The Mackenzie River expedition of 1825–1827 was the second of three Arctic expeditions led by explorer John Franklin and organized by the Royal Navy. Its goal was the exploration of the North American coast between the mouths of the Mackenzie and Coppermine rivers and Bering Strait, in what is now Alaska, Yukon, the Northwest Territories, and Nunavut. Beginning at the Great Bear Lake, it started with a descent of the Mackenzie River. Franklin was accompanied by George Back and John Richardson, both of whom he had previously collaborated with in the disastrous Coppermine expedition of 1819–1821. Unlike Franklin's previous expedition, this one was largely successful, and the expedition mapped more than of new coastline between the Coppermine River and Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, an area that until then had remained largely unexplored by Europeans.
Background
The Northwest Passage, a supposed sea route to the Pacific Ocean by way of the Arctic Ocean, had long been sought by European explorers as a possible trade route to East Asia and the East Indies. During the Age of Exploration, the presupposed existence of the passage motivated much of European exploration in North America. Beginning in the early 19th century, the Royal Navy, having expanded to unprecedented proportions during the Napoleonic Wars, turned much of its attention to the passage's discovery. Under the influence of Sir John Barrow, the Royal Navy sponsored many Arctic expeditions, including those led by John Ross, William Edward Parry, James Clark Ross, and John Franklin. For the next fifty years, the Royal Navy dominated the Arctic seas.
Franklin himself was at that point an experienced mariner, serving in the Royal Navy while in his teens, and having been present during the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805. In 1819, he was chosen to lead an expedition whose intention was to map the northern coast of the North American continent eastwards from the mouth of the Coppermine River. The Coppermine expedition was by any objective standard a disaster; Franklin completely failed in his goal of mapping a sufficient portion of the Arctic coast, and half of his 22-strong party died over the course of the journey. In spite of the expedition's disappointing results, upon his return to Britain, Franklin was lauded as a hero and promoted post-captain in 1822. In the following year he began planning another expedition to the Arctic, with the intention of, this time, using the Mackenzie River as the expedition's primary route of travel.
Franklin himself devised the expedition's itinerary; it was accepted by the Admiralty in autumn, 1823. In accordance with his official instructions, he was to first spend the summer of 1825 travelling to Great Bear Lake via standard trading routes, where the party's winter quarters would have been constructed. Beginning in spring of 1826, Franklin was to descend the Mackenzie River to its mouth, where he would then split the party. A smaller detachment, led by Richardson, was to map the intermediate coast between the Mackenzie and Coppermine Rivers. Franklin himself was to travel westwards along the coast with the ultimate goal of reaching Icy Cape, the northern terminus of the Bering Sea. From there, Franklin would have the choice of either rendezvousing with under the command of Frederick William Beechey or returning to the party's winter quarters, later known as Fort Franklin and today as Délı̨nę, at Great Bear Lake. Should he rendezvous with Beechey, Franklin would be conveyed either to the Sandwich Islands (now the Hawaiian Islands) or Canton, whereupon he would make his own way back to England.
Preparations
In spite of the poor outcome of his previous expedition, Franklin had learned several key lessons that would lead to the future success of the Mackenzie River expedition. In Franklin's mind, the weak point of the Coppermine expedition was its dependency on outside help. His preparations were not completed sufficiently in advance, and he relied far too much on fur traders, voyageurs, and First Nations, all of whom were far less forthcoming than anticipated. Applying this knowledge to his new expedition, Franklin sought to place greater trust in British naval personnel and, most critically, to bring sufficient supplies for the duration of the journey. The recent union of the North West Company and the Hudson's Bay Company, and resulting cessation of the companies' near-constant state of conflict also meant that any anticipated assistance would be much more likely to materialize.
Supplies were ferried from York Factory to the continent's interior beginning in 1824. While still in Britain, Franklin oversaw the construction of the company's vessels. Although canoes of birch bark were the de facto standard for travel along North America's internal waterways, Franklin judged them unfit for navigation in the open waters of the Arctic Ocean. He therefore commissioned the construction of three boats built of ash and mahogany, the largest of which was in length and was capable of carrying of baggage. Navigation instruments included a sextant, altimeters and a telescope. Supplies included tobacco, alcohol, tents, books, paper, fishing implements, blankets, clothing, guns, knives and hatchets; much of the company's supplies were intended to be traded with the local First Nations communities.
Events of the expedition
Departure and first season
Franklin and the other naval officers, including Back and Richardson, departed Liverpool on 16 February 1825. Landing in New York City on 15 March, they then followed standard travelling routes through the state of New York, across the Niagara River and Lake Ontario, then through Upper Canada to Fort William on the shores of Lake Superior. After traversing numerous lakes and river systems, the party arrived at Cumberland House on the Saskatchewan River on 15 June. From there, they reached Methye Portage, mostly by way of the Churchill River system. Simultaneously, most of the expedition's supplies were sent from York Factory on Hudson Bay up the Hayes River, reaching the officers at Methye Portage on 29 June.
The party descended the Clearwater and Athabasca Rivers, arriving at Fort Chipewyan on 15 July. The party's expeditious pace can be attributed to their intense rowing efforts: during their last push to Great Slave Lake, they had been paddling for thirty-six of the thirty-nine preceding hours. At Fort Resolution, Franklin met with Keskarrah, older brother of Franklin's friend and former ally Akaitcho, and Humpy of the Yellowknives (Coppermine Indians). After coasting the southern shore of Great Slave Lake, the party reached the headwaters of the Mackenzie River on 3 August, which would thereafter be their route to the Arctic Ocean.
The party began their descent of the Mackenzie, reaching its junction with the "River of the Mountains" (likely the Liard River) on 4 August. Fort Norman (present-day Tulita) was reached on 7 August, with the group having travelled in three days. At Fort Norman, realizing that their speedy pace afforded them additional time for exploration, Franklin opted to embark on a preliminary reconnaissance to the mouth of the Mackenzie River, while the rest of the party would continue to Great Bear Lake to oversee the construction of their winter quarters. The goal of this venture was primarily to find the best route to the sea, in addition to establishing friendly relations with the native Inuit. Joined by the assistant surveyor Edward Nicholas Kendall and Tatannuaq, an Inuk interpreter, Franklin departed on 8 August.
During their descent they encountered several groups of First Nations, some of whom joined them for a portion of the journey. The delta of the Mackenzie was reached on 13 August, whereafter the party began exploring the archipelago of islands surrounding the river's mouth. Most of their early navigation of the sea was plagued by intense fog that occluded astronomical observation. After completing their early charting, the group returned to the Mackenzie River proper, reaching Fort Franklin (modern day Délı̨nę) on Great Bear Lake on 5 September. Over the course of the 1825 season the party had travelled .
Winter
The winter of 1825–1826 was relatively uneventful. On 8 September, Franklin dispatched two men to Great Slave Lake to convey an account of the expedition's progress and to pick up letters sent from the Crown. Supplies were provided by the Chipewyan and Dog-Rib Indians. With October came the first frosts and snow; it was at this time, just before ice began to form on the lake, that fishing was most productive. According to Franklin, several hundred fish were caught daily, most of which were frozen until the following spring.
Those at Fort Franklin were frequently visited by the local First Nations. On one such occasion, on 18 December, the wife of one of the Dog-Rib hunters brought her young girl to the fort, seeking advice on the girl's sickly condition. In spite of the Europeans' efforts, the girl perished, bringing great grief to the mother. The First Nations and Europeans celebrated Christmas together on 25 December. On 1 January, the coldest temperature of the season, , was recorded. The month of February brought anxiety to the party as their fishing output greatly decreased. The group's dried meat had since been expended, and the scant diet of fish caused several among them to suffer from diarrhea.
As recorded in Franklin's journal, during the winter of 1825–1826, to pass the time, the men played a game very similar to modern ice hockey. In a separate entry, Franklin noted that "skating" was among the winter "amusements" enjoyed by his men. Whether or not the use of ice skates were combined with the game is not known; if the two were combined, this would make Fort Franklin (Délı̨nę) the earliest documented location where ice hockey was played, and also the first known use of the word "hockey" in reference to the modern-day sport.
The ice on Great Bear Lake began breaking up on 23 May, but with this came the constant threat of mosquitoes, which Franklin called "vigorous and tormenting". As winter ended, the party made a more concentrated effort to chart the coastline of Great Bear Lake. The most extensive of these explorations was conducted by Richardson and Kendall, lasting from 10 April–1 May. Franklin at this point grew displeased with the constant presence of the Dog-Rib Indians, claiming that they "continued hanging about the fort, and their daily drumming and singing over the sick, the squalling of the children, and bawling of the men and women, proved no small annoyance." With the beginning of June, Franklin began more intensely planning the party's voyage to the coast. The boats the company had been constructing over the course of the winter were tested on 15 June. Supplies and men were then divided between the western and eastern detachment, and after final preparations were made, the party departed from Fort Franklin on the summer solstice of 1826.
Spring and the parties split
The expedition's plans for the coming summer were ambitious. Franklin, leading the western detachment, aimed to get as far as Icy Cape, which had previously been visited by James Cook in 1778. Richardson's journey would involve coasting the shore of the ocean as far east as the mouth of the Coppermine River. He would then ascend the river and cross overland to Great Bear Lake, ideally arriving at Fort Franklin before the onset of winter.
The party made quick progress in descending the Mackenzie River, reaching its delta by early July. The western detachment was to consist of two boats, Lion and Reliance, commanded by Franklin and Back, respectively. The eastern detachment consisted of the boats Dolphin and Union, commemorated in the Dolphin and Union Strait. In the early morning of 4 July, the parties split.
Western detachment