To the north of Chipewyan he saw a mighty river,
more than a mile wide in places, walled in by great ramparts, and
flowing to unknown seas. To the west he saw another river rolling
through the far mountains. Where did this river come from, and where
did both rivers go? Mackenzie was not the man to leave vital questions
unanswered. He determined to find out; but difficulties lay in the
way. He couldn't leave the Athabascan posts. That was overcome by
getting his cousin Roderick to take charge. The Northwest Fur Company,
which had succeeded the French fur traders of Quebec and Montreal when
Canada passed from the hands of the French to the English, wouldn't
assume any cost or risk for exploring unknown seas. This was more
niggardly than the Hudson's Bay Company, which had paid all cost of
outlay for its explorers; but Mackenzie assumed risk and cost himself.
Then the Indians hesitated to act as guides; so Mackenzie hired guides
when he could, seized them by compulsion when he couldn't hire them,
and went ahead without guides when they escaped.
[Illustration: Eskimo trading his Pipe, carved from Walrus Tusk, for
the Value of Three Beaver Skins.]
May--the frog moon--and June--the bird's egg moon--were the festive
seasons at Fort Chipewyan on Lake Athabasca. Indian hunters came
tramping in from the Barren Lands with toboggan loads of pelts drawn by
half-wild husky dogs. Woody Crees and Slaves and Chipewyans paddled
across the lake in canoes laden to the gunwales with furs.
Pages:
238
239
240
241
242
243
244
245
246
247
248
249
250
251
252
253
254
255
256
257
258
259
260
261
262