biography
| name: |
Mackenzie, Sir Alexander
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| sex:
| male
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| lived:
| (c.1755–1820)
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| biography:
| Explorer and fur-trader, born in Stornoway, Western Isles, W Scotland, UK. In 1779 he joined the Northwest Fur Company, and in 1788 established Fort Chipewayan on L Athabasca. From there he discovered the Mackenzie R (1789), followed it to the sea, and became the first European to cross the Rockies to the Pacific (1792–3). A rock in the Pacific, off the coast of British Colombia, displays his name and the year 1794. He returned to Scotland via Montreal, and published a book about his journey. He was knighted in 1802. |
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