They played the role of imperial pioneers with a stubborn heroism, with little thought of personal gain, and in most cases with full foreknowledge and appreciation of what would accrue to the British Empire through their success.

It is impossible to relate the adventures of all of them within the space of any one book, or even of several volumes.

Moreover, this has been done already, not only in their own published journals and books, but in the admirable works of Elliot Coues, Dr.George Bryce, Dr.S.J.Dawson, Alexander Ross, and others.

I must confine myself here to a description of the adventures of Sir Alexander Mackenzie, with a glance at incidents recorded by Simon Fraser and by Alexander Henry the Younger.
Mackenzie, having been appointed at the age of twenty-two a partner in the New North-west Company, proceeded to Grand Portage in 1785, and by the year 1788 (after founding Fort Chipewayan on Lake Athabaska) conceived the idea of following the mysterious Slave River to its ultimate outlet into the Arctic or the Pacific Ocean.

He left Fort Chipewayan on June 3, 1789, accompanied by four French-Canadian _voyageurs_, two French-Canadian women (wives of two _voyageurs_), a young German named John Steinbruck, and an Amerindian guide known as "English Chief".