Mackenzie, Alexander, 1764-1820 Voyages from Montreal on the River St. Laurence...to the Pacific Ocean [1789-93]

With three folding maps. Full title: "Voyages from Montreal, on the River St. Laurence, through the continent of North America, to the frozen and Pacific Oceans; in the years 1789 and 1793. With a preliminary account of the rise, progress, and present state of the fur trade of that country" (Canada, Northwest passage, Arctic exploration, Indians of the Northwest). Describes the extraordinary travels of the author in northwest America in 1789, when he discovered the Mackenzie River, and in 1793, when he crossed the continent to the Pacific. Mackenzie also provides an excellent history of the fur trade in Canada, as well as vocabularies of several Indian languages. The "Map of Mackenzie's track from Ft. Chipewyan to the Pacific Ocean in 1793" was a milestone and, as Wheat says, "at once questions began to be raised about the now patent inadequacies of all prior maps of the American Far West." Howes m133; Wheat Transmississippi 251; Graff 2630; Hill, p.187. Lande 1317; Peel 25; Pilling 2384; Sabin 43414; Wagner-Camp 1:1; Streeter sale 3653; DNB 3: 1356-57.