Sir Alexander Mackenzie, born a Scot, was knighted by King George III in 1802 for his achievements in exploration (founding of the Northwest Passage).
- Mackenzie was married twice, though it’s difficult to find detail concerning his first wife, thought to be a Metis.
- He was 48 when he married his second wife, Geddes, who was but a girl of 14 years at the time.
- After emigrating from Scotland to America in 1774, he soon found a new home in Montreal.
- Mackenzie was sent to Canada for schooling on the heels of the American Revolution.
- Mackenzie got involved in the family business of fur trading, when he was around 19 years old.
- Alexander Mackenzie the explorer, became the man and legend, after being promised a partnership in the North West Company if he would travel west to take over Fort Chipewyan (in what’s now northeastern Alberta).
- At the relatively young age of 28, Mackenzie was the manager of the North West Company’s richest post, a double shareholder, an accomplished traveler, and he already had a world-record exploring voyage behind him.
- Jefferson read Mackenzie’s book, Voyages from Montreal, and promptly sent Lewis and Clark out in the early 1800s to find an alternate trade route to the Pacific.
- The Emperor Napoleon studied Mackenzie’s account very closely as well, and at one point had considered invading Canada!