kind, and we find in the correspond- 

 ence of the time sad reflections on the 

 injurious nature of the contest, which 

 affected not only the character of the 

 Indians who came under the influence 

 of the fur traders, but that of the 

 bourgeois, chief factors and clerks 

 themselves. It is said that in the 

 petty kind of warfare that was waged 

 men of honor were led to do things in 

 the interests of their companies that 

 in private life they would have held in 

 utter contempt. 



And yet it was a period of brilliant 

 achievement in exploration and dis- 

 covery. In that short but troubled 

 epoch the Coppermine and the Mac- 

 kenzie rivers were made known to the 

 world, and no less than five great 

 journeys across the Rocky Mountains 

 to the Pacific coast were undertaken 

 and brought to a successful issue. 

 These enterprises reflect undying glory 

 on the Anglo-Saxon name and fame 

 and they have all been ably described 

 in most interesting books and journals 

 showing that the men who thus pene- 

 trated into the wilds of the far north 

 and west were men of considerable 

 culture and literary ability. 



But the central literary figure of this 

 period was Roderick Mackenzie, cousin 

 of the great explorer, Alex- 

 ander Mackenzie. Roderick Mac- 

 kenzie came to Canada from 

 Scotland when quite a young man, in 

 1784. He joined oner of the smaller 

 fur trading companies and their un- 

 ion associated him with the North- 

 west company. By his marked ability 

 he soon rose to the highest rank in 

 the Northwest service, and we find him 

 in charge of the Athabasca region in 

 1788. He is said to have been a man 

 of solid and even brilliant education. 

 He built for his company the famous 

 Fort Chipewyan on the south shore of 

 Lake Athabasca — not the present fort 

 which stands on the north shore, but 

 the one which was deserted in 1820. 



Mr. Mackenzie was very proud of 

 his fort, of its site and all its ap- 

 pointments. He tried to make it a 

 sort of "Tadmor in the wilderness," or 

 as he called it, "A Modern Athens." He 

 embellished it within and without so 

 that it was a marvel to the savage 

 races who congregated there for pur- 

 poses of trade as well as 'to the cour- 

 eurs des bois, who regarded it as the 

 paradise of the fur trader. He made 

 a fine collection of books, which was 

 called the Athabasca library, as it was 

 intended for circulation among the 



forts of that region. A writer of the 

 time says that after Mr. Mackenzie 

 left Athabasca the library was scat- 

 tered and much abused, but as Lieut, 

 afterwards Sir Henry Lefroy, who 

 made a magnetic survey of these 

 northern countries for the British 

 in 1842, passed a winter at 

 Fort Chipewyan and mentions spend- 

 ing many happy hours in the well se- 

 lected library of the place we may 

 imagine it was rearranged and added 

 to from time to time. 



It had been suggested to Mr. Roder- 

 ick Mackenzie when an the Athahasca 

 region that he should write a history 

 of the transactions of the Northwest 

 company for the company, and he was 

 ambitious himself of producing a work 

 on the aborigines of British North 

 America. In order 'to gather informa- 

 tion for these literary efforts he form- 

 eld a circle of correspondence which 

 covered a very wide area of the fur- 

 trading country. This correspondence 

 was continued after Mr. Mackenzie left 

 the Athabasca region and became an 

 agent for his company in Montreal, 

 and even after he had retired to spend 

 his latter days at the seigneury which 

 he purchased at Terrebonne in the 

 province of Quebec. 



In the correspondence the letters of 

 Sir Alex. Mackenzie bulk largely. The 

 mo,9t affectionate relations seem to 

 have existed between the two cousins 

 even at a time when they took dif- 

 ferent sides in a quarrel of the fur 

 companies, and we find in Sir Alexan- 

 der's letters expressions of solicitude 

 for his cousin's comfort in the far 

 north, saying on one occasion that he 

 has sent him mittens to protect hiis 

 hands when fishing, and he often 

 makes mention of books that he has 

 taken the trouble to procure for him 

 and to forward for his use. Sir 

 Alexander profited much by Roderick's 

 assistance in preparing the journal of 

 his discoveries for presentation to 'the 

 company under whos'e auspices 

 they were undertaken and later 

 to the public. Other correspond- 

 ents were Angus Shaw, of Lac d'Orig- 

 nal, west of Edmonton, who had been 

 a heilp'ful friend to Roderick Macken- 

 zie in his early career; Mr. George 

 Keith, who spent most of his life in 

 the dreary departments of Athabasca 

 and the Mackenzie rivers; Duncan 

 Cameron, of Nepigon, afterwards fam- 

 ous as an opponent of Lord Selkirk, at 

 Red River; Peter Grant, of Rainy 



