Revisiting an Explorer’s Northwest Passage Disappointment After Nearly 230 Years
atlasobscura.com
atlasobscura.com
He reached the Pacific ocean by land a full 12 years before Lewis and Clark. He also took far less time to complete the journey since the network of voyageurs in what would become western Canada meant he could start his journey in Alberta rather than much further east in St. Louis.
But if you want to do further reading on someone wandering about in crazy arctic conditions, check out John Rae. He explored much of the arctic coast on foot (!) and discovered the remains of the doomed Franklin expedition. Also managed the minor feat of proving the existence of the north west passage in the process. He would be remembered as one of the greatest explorers of all time if the passage proved remotely commercially navigable, instead he was relegated to the minor pages of 19th century history. It didn't help Lady Franklin was so insulted when he reported to the Admiralty her husband's expedition likely resorted to cannibalism based on reports from local Inuit.
They started at Lake Athabasca, made up their way up Slave River to get to Great Slave Lake. Then they took the Mackenzie River through to the river delta at the Kendall Island Bird Sanctuary. Garry Island is just past the delta.
When they didn't have to haul 3 tons of trade goods they could really fly, like when travelling with Mackenzie looking for the northwest passage.
George Simpson (later HBC governor) made his way from the shores of Hudson Bay to the mouth of the Columbia River by canoe. He did use a horse for the Athabasca pass, but that's hardly cheating. He set a record by doing it in 80 days with a light load. For 1824 that was incredibly fast since it's about a 4000 km trip.