Stepping Westward SEED =

many others speak of it as the most comfortable post in the North. It was painted inside, and a great deal of thought was given to the interior arrangements. The famous library established by Roderick was known throughout the North- West. Fort Chipewyan, as the new establishment was called, was not only the “Emporium of the North,” but was dubbed the “Little Athens” as well.

All the events connected with the development of the North-West led to the ultimate establishment of Fort Chipewyan with Alexander Mackenzie in charge. The un- explored North and West stretched out in alluring expanses before his door. It was part of his domain. He was lord of all he surveyed and much more. It was his business as a trader to know that territory. It is not in the nature of man to live tranquilly on the edge of an unknown empire. Sooner or later the desire to continue his travels will carry him over new spaces until his mind is satisfied with fuller knowledge.

In attempting to account for the impulses which led Mackenzie to undertake his explorations it should not be lost sight of that, like all the traders of that day, he had acquired a technique of travel, had learned the ease of getting to new places, and was naturally interested in the marvellous network of navigable lakes and rivers which connected the whole of the known part of Canada. What was more natural to suppose than that the remainder, the unexplored, unknown part, was probably penetrated and linked with the known part by a maze of navigable lakes and rivers, as easy to negotiate and as far-reaching and important as the system that was so familiar to them? It is difficult to resist the call of the next reach, the next bend, the next lake and what may lie beyond each.

The traders had a great deal of leisure in the summer