Mackenzie

a river of northwestern Canada. It lies north of the sixtieth parallel. The Peace, the Athabasca, and other sources collect the waters of north Saskatchewan, north Alberta, and northeastern British Columbia. Slave River drains Athabasca Lake into Great Slave Lake, and the Mackenzie carries the waters of Great Slave 1,000 miles northward into the Arctic Ocean. The river was named for Alexander Mackenzie, a native of Inverness, Scotland. Setting out from Montreal in the interest of the Northwest Fur Company, he explored the basin of this river as early as 1789. In 1792 he crossed the Rocky Mountains, and reached the Pacific coast. He was the first white man to reach the Pacific by this route. The river is the largest wholly in the Dominion. At the beginning of the century its basin had a white population of 5,216. The northern portion of the basin belongs to the frozen Arctic waste region. Forests of fir, spruce, and pine, coming under climatic influences similar to those of British Columbia, clothe the mountain spurs of the southwestern region. The central and southern portion has a diversified surface, and would be productive, were it not that the growing season is so short. It is believed that coal and other mineral wealth in large quantities await the miner.

At present the Mackenzie region is a land of trappers. It is the most productive fur district in the world. During the summer the great river and its tributaries are navigable for steamboats for a distance of nearly 2,000 miles. Small trading stations have been established at the principal landings. Birch bark canoes take up the journey where the steamer leaves off. They start out from the landings laden with firearms, traps, blankets, ammunition, clothing, tobacco, tea, sugar, bacon, and flour, and return the next season with bales of rich peltry. Money is of little use. Although winter mail routes have been established of late, newspapers and letters are often months old before they are read at outlying camps.

The large lakes of the Mackenzie basin are a continuation of the Great Lake system. They lie in the same curve that passes through Lakes Ontario, Huron, Superior, Winnipeg, and Athabasca. Great Bear Lake, the most northerly, is situated on the Arctic Circle. It takes its name from the fact that it is directly under the constellation of Ursa Major, or the Great Bear. It lies at an elevation of 200 feet above the sea. Its waters are clear. It is well stored with fish. Its area is equal to about half that of Scotland. Great Slave Lake is an irregular widening of the Mackenzie River. It is about 50 miles in width and 300 miles in length. Its waters are clear and afford excellent fishing grounds.

See Canada