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Revisiting an Explorer’s Northwest Passage Disappointment After Nearly 230 Years

29 points by Thevet 9y ago

macintux 9y ago
Perplexing that there's no modern map with Mackenzie's route in the article. Hard to make sense of the narrative.
- yazan94 9y ago
  Agreed, though it is possible to follow along using Google Maps with some difficulty. I actually enjoyed tracking it myself to be honest. They started at Lake Athabasca, made up their way up Slave River to get to Great Slave Lake. Then they took the Mackenzie River through to the river delta at the Kendall Island Bird Sanctuary. Garry Island is just past the delta.
dsimms 9y ago
I was wondering how the arctic melt changes our view on the northwest passage. Was it really ice-free enough in human memory such that it could have been a myth?
brailsafe 9y ago
This is a ridiculously impressive feat. ~1200 miles north, starting about 500 miles further north than the vast majority of people in Canada live. Not accounting for conditional differences, this is like canoeing from the Canadian border to Mexico.
- theluketaylor 9y ago
  The distances voyageurs could cover in a day was incredible. Even the many portages did little to slow them down. When they didn't have to haul 3 tons of trade goods they could really fly, like when travelling with Mackenzie looking for the northwest passage. George Simpson (later HBC governor) made his way from the shores of Hudson Bay to the mouth of the Columbia River by canoe. He did use a horse for the Athabasca pass, but that's hardly cheating. He set a record by doing it in 80 days with a light load. For 1824 that was incredibly fast since it's about a 4000 km trip.
  - brailsafe 9y ago
    You have an interesting point. I hadn't really thought of that in quite a while, given that it was core curriculum in my early years. Using other professions like construction or moving for examples of how your body becomes conditioned for the job, the voyageurs must have been beasts of men. The lumberjacks of the river.
theluketaylor 9y ago
His travel to the edge of the arctic ocean might not even be Alexander Mackenzie's most interesting journey (fascinating though it was) He reached the Pacific ocean by land a full 12 years before Lewis and Clark. He also took far less time to complete the journey since the network of voyageurs in what would become western Canada meant he could start his journey in Alberta rather than much further east in St. Louis. But if you want to do further reading on someone wandering about in crazy arctic conditions, check out John Rae. He explored much of the arctic coast on foot (!) and discovered the remains of the doomed Franklin expedition. Also managed the minor feat of proving the existence of the north west passage in the process. He would be remembered as one of the greatest explorers of all time if the passage proved remotely commercially navigable, instead he was relegated to the minor pages of 19th century history. It didn't help Lady Franklin was so insulted when he reported to the Admiralty her husband's expedition likely resorted to cannibalism based on reports from local Inuit.
- brailsafe 9y ago
  Will do.

29 points by Thevet 9y ago

macintux 9y ago

Perplexing that there's no modern map with Mackenzie's route in the article. Hard to make sense of the narrative.

yazan94 9y ago
Agreed, though it is possible to follow along using Google Maps with some difficulty. I actually enjoyed tracking it myself to be honest. They started at Lake Athabasca, made up their way up Slave River to get to Great Slave Lake. Then they took the Mackenzie River through to the river delta at the Kendall Island Bird Sanctuary. Garry Island is just past the delta.

dsimms 9y ago

I was wondering how the arctic melt changes our view on the northwest passage. Was it really ice-free enough in human memory such that it could have been a myth?

brailsafe 9y ago

This is a ridiculously impressive feat. ~1200 miles north, starting about 500 miles further north than the vast majority of people in Canada live. Not accounting for conditional differences, this is like canoeing from the Canadian border to Mexico.

theluketaylor 9y ago
The distances voyageurs could cover in a day was incredible. Even the many portages did little to slow them down. When they didn't have to haul 3 tons of trade goods they could really fly, like when travelling with Mackenzie looking for the northwest passage. George Simpson (later HBC governor) made his way from the shores of Hudson Bay to the mouth of the Columbia River by canoe. He did use a horse for the Athabasca pass, but that's hardly cheating. He set a record by doing it in 80 days with a light load. For 1824 that was incredibly fast since it's about a 4000 km trip.
- brailsafe 9y ago
  You have an interesting point. I hadn't really thought of that in quite a while, given that it was core curriculum in my early years. Using other professions like construction or moving for examples of how your body becomes conditioned for the job, the voyageurs must have been beasts of men. The lumberjacks of the river.

theluketaylor 9y ago

His travel to the edge of the arctic ocean might not even be Alexander Mackenzie's most interesting journey (fascinating though it was) He reached the Pacific ocean by land a full 12 years before Lewis and Clark. He also took far less time to complete the journey since the network of voyageurs in what would become western Canada meant he could start his journey in Alberta rather than much further east in St. Louis. But if you want to do further reading on someone wandering about in crazy arctic conditions, check out John Rae. He explored much of the arctic coast on foot (!) and discovered the remains of the doomed Franklin expedition. Also managed the minor feat of proving the existence of the north west passage in the process. He would be remembered as one of the greatest explorers of all time if the passage proved remotely commercially navigable, instead he was relegated to the minor pages of 19th century history. It didn't help Lady Franklin was so insulted when he reported to the Admiralty her husband's expedition likely resorted to cannibalism based on reports from local Inuit.

brailsafe 9y ago
Will do.