes. The Indians had told them as they started north in
June that it would take at least a year to reach the end of the great river and
return. Mackenzie pushed his people and himself. By September 12 he was back at
Lake Athabaska with his crew intact. He himself seems to have been dissatisfied
by his accomplishments. The Mackenzie River itself he named "The River of
Disappointment", because it led to the Arctic Ocean and not to the
Pacific. He also felt that his lack of navigational skills had not allowed him to
determine where he had been as precisely as he would have liked. This
deficiency in his navigational records would interfere with his ability to
demonstrate his accomplishments to the people whom he respected in Montreal and
Europe.
In 1791 Mackenzie procured his first leave of absence since entering the
country west of Lake Superior in 1785. Roderick Mackenzie was left in charge at
the trading post. Alexander Mackenzie proceeded first to Montreal and then to
London, where he spent the winter of 1791-92. Little interest seems to have
been taken in his explorations either in Montreal or in London. However, while
in England he had the opportunity to acquaint himself with the latest
navigational techniques and to buy the instruments that would allow him to make
accurate measurements of position in any future voyage.
Mackenzie left London in April 1792. Five months later he was again at Lake
Athabaska. By this time his intention to explore the country west of the lake
all the way to the Pacific had been firmly established. As he put it in his
journal, "I returned (from England) to determine the practicability of a
commercial communication through the continent of North America, between the
Atlantic and Pacific Oceans." There it is. No nonsense. He tells you what
he intends to do, and he does it. The scale of his thinking is amazing. One
summer season he had pushed a party of canoe men all the way from central
Canada to the Arctic Ocean. Now he would push another to the Pacific. That's
leadership.
Like Lewis and Clark nine years later, Mackenzie realized that he would need a
forward base from which he could complete the body of the trip west to the
Pacific in one season. Lewis and Clark wintered at the Mandan Villages before
making their dash to the ocean. On October 10, 1792 Mackenzie and his party
paddled out of Lake Athabaska and west up the Peace River towards a camp which
an advance party had been assigned to construct. They traveled in one 25 foot
long birch bark canoe. Assisting Mackenzie was his lieutenant, Alexander
Mackay, as well as six French voyageurs (two of whom had journeyed with him to
the Arctic Ocean), and two rather untrustworthy Indian guides. No particular
difficulties were encountered in this first leg of the trip. Game was abundant,
and they had plenty to eat. By November 1 they had reached the proposed site of
winter quarters, near the site of the present town of Peace River, Alberta and
three hundred miles upstream from their starting point. A crowd of local
Indians watched the proceedings with curiosity. Mackenzie's manner of dealing
with the native peoples reflects the self-confidence of British explorers in
the 18th Century. Here is his description of an initial council with the local
Indians at this forward base camp on the Peace River (We must remember that he
was an intruder in their country):
"My tent was no sooner pitched, that I summoned
the Indians together, and gave each of them about four inches of Brazil
tobacco, a dram of spirits, and lighted the pipe. As they had been very
troublesome to my predecessor, I informed them that I had heard of their
misconduct, and was come among them to inquire into the truth of it. I added
also, that it would be an established rule with me to treat them with kindness,
if their behavior should be such as to deserve it; but, at the same time, that
I should be equally severe if they failed in those returns which I had a right
to expect from them. I then presented them with a quantity of rum, which I
recommended to be used with discretion; and added some tobacco, as a token of
peace. They, in return, made me the fairest promises; and, having expressed the
pride they felt on beholding me in their country, took their leave." (VPO
p. 16
Winter in the Canadian north is a time of rest and
preparation. The great Peace River froze over on the 22nd of November 1792 and
did not again show open water until late in April, 1793. By February the cold
had become so intense that Mackenzie's watch stopped. The axes of the workmen
became almost as brittle as glass. Finally, as spring progressed, open water
appeared and the canoe could be launched.
Consider the geographic position of the party of exploration as they broke
camp. They had come three hundred miles west from Lake Athebasca. They were
still in the Canadian prairie, on the bank of a great river. The river came
from the west. They knew nothing of its course upstream. Ahead of them, and in
plain sight, lay the Rocky Mountains. To reach the Pacific they would have to
cross those mountains and perhaps find a river leading to the coast. They
started up river in their birch bark canoe on Thursday May 9, 1793.
Initially they passed through beautiful country filled with game. For the next
two weeks their course lay due west. The river was now a typical mountain stream,
swift and full of rapids. The explorers were frequently forced to unload the
canoe and to cut a road through the woods so that they could carry their boat
and their gear. During this period of exertion MacKenzie worked along with his
men to push the expedition forward. Here are his notes for Monday May 20, 1793:
"We now continued our toilsome and perilous
progress. As we proceeded the rapidity of the current increased, so that in the
distance of two miles we were obliged to unload four times, and carry
everything but the canoe; indeed, in many places, it was with the utmost
difficulty that we could prevent her from being dashed to pieces against the
rocks by the violence of the eddies. At five we had proceeded to where the
river was one continued rapid."
Back in camp the preceding winter Mackenzie had
encountered an old Indian who claimed to have been some years before on a war
party that had penetrated into the mountains. According to this man, the Peace
River, as one followed it west, would ultimately split into two streams, a
north branch and a south branch. If one took the south branch one would in the
course of time come to a carrying place that led across the crest of the
mountains to a great stream flowing toward the ocean. So it turned out. They
found the fork in the river and followed the south branch. Once more
Mackenzie's leadership skills were needed:
"I ordered," he says, "my steersman to
proceed at once to the South branch, which appeared to be more rapid than the
other, though it did not possess an equal breadth. These circumstances disposed
my men and Indians, the latter in particular being very tired of the voyage,
that I should take the Northern branch, especially when they perceived the
difficulty of stemming the current, in the direction on which I had determined.
Indeed the rush of water was so powerful, that we were the greatest part of the
afternoon in getting two or three miles a very tardy and mortifying progress,
and which, with the voyage, was open execrated by many of those who were
engaged in it, and the inexpressible toil these people had endured, as well as
the dangers they had encountered, required some degree of consideration. I
therefore employed those arguments which were the best calculated to calm their
immediate discontent, as well as to encourage their future hopes, though at the
same time I delivered my sentiments in such a manner as to convince them that I
was determined to proceed."
Mackenzie and his people pushed south on the stream
that he had chosen. Ultimately the stream ended in a small lake from which a
path led to another small lake, out of which the water flowed westward, toward
the Pacific. They had passed over the Continental Divide.
On Thursday June 13, in the fast flowing stream leading west from the second
lake, occurred the wreck of the canoe, which we have already described at the
beginning of this paper. As you may remember, the canoe dashed against the
rocks and sank to the gunwales with a loss of significant parts of their
equipment. This was a catastrophe that called for Mackenzie's determination and
full powers of leadership. By the force of his personality he managed to elicit
a general agreement to press forward. The exhausted men repaired their canoe,
entered the stream once more, and moved on westward toward the Pacific.
Even today Mackenzie's route west from the Continental Divide crosses some of
the wildest country in North America. Shortly after the wreck , the party
abandoned the river system, cached their canoe, and struck out across country.
The route which they followed is now known as the Alexander Mackenzie Heritage
Trail. You can hike it yourselves, if you feel so inclined. It takes off near
Quesnel, British Columbia, on the headwaters of the Fraser River and ends at
the Dean Channel, an outpouching of the Pacific Ocean. Here is how the trail is
described in a current book of advice for back-packer:
"This 450 km. Hike is extremely strenuous, time
consuming and for experts. The hike will take you three weeks, so be well
prepared and completely self reliant. Parts of the hike through Tweedsmuir
Provincial Park are isolated, so it is best to hike with at least three people.
Be prepared for the worst possible weather conditions and pack as light as
possible. One food supply drop halfway is essential; make these arrangements
well in advance." (from Google: Alexander Mackenzie)
Mackenzie's party did not have the advantage of food
drops or advance arrangements. Nor did they know exactly where they were going.
They did have the help of Indian guides and did keep moving west, first along
mountain pathways and then in canoes on westward flowing river systems. As they
progressed they met a new kind of Indian, who lived in well constructed wooden
houses and depended on the river salmon for food. They had reached the domain
of the Northwest Coast Indian Tribes.
Finally, on Saturday July 20, 1793, they came out of the river and into an arm
of the sea. Mackenzie in his journal did not describe any particular sense of
elation. He did, however, note down things which we associate with the
seashore, including tides which rose over fifteen feet, porpoises in the bay,
and mussels, which when boiled provided a delicious dinner for the two Scots.
The French voyageurs, being inlanders, refused to eat them.
These practical people knew that they had better start for home without delay,
since they needed to be back at their home base before winter set in. As a last
act before turning eastward Mackenzie "mixed up some vermilion in melted
grease, and inscribed, in large characters, on a rock on the edge of the
Pacific Ocean this memorial Alexander Mackenzie, from Canada, by land, the
twenty-second of July, one thousand seven hundred and ninety-three'."
The trip back was relatively easy. By this time they knew the way and the
hazards which they might expect. All members of the expedition survived intact,
including their dog, which had deserted them in one of the Indian Villages in
the Bella Coola Valley but who rejoined them as they progressed eastward. On
August 24 they arrived at their base camp on the Peace River and some days
later (or eleven months after their original departure) they were home at the
trading post at Lake Athebasca. They had shown that there was indeed a route
from central Canada to the Pacific but that it lead over the Rocky Mountains
and was not in any sense the commercially useful Northwest Passage for which
people had been searching.
One would like to think of Alexander Mackenzie as a romantic hero, who had
accomplished great things only to be ignored during his lifetime and
appreciated after his death. This, however, was not the case. He was to spend
the remainder of his life becoming successively richer and more famous.
Mackenzie remained the winter after his return from the Pacific at his frontier
trading post in a state of depression. This seems to have been a reaction to
the stresses of his journey to the Pacific. The following spring he left for
Grand Portage on Lake Superior and, at a meeting of the partners, was appointed
agent of the company, with station in Montreal. During the next few years,
although active in business in Canada, he was able to spend considerable time
in London, where, in 1801 the narrative of his explorations was published as Voyages
from Montreal on the River St. Laurence, through the continent of North America
to the Frozen and Pacific Oceans, in the years 1789 and 1793. This book
detailing Mackenzie's accomplishments came to the attention of King George III.
On February 10, 1802 Mackenzie was knighted by the King. His fur trading
company in Canada promptly changed its name to "Sir Alexander Mackenzie
and Company". In 1805 Mackenzie left Canada for good. In 1812 he married a
14 year old fellow member of his Scottish clan, Geddes Mackenzie, and spent the
remainder of his life on her estate in Invernessshire. The Catt, his Indian
wife, apparently had died in Canada about ten years after Mackenzie left the
wilderness for Montreal.
Leadership seems not to be a matter of scale. It can be demonstrated in the
management of a team of French Canadian voyageurs just as clearly as in
generalship of an army. There seem to be certain elements to leadership that
are usually present. One is the ability to set a goal. Another is the ability
to recruit followers and to infuse them with enthusiasm for reaching that goal.
A third element is the determination to keeping moving toward the goal, even
when difficulties seem insurmountable. And finally, most good leaders are
willing to participate in the hardships of any project as well as in its
rewards. Measured against these standards Alexander Mackenzie appears as one of
the great leaders in the history of exploration of the North American
Continent.
Robert W.
Carton
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Mackenzie, Alexander: Alexander Mackenzie's Voyage
to the Pacific Ocean in 1793 Chicago: R R Donnelley & Sons Co. 1931
Original publication in London 1801
Ambrose, Stephen E.: Undaunted Courage
New York: Simon & Schuster. 1996
p. 73-75 describes the influence on Thomas Jefferson of Alexander Mackenzie's
overland trip to the Pacific. Jefferson and Lewis read Mackenzie's account of
his trip in the summer of 1802, as they were preparing the Lewis & Clark
expedition, which took off May 1804.
Campbell, Marjorie Wilkins: The Northwest Company
Toronto. Macmillan of Canada. 1957
NU Library 971.2 N879Yc
Encyclopedia Britannica Online: Lewis & Clark Expedition.
Accessed 24 April 2000
----------- Pacific Mountain System Study and exploration Accessed 24
April 2000
Gough, Barry: First Across the Continent - Sir Alexander Mackenzie.
Norman: University of Oklahoma Press. 1997
NU Library 971.2 M156Zg
Google: Alexander Mackenzie Heritage Trail.
Retrieved from the Internet 11 Feb 2000
Innis, Harold A.: The Fur Trade in Canada
New Haven. Yale Univ. Press. 1956
Borrowed by Winnetka Library
Rich, E. E.: The Fur Trade and the Northwest to 1857
Toronto. McLelland and Stewart. 1967
Borrowed by Winnetka Library from Trinity Christian College
HD 9944 C22 R5
Wade, M.S.: Mackenzie of Canada
Edinburgh & London. Blackwood. 1927
NU Library 971.2 M156Yw
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