3 
1786 (7), Alexander Mackenzie gives the first written description of Slave 
and lower Peace rivers, which he navigated on his journeys to the Arctic and 
Pacific oceans (39). The first good map of these waterways was made by 
Philip Turner (1790-92) (5), but a very inaccurate one had been made in 
1785 by Peter Pond (6). 
The earliest notable records upon natural history were made during the 
two expeditions commanded by Sir John Franklin, a British naval officer. 
Sir John Richardson was surgeon and naturalist to these, and accumulated 
an immense collection of notes and specimens which later became the basis 
for two classic works on the fauna and flora of North America (59, 31). In 
addition to carrying out the major purpose of the expeditions, geographical 
exploration in the Arctic, a vast amount of information was gathered 
relating to the topography, geology, and inhabitants of Mackenzie basin. 
The narrative of the first of these journeys (25) gives the first description of 
the Salt Plain country along Salt river. The traders had already been 
getting salt to supply their posts by ascending Salt river (Figure 1), which 
enters the Slave about 20 miles below the present site of Fort Smith, to some 
brine springs. The salt is evaporated out at the orifices of the springs, and 
may be gathered and used without alteration. In July, 1820, Franklin’s party 
ascended the river about 22 miles to the Salt Plain, a semi-open prairie 
area, part of which is barren salt flat. On their way downstream next day 
they killed a buffalo which attempted to swim the river. 
Although many of the plant specimens collected by Richardson must 
have come from Athabaska and Slave Rivers areas, the annotations found in 
Flora B or eali- Americana are of little value in forming a flora of this region, 
since they are not sufficiently specific as to the locality. From what is now 
known of the flora of the Salt Plains, it is evident that no accurate records 
were made there. 
Other expeditions to the north followed much the same course through 
the country as the one just described. Franklin in his second journey (26), 
George Back (2), Thomas Simpson (66), and Sir John Richardson (60) vis- 
ited the Salt Plains, but added little to the knowledge already gained. Back, 
a clever artist, published a good picture of the plains and springs. Thomas 
Simpson entered the country in winter, and instead of following the regular 
boat channels through the delta of the Athabaska, took a route via Em- 
barras channel and a portage to a creek leading into lake Mamawi. No 
detailed description is presented. 
In 1875, John Maeoun made a canoe and boat journey down Peace 
river to Athabaska lake, thence up Athabaska and Clearwater rivers (40, 
41) . His account of the vegetation at the western end of the lake and in the 
Athabaska and Peace deltas is excellent, and the first that was ever made. 
He gives a list of plants collected on the trip, but no specific collection 
localities. Emile Petitot, a Roman Catholic Missionary well known for his 
works on the geography of Mackenzie basin, also gives an early account 
of this delta region (47) . He has several interesting notes upon the effects 
of high and low water conditions in the vicinity. 
In the winters of 1889-90 Warburton Pike (48), an explorer and hunter, 
made an overland journey southwest from Resolution in search of the wood 
bison. He described roughly a semi-open prairie country west of Little 
Buffalo river, in what is now the northern section of the park. 
