Alexander Mackenzie: From Canada by Land

Patricia Morley is professor emerita of English and Canadian Studies at
Concordia University. She is the author of several books, including The
Mountain Is Moving: Japanese Women’s Lives, Kurlek and Margaret
Laurence: The Long Journey Home.

Alexander Mackenzie, who travelled in the service of the North West
Company, was the first European to cross North America by land. His
journey, in 1793, was one of courage and determination, yet it was also
a feat that could not have been achieved without the help of Canada’s
Native peoples. Ainslie Manson’s retelling of Mackenzie’s epic
overland trek dramatizes the experiences and the hardships of the
voyageurs or “hommes du nord,” who endured long days of paddling in
massive birchbark canoes heavily loaded with provisions for the
expedition as well as with goods for trading. Mackenzie’s successful
crossing opened up enormous opportunities for the Europeans while
initiating tragic changes for the Native peoples.

Manson has done a fine job of turning this biographical story into an
exciting page-turner. The well-researched storyline moves fluidly, and
interspersed throughout the text are black-and-white illustrations from
archival prints and maps. In sum, Alexander Mackenzie is history as it
should be written, full of drama and intriguing detail. Highly
recommended.